Pages

 Election of 1824 Andrew Jackson won majority of popular vote and John Quincy Adams won majority of electoral votes.  Went to House and Henry Clay swayed members to vote for Adams.  Clay was appointed Adams Secretary of state. Jacksonians (followers of Jackson) formed Democratic Republican Party  Opposed national bank and disliked tariffs.

 Free blacks and women couldn’t vote  Voting restrictions for white males eased Didn’t have to own property.  1828 over 1 million voters

 1828 election campaign Jackson portrayed himself as a man of humble origins…not an elitist like Adams. Jackson was a wealthy plantation owner. “Old Hickory” won the election in a landslide.

 Said people would only work 4 year terms in federal positions. Fired nearly 10% of federal workers.  Filled these positions with his friends. Spoils system – incoming officials throw out former appointees and replace them with their own friends.

 Southeastern tribes adopted white culture. Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole, Creek, and Chickasaw. Cherokee  Created a government similar to U.S.A  Had constitution  Newspaper  Miners wanted Native Americans moved so they could use the land to make a profit.

 The Federal government provided funds to negotiate treaties that would force the Native Americans to move west. 90% of treaties were signed. Jackson felt was a good thing because Native Americans would still be able to maintain their way of life.

 1830 pressured the Choctaw to sign a treaty to get them to move out of Mississippi.  1831 ordered U.S. troops to forcibly remove the Sauk and Fox from their lands in Illinois and Missouri.  1832 forced Chickasaw to leave their lands in Alabama and Mississippi.

 Cherokee decided to use the U.S. legal system to help them. Wanted to go to court, but because they were not a foreign nation or a state just a “domestic depended nation” the court didn’t recognize them. Samuel Austin Worcester (missionary) helped them go to court.  Worcester v. Georgia 1832 – Court recognized the Cherokee Nation as a distinct political community whose people Georgia was not entitled to regulate by law and whose lands Georgia was not entitled to invade.

 A small group of Cherokee favored relocation and U.S. troops got them to sign a treaty saying they had to relocate. The treaty stated that this small group represented the whole Cherokee Nation. Gave last 8 million acres of Cherokee land to federal government in exchange for around 5 million dollars and land in Oklahoma.  1838 President Martin Van Buren ordered forced removal of 20,000 remaining Cherokee in Georgia to Oklahoma.

 800 mile trip made mostly on foot ¼ of Cherokee died on the journey U.S. soldiers stole money, food, and livestock Known as the Trail of Tears