The Age of Jackson and Jacksonian Democracy

1. The Age of Jacksonand Jacksonian Democracy

2. The Election of 1828 • Jackson is back for a second round against John Quincy Adams. • A new parties emerge: • The Democratic Party supporting Jackson and made up of individuals who felt left out of the political process (small farmers, frontier settlers, struggling laborers in the city, slave holders, the “common man”) • The National Republicans supporting Adams were made up of mostly merchants in the Northeast and successful farmers.

3. The Election of 1828 • The campaign was a vicious one – lots of mudslinging, personal attacks on character and the exploiting of the differences between the candidates. Adams was wealthy, Harvard educated the son of a president. Jackson was poor, hot-tempered, crude and unfit to be president. • Something new – The campaigns introduced election slogans, rallies, buttons and special events like BBQs.

4. Inauguration Day • Jackson won the election in a land slide. • The victory was seen as a major win for the common folk.

5. Inauguration Day • When he stepped forward to take the oath of office, he was met with shouts, wild applause, waves and salutes for the “people’s president”.

6. Inauguration Day • After the inauguration, a crowd “of all sorts of people, from the highest and most polished, down to the most vulgar and gross in the nation” followed Jackson back to the White House for a celebratory party. • People partied inside and out. Soon the crowd grew rowdy. They broke china and glasses as they grabbed for the food and drink.

7. Inauguration Day • One treat there was a giant block of cheese shaped in Jackson’s image. • It was getting late and the crowd was not leaving, so Jackson had all the food and drink moved out onto the lawn forcing people out of the White House then locked the doors.

8. Inauguration Day – Check out the crowd of people!

9. Jackson’s Administration • With Jackson a new concept emerged – the spoil system based on the idea that “to the victor goes the spoils”. • It’s a practice of giving government jobs to political backers as a way of saying thanks for helping out. • This was the first time that jobs within the federal government was open to all walks of life. • Jackson fired many federal workers and replaced them with his supporters.

10. Jackson’s Administration • Jackson distrusted many of the Washington establishment, preferring to trust an informal group of trusted unofficial advisors who would often meet in the White House kitchen. They became known as the “Kitchen Cabinet”. • Between the spoils system and the Kitchen Cabinet, the American democracy had forever changed.

11. Sectionalism The North: • Had an economy based on trade and manufacturing. • Supported tariffs because they helped them compete with British factories. • Opposed the government’s sale of public land at cheap prices (they lost labors/workers who would leave the factory towns and go west).

12. Sectionalism The South: • The economy was based on agriculture/farming. Agribusinesses sold most of their crops to foreign nations. • The most popular crops were the cash crops of cotton and tobacco. • Imported manufactured or finished goods. • Supported a low tariff, because high tariffs made imported goods too expensive and they were afraid that Europe would impose their own tariff in return. • Increased dependence on slavery.

13. Sectionalism The West: • The economy was based on farming, but not large scale agribusiness like that of the South. • Wanted policies that supported frontier farming and encouraged further settlement. • Number one thing they wanted was cheap land and better infrastructure!

14. The Debate Is On • In 1828 Congress passes an exceptionally high tariff on manufactured goods coming from Europe. • Tensions increased between the North and South regarding the issue of tariffs. • The North supported the tariff because it kept American goods cheap and imported goods expensive.

15. The Debate Is On • The South opposed the tariff because it made imported goods more expensive and they had to buy most of their things from overseas. Plus they feared the threat of retaliation by European nations. • The South called the tariff the Tariff of Abominations.

16. The Debate Is On • Vice President John C. Calhoun, a southerner from South Carolina, sided with the South and protested the tariff. • Calhoun argued that states, having formed the national government, had the right to nullify a federal law it considered unconstitutional. Therefore stating that state power should be greater than federal power.

17. The Debate Is On • Some Southern states threatened to secede from the Union and form their own government. • According to Calhoun and the States’ Rights Doctrine, states had created the federal government, so they should have the last word on decisions affecting them. That the states have many rights and powers that are independent of the federal government. • Calhoun would resign over this issue!

18. The Debate Is On The Hayne-Webster Debate: • Senator Robert Y. Hayne (SC) argued that nullification give states a way to lawfully protest against federal legislation. • Senator Daniel Webster (MA) argued that nullification could only mean the end of the Union. “Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable!”

19. The Debate Is On Jackson weighs in: • “The Union…must be preserved!” Jackson was against nullification while he supported states’ rights (he would later need the South’s help with his little “Indian problem”). • In 1832 Jackson asks Congress to pass another tariff that would lower the previous rate hoping to mollify the South.

20. The Debate Is On • South Carolina was unhappy with what little Congress did and passed the Nullification Act – declaring both the 1828 and 1832 tariffs “null and void and not binding upon this State, its officers or citizens”. • It threatened to withdraw from the Union if federal troops were used to collect duties. • Voted to form its own army.

21. The Debate Is On • Jackson is angered over the audacity of South Carolina and had Congress pass the Force Bill – it allowed the president to use the United States military to enforce acts of Congress i.e. collection of taxes. • The message was clear: If South Carolina did not give in, it would face the full force of the United States military. • South Carolina had gone too far and no other southern state would stand by their side.

22. The Debate Is On Henry Clay to the rescue: • Hoping to avoid a civil war, Henry Clay offered a compromise that would lower the tariff little by little over the next ten years. • South Carolina quickly agreed to the compromise and her leaders would enforce the law (tariff). • The Nullification Crisis is over, but bitter feelings remain that will fester and ultimately erupt.

23. Jackson and the BUS • Jackson opposed the Second Bank of the United States feeling that it was an unconstitutional extension of the power of Congress. After all it was privately owned by wealthy individuals who could potentially hold the nation hostage financially and tended to treat the common people unfairly. • He felt that the states should have the power to control the banking system.

24. Jackson and the BUS • Maryland passed a tax that limited the Bank’s operation. • James McCulloch refused to pay the tax and Maryland took him to court. • The Supreme Court ruled in McCulloch v. Maryland that the national bank was constitutional.

25. Jackson and the BUS • Nicholas Biddle, the Bank’s director and Jackson’s enemy, pushed for a bill to re-charter the BUS. • Jackson vetoed the bill and weakened the Bank’s power. • Jackson began depositing government money into state banks run by his friends. • This was disastrous for the economy!

26. Jackson and the BUS • With no governmental oversight, state banks began to give out too many loans, offered easy credit to people buying land in the West, and printed a flood of almost worthless paper money. • Jackson urged people to use gold and silver to buy government-owned land instead of paper money. • Inflation soared. • The economy went in to a depression – the Panic of 1837

27. Majority Plurality Old Hickory Nullify Secede Nicholas Biddle William Henry Harrison Whigs Andrew Jackson John Quincy Adams National Republicans Democratic-Republicans Favorite son candidates Mudslinging Here are a few terms you need to know for your quiz:

28. Here are a few terms you need to know for your quiz: • John C Calhoun • Tariff • Spoils system • John Tyler • Nullification Act • Nominating conventions • Suffrage/Right to vote • Caucus • Force Bill • Bank of the United States (BUS) • Political party symbols • State’s Rights • Caucus • Economic depression