Jackson's Presidency

Transportation Revolution

• War of 1812 is over

• entered the Era of Good Feelings/Monroe’s presidency 1816

  • Monroe Doctrine: no European can enter the Western Hemisphere (if they do enter, US will take it as a sign of war)

    • exception = established colonies

    • also, US will stay out of European affairs

• 49th parallel

  • border between US and Canada

• AM gets Florida from SP, 1819

  • Florida Purchase Treaty

• MO Compromise

  • gives us Missouri (slave state) and Maine (free state)

    • important to keep free + slave state balance because of Congressional power

• American System

  • created by Henry Clay (he’s in the senate)

  • says that if AM wants to be successful, we need to be:

    1. pro-bank

       1. good money, good credit

    2. pro-infrastructure

       1. needs roads, bridges, canals for interstate commerce

    3. pro-tariff (taxes on imports to US/foreign goods)

       1. protects US-made goods (US made goods are going to be cheaper than foreign goods)

• Steamships, created by Robert Fulton

  • helped trade, especially for farmers

  • make ship transportation faster and more secure

  • led to Gibbons v Ogden

<aside> 📌

election of 1824:

• between JQA (john adams’ son), Clay, and Jackson

• JQA and Clay were basically the same - they would’ve split the votes, giving Jackson the win

• so Clay drops out of the race

• even though Jackson won popular vote, JQA won Electoral College votes (JQA is pres)

• JQA immediately makes Clay his Secretary of State

  • looks to Jackson that they planned it together; he calls it the “Corrupt Bargain”; wants to get rid of the Electoral College </aside>

Jackson as President

• 1828 Election (JQA vs Jackson)

  • there was a lot of mudslinging in the election

• restarts the Democratic Party (US is back to 2 parties)

• was a hero in the War of 1812

• Old Hickory

  • in a duel, he got shot next to the heart

  • thugged it out, shot + killed the guy

• “Man of the People”

  • fought for the common man

• “King Mob”

  • on his inauguration day, he invited the people to come to the White House to party

  • ppl get rlly drunk, start breaking a bunch of stuff

  • he moves the people out of the White House by moving the alcohol (knew they would follow the alc)

  • got in a fight w/a drunk guy, trying to move him out of the House - he broke a rib, knocked the guy unconscious

• starts the spoils system

  • basically “you rub my back, i rub yours”

  • pays the ppl who helped him get elected back by giving them govt jobs or some special benefits

  • makes it so that the person who wins the election might not be the person who is actually qualified (big nepotism

• 4 big policies:

  • Indian Policy

    • US wanted Native land (farming, settlers, etc.)

    • passed the Indian Removal Act

      • only got passed by one vote

    • the 5 “civilized” tribes got moved off their land to Oklahoma (not a state yet - didn’t think US will ever settle that far)

      1. Choctaw

         1. signed the treaty w/no fight (didn’t want to fight and die)

      2. Chickasaw

         1. signed the treaty w/no fight (didn’t want to fight and die)

      3. Creek

         1. signed the treaty w/no fight (didn’t want to fight and die)

      4. Cherokee

         1. went to the Supreme Court, trying to fight it; won the case, but Jackson + US military still went and forced them off

         2. went on the Trail of Tears: 5K mile walk to OK, bad weather, no supplies, etc

      5. Seminole

         1. in FL; US paid them to move - they kept beating the US military when US tried to kick them off the land

    • these are the tribes that assimilated to US culture (had slaves, spoke English, had constitutions, etc.)

  • States’ Rights

    • Kentucky wanted a toll road in their state (Maysville Road), wanted the fed govt to pay + build it

      • Jackson said “no, you build it yourself”

    • states build and pay for their own roads

    • interstate hw - federal

  • Tariff Issues

    • South called his tariff “Tariff of Abominations”

      • said it favored the North

    • SC told John C Calhoun (VP) the tariff was unfair

      • said if they were forced to pay it, SC would secede

      • Jackson didn’t care - if they didn’t pay, he would send the US military to them and force them to stay in the Union (called the Force Bill)

    • SC pays the tariff and stays in the Union

      • they end up being the first state to secede when Lincoln was pres + Civil War

  • Bank War

    • hated the bank, said it was unconstitutional; believed it only favored the rich

    • Clay pushed him to keep the bank

      • tried to set him up: if he killed the bank, he’d alienate the rich; if he kept the bank, he’d destroy his political base

    • Jackson kills the bank, put the $$ into state banks that will do wtv he wants (”pet banks”)

      • said if you want to buy land, must pay in gold or silver

    • right after, US hits a depression, economy sucks, his VP (now the Pres) has to fix it

    • ironic that he’s on the $20 bill