2.  2 main candidates in election- Jackson (again) and Henry Clay  For first time a 3 rd party enters the field  Anti-Masonic party- opposed the influence and fearsome secrecy of Masonic order  Powerful force in New England and middle Atlantic states  Jackson was a mason, so Anti-Masonic party was a Anti-Jackson party

3. DEMOCRATS  Led by Jackson  He did not support national bank, Indian Removal Act, had much support in south and west, Nullification crisis NAT’L REPUBLICANS  Led by Clay  Pro National Bank  Fiscal conservatives  Southern States rights

4.  Party also got support from evangelical Protestant groups wanting to use political power to effect moral and religious reforms  Ex: Prohibit mail deliver on Sunday, keep Sabbath holy  Jacksonians- generally opposed to all gov. meddling in social and economic life  Contradiction here?

5.  Anti- Masons and National Republicans adopted formal platforms to publicize their positions on the issues  Henry Clay and Rep. enjoyed advantages like ample funds (50,000$ from Bank of U.S)  Many newspaper editors wrote badly of Jackson  How do we think Jackson will do?

7.  Bank of U.S was set to expire in 1836  In 1833 Jackson removed federal deposits from its vaults  Essentially bled the bank dry  Even his closest advisors opposed this  Unconstitutional?

8.  Death of bank of U.S left a financial vacuum in American economy and kicked of cycle of booms and busts  State Banks that Jackson chose to put money into often “consisted of little more than a few chairs and a suitcase full of printed notes- flooded the country with paper money”

9.  In effort to reign in economy in 1836, Jackson authorized Treasury to make all public lands purchased with “hard” or metallic money  This contributed to financial panic and crash of 1837  However by then, Jackson retired to his Nashville home and was seen as a hero.  His successor has to deal with damage done

10.  Jackson’s opponents condemned him as “King Andrew I” and became Whigs- a name chosen to recollect 18 th century British and Revolutionary American opposition to the monarchy  Had many diverse elements to party  Included: supporters of Clay’s American System, southern states’ righters offended by Jackson’s stance on nullification,

11.  The larger northern industrialists and merchants, and eventually many of the evangelical Protestants associated with the Anti-Masonic Party  Thought of themselves as conservatives, yet supported active government programs and reforms.

12.  Instead of territorial acquisition, they called for improvements like canals, railroads, telegraph lines, and supported prisons, asylums and public schools.  Welcomed market economy, drawing support from manufactures in North, planters in South and merchants and bankers in all sections

13.  Viewed Jackson and Van Buren as imperious aristocrats  Jackson was previously viewed as for the “common man”  This turned Jackson rhetoric on its head, now Whigs claimed to defend the common man and declared Democrats the party of cronyism and corruption