Age of Jackson

End of the Era of Good Feelings

More sectionalism, end of Post-Ghent nationalism

Return of Political Parties

• United Republicans under era of good feelings split

  • National Republicans with Adams

  • Democratic Republicans with Jackson (renamed to Democrats under Jackson’s presidency)

Election of 1824

• Last old-style election

• James Monroe completed his second term; 4 new candidates all representing Democratic-Republicans

  • John Quincy Adams (Mass): highly intelligent, experienced, and aloof

  • Henry Clay (KT): the gamy and gallant “Harry of the West”

  • William H. Crawford (GA): an able though ailing giant of a man

  • Andrew Jackson (TN): gaunt, gutsy hero of New Orleans

Corrupt Bargain

• Jackson called the election of 1824 a corrupt bargain because Jackson had the most votes and electoral votes, but not the majority 

• This made the election be thrown to the house of representatives where Henry Clay was the speaker 

• John Quincy Adams wins the election from the house of representatives and Jackson is mad about that

Adams’ Presidency

• First “minority president” with difficulty winning the popular vote

• Nationalist views

  • Most people swinging away from post-Ghent nationalist & toward states rights and sectionalism

  • Swung against the tide toward nationalism

  • First annual message urged Congress the construction of roads & canals

  • He renewed Washington’s proposal for a national university

  • Advocated federal support for an astronomical observatory

• One of the least successful presidents

• Entering White House under charges of “bargain”, “corruption”, and “usurpation”.

• Henry Clay Secretary of State

• Nationalist in a  time of sectionalism, not keeping up with what was happening.

• Wanted to treat the Cherokee Indians fairly since they’ve already been living there, and the citizens didn’t like that because they wanted more land.

Jackson Philosophy

• Rewards loyalty, wanted the common man to have power and less in the national government. Jackson broke a lot of rules and he did that “in the interest of the common man.”

Spoils System

• To the winner goes the spoils

• Rewarding political supporters with public office

• Was introduced to the federal government on a large scale 

• Jackson defined it on Democratic grounds:

  • “Every man is as good as his neighbor, perhaps equally better.”

  • Washington was due for a housecleaning

• He fired a lot of the government workers and gave those jobs to his friends and supporters 

• Less about finding new blood than about rewarding old cronies 

• Scandals with this 

  • illiterates , incompetents, and plain crooks were given positions of public trust

• Important element of 2 party order

• Gave jackson a ton of power because of loyalty

• Fires ppl with disagreements and rewards ppl who agree with him

• Anything Jackson wants

Election of 1828

• Adams’ second presidential campaign began in 1825 when get was elected by the house

• Adams only won some parts of New England, Jackson won everywhere else

• Jackson had risen from adversity

• Jackson’s inauguration

  • Symbolized the ascendancy of the masses

  • White House was thrown open for the first time

Tariff of 1828

The South hates tariffs because they dont make money off of their goods so South Carolina (BIG TARIFF), against what Jackson thought. SC didn’t want to pay these high tariffs and said they’d leave, and eventually Jackson comes with the army and by intimidation/force, and that they’re going to pay these tariffs regardless.

South Carolina Exposition

• SC declared the Tariff of 1828 unconstitutional

• Affirmed Calhoun’s “nullification theory”, where each state had the right to obey a national law or declare it void.

• SC continued to increased tension by rejecting the Tariff of 1832 as well

  • Jefferson responded with military action and a Force Bill was passed giving Jefferson authority to act against SC

Tariff Compromise

• Going in hand with the force bill, Henry Clay (the great compromiser) proposed an idea.

• The tariff would start off high

• Both sides (SC & National Government) thought they won because they would end up getting lower tariffs and the national government would get to keep South Carolina, meaning they wouldn’t leave.

Bank of the United States

• Bank War:

  • When Daniel Webster & Henry Clay presented the congress with a bill to renew Bank of the US’ charter

    • Charter was not to expire until 1836, but Clay pushed for renewal 4 years early to make it an election issue in 1832

    • Clay’s scheme was to run a recharter bill through Congress and then send it to the white house

  • Supreme Court declared monopolistic bank constitutional in McCulloch v Maryland (1819)

    • Jackson’s veto message reverberated with constitutional consequences

    • Vastly amplified the power of presidency

      • He was arguing that he vetoed because he personally found it harmful to the nation

      • He was claiming for the president alone a power equal to ⅔ votes in the Congress

• Destroying the Bank:

  • Charter denied, Bank of the US due to expire in 1836

    • Jackson was not one to let it die

    • He decided to bury the Bank by removing all federal deposits

    • Further proposed depositing no more funds

  • Death of the Bank of the US left a financial vacuum and kicked off a lurching cycle of booms and busts

    • Surplus of federal funds in state institutions – the so-called pet banks

    • No central control; the pet banks and smaller “wildcat” banks were more fly-by-night operations

  • Jackson tried to rein in the runaway economy

    • Authorized the Treasury to issue a Specie Circular – a decree that required all public land to be purchased with “hard” or metallic money

    • This drastic step slammed the brakes on the speculative boom, thus contributed to the financial panic and crash in 1837

Whig Party

• Whigs consisted of National Republicans & Anti-Masonic Party (people who didn’t like Jackson).

• The Whig Party essentially had no other reason to gather together other than to hate on Jackson. So their connection as a party wasn’t as strong as the Democrats.

• Others who joined the Whigs

  • Supports of Clay’s American System, southern states’ riggers, larger northern industrialists and merchants, and many evangelical Protestants

• Whigs thought of themselves as Conservatives, yet progressive in their support of active government programs and reforms

  • Called for internal improvements like canals, railroads, telegraph lines, and support for institutions-prisons, asylums, and public schools.

  • NORTH & EAST: MORE WHIGS

  • SOUTH & WEST: MORE DEMOCRATS

Election of 1836

• Whig’s Plan

  • Run 3 candidates

    • One from each section

    • No majority in the electoral college

    • Election decided in the House of Representatives

• Van Buren wins (Whig’s Plan fails)

  • Intelligent, successful statesmen, wealthy

• Van Buren’s problems as president:

  • He’s not Jackson

  • Jackson’s enemies

  • Anti-slavery

  • Texas annexations

  • Panic of 1837 economic depression

• Divorce Bill

  • “Divorces” the government from banking

  • Treasury independence

    • No more investing

    • No more loans

Tippecanoe and Tyler too

• Whig party motto in the Log Cabin and Hard Cider, Tippecanoe represented

• Resulted in the victory of the Whig Party in the Election of 1840

• William Henry Harrison & John Tyler

Jackson’s Beliefs

equal protection of the laws; an aversion to a moneyed aristocracy, exclusive privileges, and monopolies, and a predilection for the common man; majority rule; and the welfare of the community over the individual.

Increased Suffrage

• Towards the end of Van Buren’s presidency, people started to recognize that the common man should have more rights.

• Back then, in order to be able to do anything you had to be white, have land, etc.

• However, people started advocating for more rights towards the common people, not just white, rich men.

Jacksonian Democracy

• Pass legislation to the common man.

• Emphasizing the empowerment of ordinary citizens against elite interests.

Sectional Differences

• North & South:

• North: favored their protective tariffs (helped manufacturing and businesses)

• South: disliked tariffs, hurt more than help.

• North more Whigs, south and west more Democrats

•  Jackson's Legacy

• Had to appeal to the common man and way more voters

• Ideology of the Democratic Republicans and the Whigs

• Also called for internal improvements like canals, railroads, telegraph lines, and support for institutions-prisons, asylums, and public schools.