Brinkley, Chapter 9 “Jacksonian America”
Main themes of Chapter Nine:
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The expansion of the electorate during the "age of Jackson," and the limits of that expansion
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The growing tension between nationalism and states' rights, as particularly reflected in the nullification crisis and
the Webster-Hayne debate
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The brutal treatment of Native Americans by the Jackson administration, culminating in Indian Removal and the
Trail of Tears
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The competing views of American economic development held by both sides in the Bank War, and their regional
implications
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The rise of the Whig Party as an alternative to Andrew Jackson and the Democrats, and the Jacksonian political
strategies used by both Whigs and Democrats in the Second Party System
A thorough study of Chapter Nine should enable the student to understand the following:
1. The democratization of the electorate that took place during Andrew Jackson's presidency, and those groups left
out of this political transformation
2. Andrew Jackson's philosophy of government and his impact on the office of the presidency
3. The debate among historians about the meaning of "Jacksonian Democracy," and Andrew Jackson's relationship
to it
4. The nullification theory of John C. Calhoun, and President Jackson's reaction to the attempt to put nullification
into action
5. The reasons why the eastern Indians were removed to the West and the impact this had on the tribes
6. The motivations animating Jackson's Bank War, and the effects of the Bank War on the American financial
system
7. The judicial climate of the Taney Court, how it differed in principle from the decisions of the earlier Marshall
Court, and how it worked to foster Jacksonian ideals
8. The differences in party philosophy between the Democrats and the Whigs, the reasons for the Whig victory in
1840, and the effect of the election on political campaigning
9. The causes of the Panic of 1837, and the effect of the panic on the presidency of Van Buren
10. The negotiations that led to the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, and the importance of the treaty in Anglo-American
relations
Key Persons / Events / Terms / Concepts
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Jackson’s inauguration
The “reign of ‘King Mob’”
Broadening the franchise
Ohio state constitution
The Dorr Rebellion (RI)
Exceptions to the franchise
extensions
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Legitimization of party politics
Martin Van Buren and the
“Albany Regency”
Whigs
Democrats
The philosophy of “the spoils
system”
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From the caucus to the party
convention
John C. Calhoun
Theory of nullification
The Peggy Eaton affair
The rise of Martin Van Buren
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Daniel Webster
The Webster-Hayne debates
“Second Reply to Hayne”
The nullification crisis
Jackson’s “force bill”
Henry Clay’s compromise
Changing attitudes towards
Indians
“domestic dependent nations”
The Black Hawk Wat
Black Hawk and Whirling
Thunder
The “Five Civilized Tribes”
Sequoyah and Major George
Lowrey (see page 231)
Removal Act of 1830
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia
Cherokee removal and the “Trail
of Tears”
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Osceola and the Seminole War
Alternatives to removal
Nicholas Biddle
The Second Bank of the U.S.
“soft money” faction
“hard money” faction
Early re-charter application and
the election of 1832
Jackson’s removal of federal
government deposits
“pet banks”
Jackson v. Biddle and the
recession of 1833-34
Roger B. Taney
Charles River Bridge v. Warren
Bridge, 1837
Birth of the Whig Party – those
opposed to “King Andrew I”
Democrats’ philosophy,
constituencies, and leadership
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Whigs’ philosophy,
constituencies, and leadership
Clay’s American System
Election of 1836
The economic boom and the
Distribution Act
Jackson’s “Specie Circular” and
the Panic of 1837
The “Independent Treasury”
The “Log Cabin Campaign” of
1840
First president to die in office
Whigs break with Tyler
The Caroline affair
The “Aroostook War”
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
Treaty of Wang Hya