Ch. 13 Class Discussion Questions
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#1: What events led to the emergence of Andrew Jackson as President in 1828? To what extent were these an
affirmation of him or a reaction to the political environment?
Two Party System – Democrats & Whigs
The “Corrupt Bargain” of 1824
JQA – Minority President
Going “Whole Hog” for Jackson in 1828
Old Hickory as President *
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#2: What were the major issues during Jackson’s presidency? How would you rate the effectiveness of his
handling of each of those issues?
The Spoils System
The “Tariff of Abominations” | Nullification
The Trail of Tears
The Bank War
Internal Improvements – Maysville Road Veto *
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#3: Does Andrew Jackson belong in the pantheon of great American presidents? Why or why not? *
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#4: What were the major problems faced by the Van Buren administration? Did these demonstrate a weakness of
Jackson’s economic and financial policies? Why was he unable to outmaneuver the Whig opposition?
The Birth of the Whigs
The Election of 1836
Big Woes for the “Little Magician”
Depression Doldrums | Independent Treasury *
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#5: Argue for or Against: the Texas Revolution against Mexico was more about the expansion of slavery into the
West than about the rights of Anglo-American settlers in Texas. *
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#6: What did the two new democratic parties, the Democrats and Whigs, really stand for? Were they actual
ideological opponents or were their disagreements less important than their shared roots and commitment to
mass democracy?
The Election of 1840
Politics of the People – Populism
Two-Party System
What was Jacksonian Democracy? *
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Ch. 13 Class Discussion Questions
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#7: Compare and contrast the two-party political system of the 1830’s New Democracy with the first two-party
system of the early Republic. In what ways were the two systems similar, and in what ways were they different?
Were both parties of the 1830’s correct in seeing themselves as heirs of the Jeffersonian Republican tradition
rather than the Hamiltonian Federalist tradition? *