Election of 1824

• Since there was no serious party to challenge the Democratic-Republican party, FOUR candidates from the party ran for president.

  • Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and William Crawford.

  • Jackson won the most popular votes and electoral votes but did not receive a MAJORITY of electoral votes.

The Corrupt Bargain

• In the House of Representatives, Henry Clay used his influence to gain enough votes for John Quincy Adams to win the election.

• J.Q. Adams appointed Henry Clay as his Secretary of State.

  • Jackson and his supporters claimed a CORRUPT BARGAIN was struck between Clay and Adams to steal the election from the popular choice through secret back room bargaining.

• Jackson IMMEDIATELY announced he was a candidate for President in 1828.

Presidency of John Quincy Adams

• Adams was unable to get much accomplished in his single term as President for various reasons:

  • Popular sentiment was against him.

  • Seen as a Federalist.

• Congress and his party did not support Adams

  • Dem-Rep felt JQ Adams was too “Federalist” to support for re-election.

  • Jacksonian Democrats were able to criticize Adams for nearly every action taken or not taken.

Birth of the Democrats

• Democratic Platform: Intended to satisfy SOuthern slaveholders, Northern middle-class businessmen, and white working-class Americans: “The Common Man.”

  • Pro-Slavery

  • Anti-Tariff

  • Anti-BUS and Paper Currency

  • Anti-National Debt

  • Pro-Western Settlement

  • Anti-Native Americans

  • Anti-Elitist

  • ‘Let the People Decide’ (white men) on most other issues.

Election of 1828 (“Revolution of 1828”)

• Jackson obliterated Adams in this election.

• One of the dirtiest elections in American history.

• Jackson’s supporters said:

  • Jackson’s supporters smeared Adams as a “monarchist” and claimed Adams’ wife was born out of wedlock (she was from Europe).

  • In middle states, Dutch voters were told Adams used phrases such as “the black Dutch” or the “stupid Dutch” while Jackson revered the Dutch.

  • In Boston, voters were informed that Adams was Irish (he was of Scottish descent).

  • Westerners were warned that Adams spoke Latin with nuns and priests (anti-Catholic sentiment in West).

• Adams’ supporters said:

  • Adams’ supporters accused Jackson’s wife (Rachel) of ADULTERY - when Jackson met Rachel, she was married to another man. She divorced her first husband (abusive, neglectful, and abandoned her) and later remarried Jackson. Adams’ campaign claimed the marriage came due to an affair that began while Rachel was married to her first husband.

    • Rachel fell into a deep depression and died.

  • A “coffin handbill” was circulated by Adams’ supporters depicting Jackson shooting 6 militiamen for insubordination, General Jackson being involved in frontier brawls and duels (which he was), and General Jackson being involved with premarital relations with Mrs. Jackson in detail.

• Jackson was the first president to publicly campaign.

  • Before, everyone considered it un-gentlemanly to consort with ‘the common man.’

• Adams’ VP. Calhoun switched sides and ran as Jackson’s VP. Clay ran as Adams’ VP candidate.

• Jackson attacked the ‘Corrupt elitism of the Democratic-Republicans, Adams and Clay in particular.

• Adams attacked Jackson’s personal life: “Bastard son of a prostitute,” “Married to an adulteress,” “Dueling murderer,” and “Brutal General.”

Politics of the Common Man

• Increased white male suffrage

  • Property requirements eliminated (Western first, followed by East).

• Emergence of Party Nominating Conventions

  • Replaced candidates being nominated by state legislatures or by “King Caucus” (closed-door meeting of political party’s leaders in Congress).

• Popular Election of the President

• Popular campaigning (parades, rallies, floats, etc.)

• Rise of Third Parties (Anti-Masonic/Workingman’s)

• More elected offices.

Jackson’s Presidency

ISSUE 1: Tariff and Nullification

Tariff of 1828: TARIFF OF ABOMINATIONS

• An increase in the tariff of 1816 and 1824.

• PURPOSE: To protect infant industries of New England from foreign competition.

• BACKGROUND:

  • Tariff of 1816: America’s first protective tariff was proposed by two Senators from South Carolina and supported by the entire nation.

  • Tariff of 1824: Proposed to protect New England industries.

    • The West supported the North on the issue of tariffs, so a prosperous North could afford to buy Western foodstuffs.

    • Southern Congressmen, realizing that the South was going to remain agricultural, opposed the tariff of 1824.

    • High tariffs made British goods more expensive, which could lead to inflation in the South or force them to buy Northern goods to maintain prices.

South Carolina’s Response: Nullification

• John C. Calhoun, Vice-President of the US, secretly wrote the South Carolina Exposition and Protest (aka Doctrine of Nullification) in 1828.

  • Pattered after the Virginia and Kentucky Resolves.

• It argued:

  1. A compact created the Federal Government among the states to serve as the agent of the states.

  2. State conventions have the power to declare laws of Congress, such as tariff laws, unconstitutional.

  3. Laws declared unconstitutional are nULL AND VOID within the state that declared it such.

  4. As a last resort, a state could TERMINATE ITS COMPACT with other states and SECEDE FROM THE UNION.

• Webster-Haynes Debate: 1830

  • The issue of the tariff and state’s right to nullify federal law broke onto the Senate floor.

