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Expanding Democracy and the
Age of the Common Man
1829-1837
Universal Suffrage
• All but one state ended property ownership
requirement for voting by 1860
• Women and African-Americans were said to
be inferior by nature and could not vote
• While economic divisions were less obvious,
racial inequalities were reinforced through
popular culture and traditions
Election of 1824
• Four candidates- none received the majority
of electoral votes
• Andrew Jackson: popular support because of
military successes
• John Quincy Adams: Supported by
Northeastern industrialists
• Corrupt Bargain: Henry Clay helped Adams
gain votes; named secretary of state
Age of Jackson
• Represented the common man
– little formal education
– Distrust of banks
– Exclusion of Native Americans and African
Americans
• Party machine: Party officials organized voters
– Spoils system: appointed loyal party members to
govt. jobs
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Another two party System
Democrats
• Govt. should not interfere
in economy
– No tariffs or Natl. Bank
Whigs
• Supported American
System
• Strong central govt.
• More power to the states
• Morality was a private
matter
• Morality regulated
through public laws
Nullification
• Declare a law null and void within a state
• South Carolina refused to enforce Tariff of
1828
• Calhoun supported nullification theory, and
sets the stage for later states’ rights issues
• Force Bill allowed use of the army and navy to
collect customs taxes
Indian Removal
• Demand for land placed pressure on Native
American territories
• Despite assimilation, Indians still faced
prejudices
• Indian Removal Act of 1830 moved remaining
tribes from Southeast to land west of the
Mississippi
– Trail of Tears
• Supreme court upheld govt. right to take land
– Johnson v. M’Intosh (1823): Indians did not own
land
– Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831): Indians were
not citizens so Supreme court could not enforce
rights
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Bank War
• National bank v. state banks
– Jackson vetoed attempt to charter the U.S. Bank for
another 20 years
• Hard money v. Soft money: Gold and silver over
paper currency
• Panic of 1837
– British economic downturn and lack of faith in paper
currency
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