1. Democratic Politics, Religious Revival, and Reform 1824-1840
Chapter 10
Democratic Politics, Religious Revival, and Reform

2. 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?

3. The Rise of Democratic Politics, 1824-1832
Introduction
In 1824, only one political party existed
Republican
It was fragmenting
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

4. Introduction (cont.) Democrats Whigs
Retained 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”

5. Democratic Ferment 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

6. Democratic Ferment (cont.)
This broadening of suffrage was often brought about by competition between Republicans and Federalists in the 1790’s and early 1800’s
Each party sought to increase its voter base
Increasing the number of eligible voters in the process

7. 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

8. The Election of 1824 (cont.)

9. The Election of 1824 (cont.)
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

11. The Election of 1824 (cont.)
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

12. The Election of 1824 (cont.)

13. 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
Idealistic view
Single-term presidency

14. 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

15. The Rise of Andrew Jackson (cont.)
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

16. The election of 1828
Democrats portrayed Jackson as a man of the people (even though he was a wealthy farmer)
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

17. The election of 1828 (cont.)

18. 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

20. Jackson in Office (cont.)
He also opposed federal support for internal improvements
Maysville Road veto
Veto of providing federal govt. $$$$ to build and expand state roads
1st of 8 vetoes by Jackson on public works projects
Indian Removal Act of 1830
Southerners liked the Maysville Road veto and the Indian Removal Act

21. Jackson in Office (cont.)
Southerners though resented his lack of action against the 1828 “Tariff of Abominations”
Protected northern manufacturers and western farmers from foreign competition
But raised the price that southerners had to pay for finished products

22. Nullification
That tariff issue prepared the way for a break between Jackson and his VP John C. Calhoun
Calhoun was becoming the chief spokesman for the southern planter class

23. Nullification (cont.)
Calhoun wrote and circulated the South Carolina Exposition and Protest
In opposition to the Tariff of 1828
Argued protective tariffs were unconstitutional
States had the right to nullify federal laws that violated the U.S. Constitution

24. Nullification (cont.)
Nov. 1832, South Carolina nullified the Tariff of 1828 and the Tariff of 1832
SC forbade the collection of customs duties at its ports
Acted on Calhoun’s doctrine
Jackson denounced the state’s defiance
threatened to use the army and navy to enforce federal laws

25. Nullification (cont.) Compromise of 1833
Prevented a military fight between the federal govt. and SC
Proposed by Henry Clay
SC rescinded it nullification
Congress passed a new tariff law that gradually lowered duties over the next 9 years

26. 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

27. 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”

28. The Bank Veto and the election of 1832 (cont.)
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

29. the election of 1832 (cont.)

30. The Bank Controversy and the Second Party System, 1833-1840
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

31. The War on the Bank (cont.)
Soon the number of state depositories ballooned beyond Jackson’s expectations
This loosening of credit touched off a period of headlong economic expansion, reckless speculation, and rapid inflation

32. 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

33. The Election of 1836 Democrats nominated Martin Van Buren
Whigs ran 4 candidates (unable to agree on a single nominee)
The Democrats claimed the Whigs did this so that no man would receive a majority of the electoral votes
Putting the choice into the House of Rep.
Where one of the Whigs nominees may win
Van Buren won a clear majority

34. The Election of 1836 (cont.)

35. The Panic of 1837
Just as Van Buren was inaugurated, the country’s economy went into a serve depression
Causes were international and national
Jackson’s bank policies had produced a wave of speculation and inflation
In July 1836, Jackson issued the Specie Circular that barred the purchase of govt.-owned land with anything but gold
This move burst the speculative bubble
Contributed to the panic and depression of 1837

36. The Panic of 1837 (cont.)
President Van Buren dealt with the depression by divorcing the federal govt. from banking
Antibank, hard-money stand
In 1840, he signed the Independent Treasury Bill
Provided that federal govt. money would be kept in its own treasury instead of being deposited in banks

37. The Election of 1840 Democrats renominated Van Buren
Whigs chose William Henry Harrison (hero of Tippecanoe) as president and John Tyler as VP
Whigs used the appeal-to-the-common-man campaign
Van Buren was unpopular because of the depression
Harrison won the election

38. 1840 Election

39. The Second Party System Matures
Between 1836 and 1840, the number of people who voted increased by 60%
This rapid increase in voter interest was caused by:
Popular campaign techniques
Strong contrast and competition between rival parties
Controversial issues like tariffs and banking
All of which characterized the mature second party system

40. The Rise of Popular Religion
Introduction
In the 1820’s and 1830’s, Americans turned to preachers who rejected Calvinist beliefs in predestination
Just as politics was becoming more democratic, so was religious doctrine
The primary message was that any individual could be saved through his or her own efforts and faith
This democratic transformation was produced in part by a series of religious revivals known as the Second Great Awakening

