CHAPTER 13
THE AGE OF
JACKSON
Election of 1824
• Four candidates… all Republican
• All nominated in different ways
(states, party caucus)
–John Q. Adams - Sec. of State
–Henry Clay - Speaker of the House
–William Crawford - Sec. of the
Treasury
–Andrew Jackson - war hero,
politician
Election of 1824
• No candidate had a
majority - AJ led the
popular vote
• Went to the House
of Reps.
Jackson
Adams
Crawford
Clay
– B/n Crawford,
Jackson, and Adams
– Clay out of running
but powerful as
Speaker
CORRUPT BARGAIN??
• Clay hated Jackson
– rivals in the west and jealous of his
popularity
• Clay & Adams met and Clay gave his support
to Adams
– Adams won on the first ballot
– Adams later appoints Clay Secretary of
State
• Jackson’s supporters cried “Corrupt
Bargain!!”
John Q. Adams Presidency
• Less than 1/3 of people voted
for him - a minority president?
• Refused patronage - lost him
support
• All his ideas hated… or was it
him?
• Lots of great ideas
– Internal improvements, national
university, $ for scientific
research
• Fought with the Gov. of
Georgia over the Cherokee
– To make sure they were treated
fairly
– The Governor threatened him
and he backed down
ELECTION OF 1828
• Jackson’s campaign began in 1824
• Presented as a hero and a common man
(actually a very wealthy planter)
• Democratic Republican Party formed to support
him (Democrats)
• Lots of mud-slinging
– Jackson - mom a prostitute, wife an adulteress, killer
– Adams - gambles, rich off of govt., a pimp (literally)
ELECTION OF 1828 RESULTS
• Vote split along sectional
lines
– Jackson wins South and
West
– Adams win New England
• Jackson wins electoral
college big
• Showed how political
power was moving west
JACKSON’S PRESIDENCY
Spoils System
• First time spoils system used on a large scale
– The practice of giving govt. jobs to
supporters
– AJ thought it good to bring in new blood
• Rotation in Office - everyone deserves a
turn and no one gets complacent
– Not all were capable… one became the first
to steal $1 million form the govt.
– Very important to politics today - promotes
party loyalty
JACKSON’S PRESIDENCY
Tariffs
• Jacksonites proposed a disgustingly
high tariff towards the end of the
Adams’ adm.
– Would not pass and would embarrass
Adams
– Did pass and Jackson had to deal with it
– “Tariff of Abominations”
• Very high tariff… hurt the South
– They sold their cotton and food on the world market
(unprotected)
– Were still forced to buy American goods at higher
than normal prices
JACKSON’S PRESIDENCY
Tariffs
• Led to the South Carolina Exposition
– Said the tariff was unconstitutional
– Should be nullified
• South Carolina tried to and failed
• New legislature elected in 1832 and they
nullified the tariff
– Threatened to secede if the govt. tried to collect
the $ by force
– Jackson was not one to be bullied and he began
to prep the military
– Civil War????
Clay to the Rescue…Again
• Clay proposed the Compromise Tariff of 1832
– Tariffs would be lowered a total of 10%
over a span of 8 years
• Force Bill also passed
– Authorized the Prez to use military force to
collect customs duties if needed
• South Carolina withdrew their nullification of
the Tariff… but nullified the Force Bill
JACKSON’S PRESIDENCY
Native Americans
• Jackson wanted expansion… good for the west
– Meant had to deal with Indians
– Assimilation or Extermination
• 1828 Georgia Legislature declared authority
over Cherokee lands and affairs
– Cherokee fought this before Supreme Court 3 times..
won all 3 times
– Jackson refused to enforce the decisions
– Jackson the came up with a third option… forced
removal
Indian Removal Act - 1830
• Moved 100,000 Native
Americans
• All tribes east of the
Mississippi River
• Trail of Tears
– Thousands die en route
• Supposed to be free
from white
encroachment
JACKSON’S PRESIDENCY
Native Americans
• 1836 - Bureau of Indian Affairs created
• In Illinois and Wisconsin the Sauk & Fox
resisted removal - Black Hawk War
• Seminole Indians waged a 7-year
guerilla war in Florida
– Their leader Osceola was taken prisoner
under a flag of truce… led to their defeat
– Many moved to Oklahoma
Election of 1832
• Jackson v. Clay
• Two westerners
• Two big firsts
Vs.
