Chapter 10
The Jacksonian Era, 1824—1845
Chapter Summary
Chapter 10 introduces the student to the development of democratic ideals during the presidency of Andrew
Jackson. Topics covered in the chapter include the rise of the second national political party system, the
expansion of democratic political rights to white males, the limited meaning of Jacksonian democracy for
women and African Americans, the revival of evangelical Christianity with the Second Great Awakening,
the growing debate over the issue of slavery, and the rise of the Whig Party during the 1840s.
I.
The Egalitarian Impulse
A.
The Extension of White Male Democracy
1.
Extending the suffrage and democratic reform
2.
The disfranchisement of free blacks and women
B.
The Popular Religious Revolt
C.
The Rise of the Jacksonians
II.
Jackson’s Presidency
A.
Jackson’s Appeal
B.
Indian Removal
C.
The Nullification Crisis
D.
The Bank War
III.
Van Buren and Hard Times
A.
The Panic of 1837
B.
The Independent Treasury
C.
Uproar over Slavery
IV.
The Rise of the Whig Party
A.
The Party Taking Shape
B.
Whig Persuasion
C.
The Election of 1840
V.
The Whigs in Power
A.
Harrison and Tyler
B.
The Texas Issue
C.
The Election of 1844
VI.
Conclusion
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Learning Objectives
After a careful examination of Chapter 10, students should be able to do the following:
1.
Describe the emergence of universal white male suffrage as a characteristic of Jacksonian
democratic reform.
2.
Explain the impact of early nineteenth-century political reform on the voting rights of women and
African Americans.
3.
Identify the Second Great Awakening as the second major example of popular religious revolt in
American history.
4.
Define the term evangelical Christianity and describe its impact on American theology and
religious style.
5.
Explain the special appeal of evangelical Christianity to women and African Americans.
6.
Describe the personal background of Andrew Jackson and identify which aspects of his
background would be most politically appealing to Americans of the early nineteenth century.
7.
Explain how Jackson s loss of the 1824 presidential election set the stage for his victory in 1828.
8.
Comment on the importance of Martin Van Buren s support for Jackson in the 1828 election.
9.
Discuss the results of the 1828 election in terms of regional, class, and religious support for each
candidate.
10.
Explain the provisions of the Maysville Road Bill and why Jackson vetoed the bill.
11.
Outline the provisions of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
12.
Describe the Trail of Tears as an example of the Indian removal policy implemented by the
United States government during the Jackson administration.
13.
Identify Black Hawk s War as an example of Native American resistance to the Indian removal
policy.
14.
Identify two Supreme Court decisions from the John Marshall court that addressed the issue of
Indian removal.
15.
Briefly discuss John C. Calhoun s theory of nullification as set forth in The South Carolina
Exposition and Protest.
16.
Discuss the Bank War and the degree to which it reflected Jackson s commitment to states rights
as well as his commitment to the common man.
17.
Explain the political significance of the Eaton affair.
18.
Define the term gag rule and explain its connection to the issue of slavery by 1836.
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19.
Describe the original organizers of the Whig Party and explain the special role played by the
Anti-Masons.
20.
Outline the basic principles of Whig political ideology.
21.
Explain the importance of the Texas issue in the 1844 presidential election and comment on the
impact of the Pakenham letter on the Texas debate in Congress.
22.
Explain the issues surrounding the Oregon question and how the issue helped Democrats win the
presidency in 1844.
Topics for Classroom Lectures
1.
Discuss the Second Great Awakening and the strengthening of evangelical Christianity in
America during the early nineteenth century. Focus particularly on the impact of the movement on the
American South. How will the religious image of the South be more clearly defined through this
movement? What will the movement mean to the state of religion in the southern backcountry? Will
evangelical religion threaten or strengthen the southern institution of slavery?
2.
Examine the presidential election of 1828. Is Jackson s victory in this election an example of
democracy s impact on the presidency or is it the beginning of the presidency s impact on American
democracy? Compare Jackson s victory in 1828 to Thomas Jefferson s victory in 1800. Consider the
following issues in the comparison: a) parallels in regional support for Jefferson and Jackson; b)
similarities in the political ideologies of Jefferson and Jackson; c) the role of the common man in defining
the outcome of each election; and d) the transfer of power from one party to another in each election, (i.e.,
from the Federalists to the Republicans in 1800 and from the Republicans to the Democrats in 1828).
