Unit 4.8 - Jackson and Federal Power

key terms/events & significance

John Quincy Adams & the Election of 1824 (PCE)

• Jackson got more popular + electoral votes → lost / political bad feelings due to bitter contest & divisive presidential election (1824) / accused Adams & Clay of secret political maneuvers (corrupt bargain)

• 1 of the 4 D-R party candidates for president / Jackson lacked majority of votes in Electoral College + Henry Clay supported Adams → became president

The “Revolution” of 1828 (PCE)

• Adams sought reelection but lost (South & West discontent of tariffs) / malign each other (accuse each other’s wife) → attracted lots of attention

• Jackson won (war hero reputation) → era of common man

The Perception of Jackson & his Power (PCE)

• Dominated politics for 8 years / symbol of low & middle class / no college education/ hero of Battle of New Orleans / violent temper but was an extraordinary self-made man

• Representative of all people & protector of common man / frugal—opposed to increase federal spending & national debt / strict interpretation of Congress’s powers / unofficial cabinet

The Peggy Eaton Affair (PCE)

• Aided Peggy Eaton (Jackson’s secretary of war’s wife) because she is the target of malicious gossip by other cabinet wives → he forced those wives to accept Peggy but the cabinets resigned

• Protect common people

The Indian Removal Act, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, & Worcester v. Georgia (NAT/MIG)

• Sympathize with settlers but wanted a humane solution by asking the Natives to leave & relocate west of Mississippi river → signed the act that forced them to move / supported by most politicians

• Georgia passed a law that forced the Cherokees to migrate west but they challenged Georgia in a court → Supreme Court ruled Cherokees not a foreign nation + has no right to sue federal court

• Clash between state’s laws & federal courts because the high Court ruled Georgia had no force within Cherokee territory → Jackson sided with the state → federal courts powerless to enforce its decision

The Trail of Tears (NAT/MIG)

• Most Cherokees repudiated the settlement of 1835

• U.S. Army forced 15000 Cherokees to leave Georgia in 1838 (after Jackson left his office) → trail of tears westward caused 4000 Cherokees’ deaths

The Nullification Crisis & the Tariff of Abominations (PCE)

• Increased tariff of 1828 / South Carolina declared it unconstitutional → wanted to nullify it 

• Each state has right to nullify federal law / South Carolina held convention to nullify tariff → Jackon prepared military + declared nullification & disunion treason

• Compromise by suggesting Congress lower tariff / South Carolina postponed nullification → rescinded after adjustment

Bank Veto & Nicholas Biddle (PCE/WXT)

• Bank’s president / managed it efficiently

• People +Jackson suspected the bank abused power & only served the wealthy → unconstitutional

• Henry supported the bank → challenged Jackson to rechart the chill → he vetoed the bank / denounced t as private monopoly, enriched wealthy at expense of commoners & backed by his people → won reelection

Democrats vs Whigs (PCE)

• Supporters of Jackson / Jefferson’s old D-R party

• Supporter of Clay / Hamilton’s Federalist party / national bank & internal improvements

• Both were challenged by westward expansion & emergence of industrial economy

Martin van Buren & the Panic of 1837 (WXT)

• Jackson financial policies + feverish Purchase of west land → inflation / resolved by Specie Circular → future purchase of lands in specie (gold & silver) → banknotes lost value + land sales plummeted → financial crisis send the nation’s economy into depression after Jackson left his office

• Jackson tried to nominate his loyal vice president / master of practical politics → won election

Tippecanoe & John Tyler (PCE)

• William Henry / war hero & candidate of the WHigs to defeat van Buren / campaigned for him

• Former Democrats that joined Whigs / 1st vice president to succeed presidency / vetoed Whig’s national bank & other legislation

Native Americans on the Great Plains (NAT/MIG)

• Natives were pushed to move / by 1850s, most lived west of Mississippi River / those lived to the east had either been killed (disease), died in battles, emigrated reluctantly, or forced to leave their land

• Great Plain—a temporary respite from White Settlers / horse revolutionized their lives → villages & farm, nomadic hunters → easier to avoid settlers & oppose forced encroachment

Settlers on the Frontier (ARC/GEO)

• Work hard from sunrise to sunset / lived in log cabins, sod huts or shelters from local resources

• Women: myriad daily tasks - doctor, teacher, seamstress, cook, chief assistant to farmer husband / isolation, childbirth, work → short lifespan for them

• Environmental damage: settlers little understanding of nature & wildlife → clear forest, exhaust soil, & buffalo extinction

Explain the causes and effects of continuing policy debates about the role of the federal government.

After the era of good feeling ended, division and sectionalism emerged once again, resulting in the Democrats and Whigs. The two parties bear resemblance to the old D-R and the Federalist, thus resulting in divergent opinion about the role of the government like the role of the national bank.