Jacksonian Era 1820-1845

Building National Unity By the year 1816, President Madison had served two full terms and followed Washington’s precedent by stepping down. In the election of 1816, James Monroe easily defeated Rufus King, a Federalist candidate. He was the third consecutive president from Democratic-Republican party AND from Virginia.

End of the Federalists By 1820, the Federalist party disappeared and Monroe won re-election essentially unopposed. Some around the country saw this fading of the political party system as a period of increased national unity. A newspaper in Boston called the this “Era of Good Feelings” Why would the newspaper come up with that title?

Sectionalism Although the nation was not divided by political parties, it still had three distinct regions: North, South, and West. This division was known as sectionalism. Sectionalism: loyalty to your state or region of the country instead of the United States as a whole.

Great Triumvirate

Daniel Webster From the North Opposed the War of 1812 (War Dove) Why do you think he opposed the War of 1812? Believed that the Federal Gov’t should take a larger role in developing the nation

John C. Calhoun From the South Favored the War of 1812 (War Hawk) Opposed policies that would strengthen the Federal gov’t

Henry Clay From the West He favored going to War in the War of 1812 Favored a more active role in the Federal Government

National Bank These new leaders faced problems in 1811 when the charter of the National Bank ran out. Without the Bank, there was no one to control the money supply or lend money. The economy suffered without the bank, so in 1816, the Democratic Republicans passed a law creating the Second National Bank of the United States.

Economic Problems A new economic problem soon emerged due to competition with goods made in Britain. The British could sell cloth made in British factories for less money than cloth made in the United States. In order to save American businesses, Congress passed tariffs, or taxes on foreign goods. Tariffs were not supported by all parts of the country. They helped the North where many factories had been built. They hurt the South because few factories had been built and now imported goods were more expensive.

The American System Henry Clay wanted to help all parts of America develop. He proposed a solution called the American System. He wanted high tariffs to protect Northern factories. The North would then use this money to buy its raw materials from the South and the West. Clay wanted to use the money collected from the tariffs and spend it on internal improvements. This meant building roads, bridges, and canals to connect all parts of the country.

Unsuccessful Unfortunately, Clay’s American System never worked out. Despite tariffs, little money was spent on internal improvements that southerners opposed.

Jackson’s Presidency Why was Jackson’s election to the presidency considered a victory for the common man?

Jacksonian Democracy Despite Jackson’s defeat in the in 1824 election, Jackson moved on and was able to gain of followers known as Jacksonians. Suffrage, or the right to vote, had begun to grow within the United States. Many states dropped the requirement that white men had to own property in order to participate in voting. States were also changing how they chose presidential electors. Rather than have the state legislators vote for the president, now the public could vote. Three times as many people voted in the election of 1828 as had voted in 1824. And most of these people voted for Jackson. Why would more common people want to vote for Jackson?

Democracy in the Age of Jackson Supporters of Andrew Jackson believed that ordinary people should vote in elections, hold public office, and do anything else they had the ability to do. This idea contradicted the previously help believe that only the elite and the educated should hold office and vote. There was a deep mistrust of the gov’t from Jackson’s supporters.

New Political Parties The 1824 election brought about the end to the Era of Good Feelings. During the election the Republicans split with John Quincy Adams’ supporters calling themselves the National Republicans and Jackson’s supporters calling themselves the Democrats. In Jackson’s reelection campaign, the Republicans nominated Henry Clay. Despite his win, an anti-Jackson campaign gained momentum and the former National Republicans renamed themselves as the Whig Party.

Spoils System As soon as Jackson is elected he begins to replace gov’t officials with people who supported him. Even though other presidents did this, Jackson publically defended his actions saying that it furthered democracy. This became known as the spoils system, which is the practice of rewarding gov’t jobs to the party that wins an election.

The National Bank Anti-Bank Many Americans disliked that the Bank restricted loans made by state banks due to a fear that the state banks were making too many loans This angered farmers and merchants who wanted to borrow money to buy land Many southerners and westerners blamed the Bank for the economic crisis that broke out in 1819 where many people lost their farms Pro-Bank: Between 1816-1830 the Bank earned strong support from business people They liked that banks made loans to businessmen The bank was a safe place for the gov’t to keep its money The paper money it issued formed a stable currency

Jackson vs. The Bank