YAWP Chapter 9: Democracy in America

Which significant Founding Father warned of the “vices of democracy” and considered the British government the best in the world?

Alexander Hamilton

What are some examples of Americans utilizing their “democratic impulses”?

Voting, protests, petitioned the government, criticized the President

During the early nineteenth century, American politics went away from a holistic view and shifted where?

Sectionalism; representing their region of the nation more than the good of all

What influence shifted political power from Virginia early on to more northern states, specifically New York?

Power goes where there’s more people, and immigrants brought more people to New York.

What was the main sectional debate between the North and South?

Debate over slavery, lead to a massive voting bloc for both sides

These tensions flared when white settlers in which Louisiana Purchase territory applied for statehood in 1819? To be a free or slave state?

Missouri; slave

Some northern Congressmen, like James Tallmadge of New York, opposed slavery for moral reasons, but what was the main reason?

Wanted to maintain a sectional balance of power

Henry Clay, “the Great Compromiser,” promoted a deal to end the Missouri Crisis and also prevent future sectional disputes over slavery and statehood. What is this deal called?

Missouri Compromise of 1820

What was the Compromise?

Missouri admitted as a slave state, Maine as a free state; the rest of the Louisiana Purchase territory would be divided along the 36°30’ line of latitude (southern border of Missouri). Slavery was prohibited in states north of the line, permitted in states south of it

What nickname was given to Andrew Jackson by his troops during War of 1812?

Old Hickory

What famous War of 1812 victory was commanded by Jackson?

Battle of New Orleans

What did Jackson do with his troops in Florida?

In 1816, destroyed the “Negro Fort.” In 1818, occupied Pensacola, arrested and executed two British subjects for helping the Seminoles two years prior.

When most government officials wanted Jackson censured, who defended him, and used this to persuade Spain into accepting the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819?

then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams

What was the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819?

Treaty to give Florida to the United States

What happened during the election of 1824?

Jackson won the most electoral votes but John Quincy Adams used his clout to claim the presidency.

What happened during the next Election of 1828?

Jackson supporters accused Adams of elitism. Adams supporters accused Jackson of murder and attacked the morality of his marriage.

Who won the election of 1828?

 Jackson, easily, due to his broad appeal as a military hero.

What was the “Nullification Crisis”?

The South expected Jackson to repeal the Tariff of 1828 (Tariff of Abominations), and South Carolina even threatened to ignore the tax, “nullify” federal law, and secede from the Union.

Who was the face of this operation for South Carolina?

John C. Calhoun, Jackson’s own Vice President

How did Jackson solve the Nullification Crisis?

By threatening to use the military to enforce federal laws (Force Bill) and supporting a lower tariff to satisfy South Carolina.

Why was Andrew Jackson skeptical of the Bank of the United States?

Blamed the bank for the Panic of 1819, believed the bank had corrupted many politicians by giving them financial favors.

How did Jackson remove power from the Bank?

Directed his cabinet to stop depositing funds into it, working with state banks instead

This Bank War further split up the Democratic-Republican party, and Jackson supporters began to refer to themselves as what new political party?

Democrats

Jackson’s enemies referred to themselves as what new political party?

Whigs

What factors contributed to the Panic of 1837?

Sales of western land and the rise of state chartered banks

How did the Jackson administration make the bubble worse in 1836?

Congress allowed more banks to hold federal deposits. The Treasury issued the Specie Circular, which required people to pay for federal land with gold or silver. As a result, banks lost their gold and silver reserves.

Panicked bank customers scrambled to exchange their banknotes for hard currency in New York on May 4, 1837, during events known as what?

Bank runs

This panic and ensuing depression opened the door for the Whigs to take more power following the Panic of 1837. As opposed to main party organizer Henry Clay, who was nominated as the first Whig candidate for President in 1840?

William Henry Harrison

Who was his Vice President?

John Tyler

What was the campaign slogan for this candidacy, which ended victoriously, but disastrous?

“Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”

What happened on Harrison’s 31st day in office?

He died

When John Tyler became President, what specifically did he veto that seemed to be more Jacksonian Democratic than Whig?

Vetoed two new charters for another Bank of the United States

What issue ultimately led to the split of the Whig Party in 1856?

Slavery

The Whigs drew strength from these two earlier political movements. The Know-Nothings (nativists) and ___________.

Anti-Masonic Party (purpose to destroy the Freemasons)

What caused the anti-Masonic hysteria?

Disappearance and murder of William Morgan

The Anti-Masonic party eventually folded into the Whigs, but their strength demonstrated the strength of conspiracy theories in American politics. What are some other famous examples of political conspiracy theories from this time?

Anti-Catholics, anti-immigrants

Over the time from the Revolution to 1839, almost all states had laws explicitly limiting voting rights. Pennsylvania explicitly prohibited it. Who filed a lawsuit and got his right to vote terminated?

James Forten, a wealthy sailmaker who “wasn’t white enough to vote, but was white enough to be taxed.”

Define race relations between the US government and these groups: Native Americans, Irish Catholics.

NA: stood in the way of westward expansion; IC: despised nonwhites as competitors for scarce work and housing.

What abolitionist newspaper was murdered while defending his printing press in St. Louis?

Elijah Lovejoy

White actor Thomas Dartmouth Rice appeared on stage in Blackface, singing and dancing as a clownish enslaved man. What did he name this character?

Jim Crow

What economic class joined free Black activists in protesting racial inequality?

Lower middle-class