41. The Second Great Awakening
From New England, the Second Great Awakening moved rapidly to frontier areas
Thousands gathered at religious camp meetings
These frontier revivals helped to promote law and order
Diminished the violence prevalent in new western areas
The Methodists were the largest, most successful denomination on the frontier
Early 1800’s to 1840’s

42. Eastern Revivals
By the 1820’s, the center of religious revivals had moved east again
It was particularly strong in an area of western New York known as the Burned-Over District
Mostly along Erie Canal

43. Eastern Revivals (cont.)
Charles G. Finney
Revivalist leader
Preached humans were capable of living without sin
Humans needed to experience an emotional religious conversion

44. Critics of Revivals: The Unitarians
In New England, the educated and wealthy were often repelled by the emotional excesses of revivalism and turned instead to Unitarianism
This denomination preached that goodness should be cultivated by a gradual process of character building
Emulate the life and teachings of Jesus
Believed humans could shape their own destiny and improve their behavior

45. The Rise of Mormonism Joseph Smith
Started Mormonism in 1820’s
In the Burned-Over District
Moved to Nauvoo, IL to start a model city
Began practice of polygamy
Prosecuted by authorities and attacked by mobs (murdered Smith in 1844)

46. The Rise of Mormonism (cont.)
The hostility that the Mormons encountered from others convinced Mormon leaders that they must separate themselves from American society
Brigham Young moved Mormons to the Great Salt Lake region in 1846

47. The Shakers Started by Mother Ann Lee in the U.S.A. in 1774
Founded separate religious communities
The Shakers rejected economic individualism and tried to withdraw from American society
They separated men and women
Banned marriage
Relied on converts and adoption to keep their numbers up
They pooled their land and tools and labor in the process of creating remarkably prosperous villages

48. The Age of Reform Introduction
The reform movements were strongest in New England and in areas of the Midwest settled by New Englanders

49. The War on Liquor
The temperance movement began by preaching moderation in the use of liquor
American Temperance Society
Movement began to demand total abstinence and prohibition laws
Most members were middle class
1840’s Washington Temperance Societies attracted workers though
The movement was successful in cutting per capita consumption of alcohol in half between the 1820’s and 1840’s

50. Public School Reform Horace Mann
Secretary of the MA Board of Education

51. Public School Reform (cont.)
Advocated many educational innovations:
State tax support of schools
Grouping pupils into classes by age and level of competence
Longer school terms
Use of standardized textbooks
Compulsory attendance laws

52. Public School Reform (cont.)
Despite opposition from various groups, many northern states adopted these reforms
Backed by important constituencies:
Businesses
needed disciplined, literate workers
Workingmen’s groups
Saw education as a road to social mobility
Reform-minded women
realized school reform would open teaching careers to women
By 1900, 70% of public school teachers were female

53. Abolition
Opposition to slavery in the 1820’s came mostly from black Americans
1831
Militant white abolitionist movement began
Led by William Lloyd Garrison
The Liberator

54. Abolition (cont.)
Most northern whites in the 1830’s and 1840’s were hostile to the abolitionists
American Anti-Slavery Society
Founded in 1833
Suffered from internal quarrels between its Garrisonian wing and its New York and western wings
2 main points of dispute:
Whether to support rights for women as well as black
Whether to take abolitionism into politics

55. Abolition (cont.) http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=832

56. Women’s Rights
Many of the women’s rights leaders began their reform careers in the abolitionist movement
Seneca Falls, NY
1848
Women’s rights convention
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Lucretia Mott
Declaration of Sentiments

57. Women’s Rights (cont.) http://www.nps.gov/archive/wori/declaration.htm
Launch of the feminist movement
Women gained a few rights
They did not get to vote fully until 1920

58. Penitentiaries and Asylums
In the 1820’s and 1830’s, religious revivalists and reformers came to believe that crime, poverty, and deviancy were caused by failures of parental guidance that could be mended by institutions providing the proper discipline and environment
Following that belief, reformers created penitentiaries and workhouses for criminals and the indigent

59. Penitentiaries and Asylums (cont.)
Dorothea Dix fought for the establishment of insane asylums to treat the mentally ill
These programs were tied to the belief that deviancy could be erased by settling the deviants in the right environment

60. Utopian Communities
A few reformers founded “ideal” or “utopian” communities
Demonstrate ways of life that they thought were superior to those prevailing in antebellum American
New Harmony, IN
Hopedale, MA
Brook Farm, MA
Most utopian communities were short lived

61. New Harmony, IN

62. Conclusion
In the 1820’s and 1830’s, politics and religion responded increasingly to the common man
Andrew Jackson “represented” the common man of the enlarged electorate and was swept into the presidency
Jackson’s stands on federally financed internal improvements, protective tariffs, nullification, and the national bank divided citizens
Led to the rise of the second party system
Democrats vs. Whigs

63. Conclusion (cont.) The Panic of 1837, furthered the partisan split
Reformers offered a variety of proposals to unleash the basic goodness of humans and perfect society
Though initially avoiding “corrupt” politics, reformers by the 1840’s were starting to enter the political arena to advance their particular aims