AGE OF ANDREW JACKSON

Introduction  1.) How was American politics democratized between 1800 and 1840?  2.) Why was Andrew Jackson so popular with voters?  3.) How and why did the Democratic and Whig parties emerge?  4.) What new assumptions about human nature did religious reform leaders of the 1830’s make?

The Rise of Democratic Politics,  Introduction  In 1824, only one political party existed  Republican  It was breaking up  Pressures produced by the industrialization of the Northeast  The spread of cotton growing in the South  Westward expansion  2 new political parties developed  Democrats  Whigs

Introduction (cont.)  Democrats  Kept Jefferson’s distrust of strong federal government  Preferred states’ rights  Whigs  Favored an active federal govt.  Encourage economic development  Both Democratic and Whig politicians had to adapt to the democratic idea of politics as the expression of the will of the common man  Rather than “an activity that gentlemen conducted for the people”

Democratic Developments  Politics became more democratic  property qualifications for voting were eliminated  Written ballots replaced voting aloud  Appointive offices became elective  Presidential electors were chosen by the people  Each party sought to increase its voter base  Increasing the number of eligible voters in the process

The Election of 1824  4 Republicans ran for office  Each represented a faction of the Republican Party  Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William Crawford, Henry Clay

The Election of 1824  Jackson received the most popular and electoral votes but not a majority  Therefore, as the Constitution requires, the House of Representatives had to choose among the three top candidates (Jackson, Adams, Crawford)  Clay (who was 4th) used his considerable influence with Congress to gain the selection of Adams

The Election of 1824  President Adams in turn appointed Clay as his secretary of state  Jackson supporters charged that a “corrupt bargain” had been made  That charge hung like a cloud over the Adams administration

John Quincy Adams as President  President Adams tried to encourage economic growth through federal internal improvement projects  He remained aloof to the political games of the age  His programs suffered a lack of support  Single-term presidency

The Rise of Andrew Jackson  Andrew Jackson’s victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 made him a popular hero  It was a time of “vague but widespread discontent” with Washington  In part because of the Panic of 1819

The Rise of Andrew Jackson  Jackson’s position as a political outsider endeared him to the public and supporters  Began to build a strong political organization  Called themselves the Democratic Party  Also led by Martin Van Buren  In 1828  the Democrats nominated Jackson for president  Those who remained loyal to Adams called themselves National Republicans and renominated Adams

The election of 1828  Democrats portrayed Jackson as a man of the people (even though he was a wealthy farmer)- Common Man  And they portrayed Adams as the aristocrat  Jackson won the election with the common-man appeal  His victory also showed a clear sectional split  South and Southwest for Jackson  New England mostly for Adams

Jackson in Office  Spoils system  Jackson immediately fired 1/2 of the civil servants on the federal payroll  Most in the Northeast  Replaced them with supporters  Jackson did not initiate the spoils system  He defended it and practiced it  Frequent rotation in office gave more people a chance to serve

President Jackson and the Nullification Crisis

The Tariff of 1816 o The first tariff in American history passed for protection o About 20 to 25 % o Not high enough to provide protection o It started a protective tariff trend  Protected northern manufacturers and western farmers from foreign competition  But raised the price that southerners had to pay for finished products

Tariff of 1824 o Congress increased the tariff significantly, but wool manufacturers wanted more o S.C. leaders didn’t want a higher tariff, they said European wool owners would punish cotton growers by paying a lower price for cotton o Raised the duty from 25% to 33.3% o After this tariff, the price of cotton in Europe fell from 32 cents a pound to 13 cents

Tariff of 1828 o In 1827 manufactures in the North asked for an even higher tariff o There were protests all over S.C. o In 1828 the tariff passed, which raised the duty to 50% o Southerners were shocked at the rates, called it the Tariff of Abominations o Calhoun writes The South Carolina Exposition and Protest secretly because he is still Vice President.  Argued protective tariffs were unconstitutional  States had the right to nullify federal laws that violated the U.S. Constitution

Why were the southerners so angry? o Believed the “Yankee tariff” discriminated against them o Southerners sold their cotton in an unprotected tariff market, but bought manufactured goods in an American market heavily protected by tariffs o The South wanted to protect themselves from the federal government interfering with state’s rights— saw the tariff issue as a way to take a stand

Nullifiers vs. Unionists o Calhoun : (States Rights) States created the Federal government. If a state believed the government had passed an unconstitutional law, then the state could nullify it. The state would not have to obey the law o Webster: (Unionist) The people, not the states, created the Federal government A state could not nullify a law nor secede o How are the above ideas examples of sectionalism?

The Tariff of :  Tariff reduced to 35%  South was still not satisfied

1832- Ordinance of Nullification In 1832 S.C. “Nullifiers”: had enough votes (2/3rds) to nullify the Tariff of 1832 Nullified with the Ordinance of Nullification Calhoun has resigned and now a senator from SC leading the nullification fight

Jackson’s Response Dec  Jackson denounced the state’s defiance  threatened to use the army and navy to enforce federal laws Said nullification was treason and would use force to collect the tariffs Congress passed the Force Bill, which gave Jackson the power to use the army and navy to enforce laws, specifically the tariffs.

Compromise Tariff of 1833 Created by Calhoun and Henry Clay Attempt to resolve Nullification Crisis Gradually reduce tariff rates for next 10 years until they reached 20% (the 1816 tariff rate) by 1842

South Carolina’s Response S.C. accepts the new tariff SC rescinded it nullification War is avoided S.C. repeals the Ordinance of Nullification, and nullifies the Force Bill

The Bank Veto and the Election of 1832  Jackson disliked all banks and the issuance of paper money  He particularly hated the Second Bank of the Untied States  Controlled the nation’s credit  Depository for federal govt. monies  Run by its private stockholders  “Monied Capitalist”  Little control from the federal govt.  Jackson regarded it as a privileged monopoly

The Bank Veto and the Election of 1832 (cont.)  In 1832, Nicholas Biddle (pres. of the Second Bank) applied for its recharter  The recharter bill passed Congress  Jackson vetoed it  Denouncing the bank for making “the rich richer and the potent more powerful”

 1832 election  Democrats nominated Jackson and Van Buren for president and VP  National Republicans nominated Henry Clay  Clay opposed Jackson’s record  Clay advocated instead his American System of protective tariffs, recharting of the national bank, and federally supported internal improvements  Jackson won easily  Jackson was ready to complete his destruction of the Second Bank The Bank Veto and the Election of 1832 (cont.)

The Bank Controversy and the Second Party System,  The War on the Bank  Jackson quickly tried to bankrupt the Second Bank by removing govt. deposits  He distributed them to accounts in state-chartered banks  The “pet banks” that received the deposits extended much more credit and issued many more bank notes (paper money)  They had no restraints on them from the defunct national bank  This loosening of credit touched off a period of reckless economic expansion and speculation, and rapid inflation

The Rise of Whig Opposition  During Jackson’s 2nd term, the National Republicans changed their name to Whigs  Began to attract broader support  Southerners angry over Jackson’s denunciation of nullification  Temperance reformers  Public-school reformers  Anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic Protestants  Followers of the Anti-Masonry movement  The commercial community of merchants, manufactures, and bankers

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