Chapter 10: Jacksonian Democracy, 1820–1840

What was the code of deference?

Respect shown to people because of their wealth, education, family, or status.

What was the spoils system?

Rewarding political supporters with government jobs.

Why did Andrew Jackson win the 1828 election?

He presented himself as a champion of ordinary White men against wealthy elites.

What was the “corrupt bargain” of 1824?

Jackson's supporters accused John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay of making a deal that gave Adams the presidency and Clay the position of secretary of state.

What was the American System?

Henry Clay's plan for protective tariffs, a national bank, and federal funding for roads and canals.

What was the second party system?

The political competition between the Democratic and Whig Parties.

What was the tyranny of the majority?

When the majority uses its power to suppress minority rights and opinions.

What did Alexis de Tocqueville write?

Democracy in America, which examined American democracy and warned about majority rule.

Who won the 1840 election, and how did he campaign?

William Henry Harrison won using his war-hero image, the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” and the log cabin campaign.

What was the Nullification Crisis?

South Carolina challenged federal tariffs, claiming a state could reject federal laws. Jackson opposed nullification, and a compromise tariff helped resolve the crisis.

What was the Bank War?

Jackson fought against the Second Bank of the United States because he believed it gave too much power to wealthy elites.

What was the Panic of 1837?

A major economic crisis that began during Martin Van Buren's presidency.

Why was the Whig Party formed?

To oppose Jackson and support policies such as a national bank, protective tariffs, and internal improvements.

What was the Indian Removal Act of 1830?

A law that authorized the relocation of Native American nations from their southeastern homelands to lands farther west.

Which nations were known as the Five Civilized Tribes?

Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole.

What was Worcester v. Georgia (1832)?

The Supreme Court ruled that Georgia could not enforce its laws within Cherokee territory, but the decision was not effectively enforced.

What was the Trail of Tears?

The forced relocation of Cherokee people to present-day Oklahoma, during which thousands died from disease, starvation, and exposure.

What was Black Hawk's War?

A 1832 conflict in which Fox and Sauk people attempted to reclaim their ancestral lands in Illinois.

American System

the program of federally sponsored roads and canals, protective tariffs, and a national bank advocated by Henry Clay and enacted by President Adams

code of deference

the practice of showing respect for individuals who had distinguished themselves through accomplishments or birth

corrupt bargain

the term that Andrew Jackson’s supporters applied to John Quincy Adams’s 1824 election, which had occurred through the machinations of Henry Clay in the U.S. House of Representatives

Five Civilized Tribes

the five tribes—Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw—who had most thoroughly adopted Anglo-American culture; they also happened to be the tribes that were believed to stand in the way of western settlement in the South

Kitchen Cabinet

a nickname for Andrew Jackson’s informal group of loyal advisers

log cabin campaign

the 1840 election, in which the Whigs painted William Henry Harrison as a man of the people

monster bank

the term Democratic opponents used to denounce the Second Bank of the United States as an emblem of special privilege and big government

nullification

the theory, advocated in response to the Tariff of 1828, that states could void federal law at their discretion

rotation in office

originally, simply the system of having term limits on political appointments; in the Jackson era, this came to mean the replacement of officials with party loyalists

second party system

the system in which the Democratic and Whig Parties were the two main political parties after the decline of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican Parties

spoils system

the political system of rewarding friends and supporters with political appointments

Tariff of Abominations

a federal tariff introduced in 1828 that placed a high duty on imported goods in order to help American manufacturers, which southerners viewed as unfair and harmful to their region

Trail of Tears

the route of the forced removal of the Cherokee and other tribes from the southeastern United States to the territory that is now Oklahoma

tyranny of the majority

Alexis de Tocqueville’s phrase warning of the dangers of American democracy

universal manhood suffrage

voting rights for all male adults

Whigs

a political party that emerged in the early 1830s to oppose what members saw as President Andrew Jackson’s abuses of power