    • Robert Y. Haynes- (S.C.) protégée of John C. Calhoun. Would defend nullification & state sovereignty--with prep and coaching from John C. Calhoun.
      • Daniel Webster-- (Mass) best orator of his generation in the Senate. Argued the supremacy of the federal government

      • The Constitution & federal govt were created by the people, not the states.

      • The proper agency to determine Constitutionality of laws is the Supreme Court, not individual states.

      • No state has the right to nullify federal law or secede from the Union, or else the Union would be an absurdity, “a rope of sand”.

      • Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable”.

      • Webster claimed that nullification was TREASONABLE.

    • Since the Vice-President of the United States is also the President of the Senate, John C. Calhoun presided over the Senate during the Webster-Haynes Debate, and could only look on as Webster whipped Haynes (Calhoun’s boy) in the debate.

    • Webster's speech is still to this day considered the single greatest speech ever given on the floor of the Senate and each year is read to the Senate on its anniversary.

• Jefferson Day Dinner: 1830

  • At a tavern in Georgetown, it was custom for the Senate, President & Vice President to have a dinner to celebrate the day.

  • Jackson’s toast “To the Union”.

  • Vice President Calhoun counter-toast, “The Union, next to our liberty, most dear.”

  • Jackson’s final toast, “The Federal Union! It must be preserved”

  • This was the final nail in Calhoun’s Vice-Presidency.

    • He would resign and be elected Senator from South Carolina so he could support “Southern rights” from the floor of the Senate.

• Tariff of 1832 and Nullification of South Carolina

  • In 1832, a new tariff was passed with modestly lower rates (10% LOWER) than the Tariff of 1828.

  • South Carolina passed the ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION

    • Tariff of 1832 was NULL & VOID in South Carolina

    • South Carolina would not assist in the collection of federal taxes

    • Threatened South Carolina’s SECESSION if fed govt attempted to collect taxes in SC

  • JACKSON’S REACTION:

    • Jackson accepted the challenge from South Carolina- “Disunion by armed force is treason”

    • Jackson asked Congress to pass a FORCE BILL granting the President the authority to enforce the tariff using the ARMY & NAVY if necessary.

• Compromise Tariff: 1833

  • South Carolina did not receive support from
    other Southern states

  • Henry Clay (KY) proposed a COMPROMISE:

    • GRADUAL REDUCTION OF 1832 TARIFF TO LEVEL OF TARIFF OF 1816 OVER A TEN
      YEAR PERIOD.

    • CONGRESS PASSED FORCE BILL & COMPROMISE TARIFF ON SAME DAY!

  • South Carolina withdrew its ORDINANCE OF NULLIFICATION (LIKED compromise).

  • South Carolina NULLIFIED THE FORCE BILL- reasserting its right to NULLIFY
    FEDERAL LAWS.

• Result: Federalism and Supremacy Clause

  • Jackson upheld the Supremacy Clause of the
    Constitution by threatening to invade South
    Carolina to enforce the Tariff.

  • Federalism- the proper balance between
    National & state power was the central issue.

    • Jackson defended the federal government v.
      state power, but the Doctrine of Nullification
      restated the “states’ rights theory”.

  • Secession & disunion were averted, but talk of southern secession will grow from 1830-1861.

ISSUE 2: Killing the Second Bank of the United States

• Result of Jackson’s Financial Policies

  • Without the national bank, it was difficult for the govt. to control the value of money.

    • Fed govt. would no longer accept paper bank notes.

  • Many Americans lost money, couldn’t pay back loans, lost farms and businesses.

    • Some walked away from debts and moved West - Oregon Trail.

  • Panic of 1837 hit after Jackson finished his second term - Van Buren took office in 1836.

    • Economic depression hit due to Jackson’s bank policy.

ISSUE 3: Jackson and Native Americans

• Jackson’s view of democracy only extended to WHITE AMERICANS.

  • America was land-hungry in the 1820s and 1830s.

  • Jackson was sympathetic to whites who moved West in search of farmable land.

  • Americans began to move west and take lands settled or set aside for Native American tribes.

  • Jackson felt Native Americans should be MOVED WEST OF MISSISSIPPI to open land for WHITES.

• Indian Removal Act: 1830

  • Provided for resettlement of tribes to the West.

    • Implemented by Jackson and Van Buren.

  • The remaining lands of the Five Civilized Tribes were ceded by treaty.

  • Thousands of Native Americans were forced to resettle further west.

    • Trail of Tears

  • Land vacated by Native Americans was open to settlement for whites.

  • The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created in 1836 to assist resettled tribes.

  • Georgia and other states began to pass LAWS forcing the Cherokee tribe to vacate.

Supreme Court: Cherokee Cases

• Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia (1831)

  • Cherokees sued Georgia to stop the forced removal. The Supreme Court ruled:

    • Cherokees were not a foreign nation with a right to sue in federal court.

• Worcester vs. Georgia (1832)

  • Supreme court ruled that states laws had no force within Native American territory

    • Georgia can’t force Native Americans to leave. Only fed. govt can because the Constitution gives the fed. govt, not states, power over Native American affairs.

  • JACKSON DID NOT FOLLOW SUPREME COURT DECISION.

  • Approximately 25% of Cherokees died in camps of malnutrition, disease, and lack of medicine while waiting to be removed.

  • US Army removed 15,000 Cherokees in 1838 beginning the Trail of Tears where 4,000 Cherokees would die on their forced march to Oklahoma.