Chapter 14
Andrew Jackson & the
Growth of Democracy
I. Inauguration of Andrew Jackson
A. Inauguration
1. 10,000 people went to DC, many 1st
time voters
B. For the Common Man
1. Voting laws changed to give
“common man” right to vote
2. Promised to return the government
“to the people”
3. Shift in power to the West, farmers,
shopkeepers and small business
owners
II. From the Frontier to the White House
A. Background
1. hot-tempered
2. American Revolution - joined at age 13,
captured by British
B. Frontier Lawyer
1. Lawyer in NC
2. 1788 – heads to TN, buys land and slaves
3. Never outgrew temper
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Slave trader insulted Jackson and his wife
Jackson challenged him to duel
Slave trader shot first, hitting Jackson in chest
Jackson fired a single shot, trader falls dead
Bullet so close to Jackson’s heart, doctors
unable to remove it
II. From the Frontier to the White House
C. People’s Choice
1. Served in both House and Senate
2. Known as “Old Hickory” while defending New
Orleans in War of 1812
3. 1824 –John Quincy Adams and 2 others for
President
a) Won most popular and electoral votes, but not
enough for majority (House chooses from top
3)
b) 4th place urged others to back Adams, then
became Secretary of State
c) Jackson’s supporters promised revenge,
created Democratic Party
d) Jacksonian Democracy – common people
should control the government
Andrew Jackson’s Rise to Power
III. Jackson’s Approach to Governing
A. Kitchen Cabinet
1. Advice came from trusted friends
who met in White House kitchen
B. Spoils System
1. Jackson replaced Republican
officeholders with loyal Democrats
a) Rotating people in office more democratic
than lifetime service
b) Opponents called this the spoils system
IV. Nullification Crisis
A.
B.
A New Tariff
1. 1828 – Congress raises taxes on imported goods
to encourage manufacturing
2. North favors, South opposes
a) Raised prices
b) Discouraged international trade
c) Concerns over cotton sales to other countries
d) Law favoring one region = unconstitutional
The Right to Nullify
1. 1832 – Jackson lowered tariff but not enough for
SC
2. SC proclaimed their right to nullify (refuse to
recognize a federal law), threatened to secede
a) Jackson had Congress pass the Force Bill to use
army to collect tariffs
b) Congress passed compromise bill that lowered
tariffs more
c) SC backed down, still tense
V. Jackson Battles the Bank of the US
A. Feelings Against the Bank
1. Jackson thought bank benefited rich Eastern
investors at the expense of farmers and
workers
B. Slaying the Bank
1. Bank’s charter up for renewal in 1836 but
Henry Clay tried to push bill through
Congress 4 years early
2. Jackson vetoed the bill calling the bank a
monopoly
3. 1833 – ordered secretary of treasury to
remove all federal deposits from the Bank
and put in state banks
VI. Jackson’s Indian Policy
A. Conflicts with Native Americans
1. Treaties – drew boundaries between areas
for settlers and areas promised to Indians
a) Despite treaties, still pushed off land
2. Only 125,000 lived east of Mississippi
a) Most in South
b) Belonged to 5 groups: Creek, Cherokee,
Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole
c) adopted many white ways, hoped to live in
peace with white neighbors
B. Indian Removal Act
1. 1830 – allowed President to make treaties in
which Indians in East traded lands for
territory in Plains
a) Did not say Indians be removed by force
b) 1831 – Supreme Court ruled Indians had right
to their lands
c) Jackson disagreed – groups that refused to
move west were met with military force
VI. Jackson’s Indian Policy
C. Trail of Tears
1. 1836 – thousands of Creeks who refused to
leave Alabama were rounded up and
marched west in handcuffs
2. 1838 – President Van Buren had 17,000+
Cherokee dragged from their homes in
Georgia and herded west by federal troops
a) 4,000 died during the walk to Indian Territory
3. Seminoles of Florida resisted removal for 10
years
a) Most costly Indian war in US
b) Some found refuge in Florida swamps
4. Jackson claimed to have solved Indian
problem, but only moved the conflict across
the Mississippi
Trail of Tears