The Jacksonian Era

Vocabulary Suffrage – The right to vote Majority – more than half Nominating Convention – meeting where a political party chooses a candidate Caucus – private meeting where only the leaders of a political party get to choose the next candidate

Calling for Equality By 1820, democracy in the United States was different than the world had ever known. Europeans came to the US and were shocked at how everyone expected to be treated as equals. I can’t believe everyone wants to be treated equally!! And I have a hairball!!! (hack, hack)

Jacksonian Democracy More people gained suffrage, or the right to vote. Now, in most states, you no longer had to own property to vote. This gave many more men the right to vote. More and more people were also exercising their right to vote. Before 1828, less than 27% of all eligible voters ever voted. During the election of 1840, voter turnout reached 80%, or 8 out of 10. Women and African Americans still did not have the right to vote in most circumstances. The spread of political power to more people was part of what became known as Jacksonian democracy. We might not be able to afford land, but at least we can vote!! Lucky! I still have to wait about 100 years to get to vote! And, I have a hairball!

The Election of 1824 The Election of 1824 had four different candidates running for president, and they were all Republicans. They were John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, and William Crawford. John Quincy Adams Henry Clay Andrew Jackson William Crawford I graduated from Harvard and served as Secretary of State. I am admired because I am smart, but I am also shy and often viewed as cold. I am the sectionalist leader from the west and served as Speaker of the House. I am known as a negotiator. I am known as the Hero of New Orleans and Old Hickory. I was born to poor farmers, own slaves, and am admired by farmers. I am from the south but was unable to campaign because I got sick. Who Would You Vote For?

Old Hickory gets SPANKED!! Andrew Jackson (general made famous during the War of 1812) ran and lost the race for the presidency in Jackson got the most popular votes, but the most electoral votes went to his opponent John Adams. although even Adams didn’t have a majority. If no candidate gets a majority, then the Constitution says that the House of Representatives gets to decide who will be the president. Henry Clay was the Speaker of the House at the time. He encouraged his friends in the House of Representatives to vote for John Quincy Adams. When Adams was announced the winner, he named Henry Clay as his Secretary of State. Andrew Jackson was so furious he began accusing Adams and Clay of making a “Corrupt Bargain.”

President Adams Like Alexander Hamilton, John Quincy Adams believed the government should promote economic growth. He believed the government should pay to build roads and canals to help farmers transport goods to market. He also wanted to build a national university. These things would cost a lot of money so most Americans were against them.

Election of 1828 Jackson waited 4 years and ran again against John Q. Adams. Jackson campaigned by bringing up “the corrupt bargain” from the previous election. Adams campaigned against Jackson saying he would become a dictator like Napoleon. This time, Jackson easily won. I guess that’s why one of Jackson’s nicknames was old hickory.

Jackson’s Inauguration Jackson was considered a man of the people. Thousands of people attended his inauguration. The crowd followed him to the White House to celebrate.

New Political Parties The republican party split into two separate parties: the Whigs (led by John Adams), and the Democrats (led by Andrew Jackson). Whigs had the support of Eastern businessmen, plantation owners, and former Federalists. Democrats had the support of frontier farmers and factory workers. Political parties even became more democratic. They opened the nominating conventions to all party members so that the people could now have some influence in the nominating process. Before this they used a caucus, which was a private meeting in which only a few high level officials decided who would be the presidential candidate for the party. Dave never really understood what the Whig party was all about. Hairball!!

Review Questions How did political parties reflect the growing spirit of equality? Why did Jackson feel that the electionof 1824 was unfair? What programs did Adams propose that made him unpopular?