Another interesting parallel is the fact that Jefferson and Jackson followed the only one-term presidents
up until this time in American history. Jefferson followed John Adams and Jackson followed John
Quincy Adams, Adams s son.
3.
Discuss Andrew Jackson as a Southern president. Which aspects of the southern political agenda
did Jackson actively support? If we recognize states rights and slavery as the hallmarks of the southern
political agenda, to what extent did Jackson support these broad issues? In so doing, was he the friend of
the common man, as he is so often characterized, or was he the friend of the southern planter? What was
the most significant occasion on which he refused to support the southern agenda?
4.
Discuss the importance of territorial expansion to the deepening of sectional divisions in America
during the early nineteenth century. What was the connection between the acquisition of western land
and the sectional issues of states rights and slavery? Was it an accident that the defining issue in the
presidential election of 1844 was territorial expansion and the defining issue of the election of 1848 and
every election thereafter until the Civil War was slavery?
Topics for Classroom Discussion and Essays
1.
Have students consider a comparison and contrast of Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy.
How are the two ideologies similar? How are they different? Does the emergence of Jacksonian
democracy continue the American ideological shift to the left? To what extent did the early nineteenth
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century see the expansion of democracy? To what extent does Jacksonian democracy still seem limited to
twentieth-century Americans?
2.
Compare and contrast the political ideologies of the Democratic and Whig parties. How did they
resemble the Federalist and Republican parties that preceded them? How did they differ? Are they
comparable to the Democratic and Republican parties of today?
3.
Discuss the issue of nullification as it had evolved to this point in American history. Begin by
thinking back to the Suffolk Resolves and the colonial nullification of the Intolerable Acts. Proceed to the
use of the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions by Republicans against the Sedition Act in 1800. Finally,
consider the nullification crisis of 1832. How do these events reflect American concerns about the
powers of central authority? How justified was each act of nullification? How effective was each
challenge to central authority?
Topics for Term Papers and Class Projects
1.
Write a paper on the circumstances surrounding the Nat Turner revolt. How successful was the
revolt? What factors contributed to the outcome? Slave rebellion was generally unsuccessful in the
antebellum South. Why, then, did southern whites fear it so strongly?
2.
Research the Cherokee experience on the Trail of Tears. What does this chapter in American
history say about United States Indian policy as well as the status of Native Americans living in the
United States in the early nineteenth century?
3.
Explore the impact of the nullification crisis on John C. Calhoun s political career. Having
started his career as a nationalist who supported the War of 1812, the National Bank, and the Tariff of
1816, by 1832 Calhoun was a self-proclaimed sectionalist and the originator of the theory of nullification.
Use Calhoun s life, particularly his political transformation from nationalist to sectionalist, as a prism
through which to study America s larger transition from an era of nationalism to an era of sectionalism
between 1815 and 1848.
4.
Have students examine the impact of politicians personal lives on their professional lives. This
chapter looks at the Eaton affair. Compare Eaton s dilemma with those of Grover Cleveland, John F.
Kennedy, and Bill Clinton. Should a politician s personal life impact public assessment of his or her
professional life? As the feminists say, Should the personal be political?
Resources for Lectures and Research Projects
William W. Freehling, Prelude to Civil War: The Nullification Controversy in South Carolina,
1816–1836 (1966).
Richard P. McCormick, The Second Party System (1966).
John Nivens, John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union (1988).
Merrill Peterson, The Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay, and Calhoun (1987).
Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Empire, 1767—1821(1977).
Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Freedom, 1822–1832 (1981).
Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Democracy, 1833—1845(1984).
Ronald N. Satz, American Indian Policy in the Jacksonian Era (1974).
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Audio-Visual Resources
How the West was Lost?, A&E Video, 60 minutes.
This video includes a 15-minute treatment of the Cherokee Trail of Tears.
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