– Anti-Mason party nominated their candidate in a
convention
– The party also adopted a formal platform
• Jackson won easily even though Clay had a
lot of $
– Some of Clay’s $ came from the Bank of the U.S.
– Bank was the big issue
Jackson and the Bank War
• During the election Clay decided to to make
the Bank the issue
– He proposed to renew the bank’s charter in
1832 even though it wasn’t up until 1836
• To bait Jackson because he hated it and its
leader Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas
– Saw it as a tool of the wealthy
Biddle
• Jackson vetoed the bill - HUGE
– Not because it was unconstitutional, but he
thought it was a bad idea - huge increase in
power for the Prez
• Jackson took his election as a mandate to
destroy the bank… now
“The bank tried to kill me,
so I will kill it!”
• In 1833 Jackson removed all the government’s $ from the
Bank of the U.S.
– Not at all popular
– Biddle called in all loans - created a major financial
panic
• The $ was deposited in a $ of western banks – “pet banks”
– These banks flooded the country with paper $ became worthless
– Also began to give out tons of loans to buy land.. Overspeculation
• AJ issued the “specie circular”
– All public land had to be bought with specie (gold or
silver)
NEW POLTICAL
PARTY SYSTEM
• Democrats
– Followers of Andrew
Jackson
– Party of the
“common man”
– Got people excited
about politics again
– Wanted to get more
involved
– Still around today
• Whigs
– Started by Clay,
Calhoun & Webster
– Anti-King Andrew I
– Very diverse
– States’ rights
– American Sys.
• Internal
improvements
– anti-Masons
Election of 1836
Democrat
Martin Van Buren
Whig
William H. Harrison
Martin Van Buren wins
– An experienced
politician, strategist,
and spoilsman
– Hand-picked by AJ
– Some Dems didn’t
like him
– Inherited Jackson’s
enemies
– Inherited AJ’s
economic panic too
Texas
• Land was given to Stephen Austin by Mexico
– To lure in settlers
– Supposed to be Catholic and assimilated into
Mexican culture
– By 1835 there were 30,000 Americans there
• Conflict soon arose over the issue of home rule
– How much power did the Texans have to
govern themselves
– Slavery, immigration, and other local rights
– 1830 - Slavery had been forbidden
Stephen
Austin
Van Buren’s Presidency
• Panic of 1837
– Caused by land speculation again, along with crop
failures and foreign bank closures
• Banks failed by the hundreds - some had govt. $
deposited in them
• Whigs called for more credit, higher tariffs, and $ for
internal improvements… sound familiar?
– Divorce Bill
• Est. an independent treasury
• Put money away in vaults so no one could touch it
• Around, with a short exception, until 1912
Texas Declares Independence
• 1836 Santa Anna took
away all local rights and
raised an army
• TX declared
independence
– led by Sam Houston
• The Alamo
– When word got out of this
many Americans took up
arms to help
• Houston eventually
captured Santa Anna
Sam Houston
Santa Anna
Republic of Texas
• Santa Anna agreed
to:
– Withdraw Mexican
troops
– Border would be the
Rio Grande
– Later he took it all
back
• Texas soon wanted
to be annexed slavery??
Election of 1840
• Van Buren v. Harrison again
– Harrison was issueless - had no enemies
– log cabins & hard cider
– Was a western common man, Van Buren a
eastern city boy causing trouble
• Lots of hoopla from the Whigs
– “Keep the ball rolling”
• Harrison wins
Politics never the same since the era of
Jackson