1. Chapter 12 Sect. 1 Notes A New Era in Politics
I. Growing Spirit of Equality
A. Democracy
1. America is becoming more democratic
2. Changing the political system
B. Suffrage
1. The right to vote
2. Begin changing voting requirements
3. More and more people begin to vote
a. Turnouts go from 27% in 1828 to 80% in 1840’s

2. Chapter 12 Sect. 1 Notes C. Limits on Suffrage
1. Many Americans still did not have the right to vote
a. Women
b. Native Americans
c. Most African Americans
d. Slaves
2. As whites gained voting rights, African Americans were
losing them

3. Chapter 12 Sect. 1 Notes II. The Disputed Election of 1824
A. The Candidates
1. John Quincy Adams – New England
a. Son of John Adams ( 2nd President)
b. Secretary of State during War of 1812
c. Intelligent
d. Uncomfortable around common people
2. Henry Clay – West
a. Speaker of the House

4. Chapter 12 Sect. 1 Notes b. Negotiator
c. Not as popular as other candidate from the West
3. Andrew Jackson – West
a. Hero of War of 1812
1. Battle of New Orleans
b. Old Hickory
c. Born to poor family
d. Man of the people
4. William Crawford – South
a. To ill to campaign

5. Chapter 12 Sect. 1 Notes B. The “Corrupt Bargain”
1. Election 1824 – no clear winner
2. No candidate had majority of the electoral votes
3. House of Representatives had to choose
a. Pick amongst the top three
b. Clay was out, but still Speaker of the House
c. Clay urged members of the house to vote for Adams
d. Adams won
e. Jackson accused them of Corrupt Bargaining
f. Did not help to unify the nation

6. Chapter 12 Sect. 1 Notes III. An Unpopular President
A. Promoting Economic Growth
1. Adams pushed for internal improvements
2. Government to pay for roads and canals
3. Promote art and science
4. Angered many Americans
B. A Bitter Campaign
1. Adam’s verse Jackson
a. Battle not over politics but character
2. Jackson won election easily – common people were heard

7. Chapter 12 Sect. 1 Notes C. Jacksonian Democracy
1. Spreading more power to the people
2. Power to the West
IV. New Political Parties
A. Federalist party fell apart (1820)
B. People who supported Adams became known as National
Republicans or Whigs
1. Business people, wealthy planters, many former
Federalist

8. Chapter 12 Sect. 1 Notes
C. Those who supported Jackson were known as the Democrats
1. Frontier planters, and eastern workers
D. New Ways to Choose Candidates
1. Caucus system – chose their candidate in private meeting
a. Few people take part in
2. Nominating Convention – delegates from all states choose
a candidate
a. More people could took part in
3. Still being used today

9. Chapter 12 Sect. 2 & 3 Notes I. Jackson in the White House
A. Spoils System: giving jobs to loyal supporters, this helped
Democrats and Whigs build up their parties
B. Kitchen Cabinet: Jackson relied on advice from democratic
leaders, newspaper editors
C. Jackson Battles the Bank
1. Opposed the Bank of the United States because he felt it
was too powerful
2. Vetoed the renewal of the bank’s charter because he
believed it was unconstitutional

10. Chapter 12 Sect. 2 & 3 Notes
3. Charter ended in 1836, but Jackson cut money from it early
and gave it to state banks
4. Political cartoon pg. 367
D. In the election of 1832 Jackson ran against Henry Clay;
Jackson won
II. A New Crisis
A. Tariff of Abominations (1828) – highest in nation’s history
1. Southerners hated it
a. Helped northern manufacturers

11. Chapter 12 Sect. 2 & 3 Notes
b. Made imports more expensive than American goods
c. Hurt Southern planters
2. VP John Calhoun led the South’s fight against the tariff
because he believed a state had the right to repeal a federal
law that it considered unconstitutional (nullification)
3. Daniel Webster disagreed, along with Jackson
4. Calhoun resigned as VP and was replaced by Martin Van
Buren

12. Chapter 12 Sect. 2 & 3 Notes
5. Congress passed new tariff in 1832 that was slightly
lower but South Carolina was not satisfied
6. SC passed the Nullification Act
a. Declares the 1828 and 1832 tariffs illegal
b. Threatens to secede from the Union if challenged
7. Jackson supports a compromise tariff
a. Called for lower tariffs but at the same time allowed
the President to use military to enforce the law
b. Faced with war, SC repealed the act

13. Chapter 12 Sect. 2 & 3 Notes
8. This is known as the Nullification Crisis
B. Tragedy for Native Americans
1. Indian Removal Act forced Indians to move west of the
Mississippi River
2. Trail of Tears
C. Jackson’s Successors
1. Martin Van Buren – Democrat
2. William Henry Harrison – Whig
3. John Tyler - Whig

14. Chapter 12 Sect. 2 & 3 Notes D. Panic of 1837 1. Causes
a. No national bank to limit lending
b. Money was worthless
c. Land speculation high – had to pay in silver/gold
d. Oversupply of cotton
2. Effects
a. 3 years of depression
b. 90% of the factories close

15. Chapter 12 Sect. 2 & 3 Notes c. High unemployment d. Banks fail
e. Van Buren refuses to interfere, which cost him re-
election