The age of Jackson (1824-1844)

  • Alexis de tocqueville; french man - wrote democracy in america (1835)

    • Described for europeans what democratic society looked like

      • Americans have informal manners

      • Difficult to distinguish classes

      • Equality of opportunity (for white men)

      • Belief in the self made man 


  • Jackson was a self made man; born into poverty and then made a life for himself??

  • Era of common people


  • Between 1824 and 1840 expansion of the vote

    • Universal male suffrage 

    • Party nominating conventions

    • Political parties elect electors

    • Two party system 

      • Era of good feelings

      • Demise of federalists; leaving behind republicans (people who believed in only having a government and no king)

      • Federalists → whigs (henry clay- “leader”)

      • Democratic republics (washington & hamilton’s party)→ democrats (jackson- “leader”)

    • Rise of third parties

    • More elected offices

    • Popular campaigning

    • Spoils systems and rotation of officeholders

      • I want the presidency, so i can put whoever i want in the government 

      • No background checks back then


  • Election of 1824

    • Four candidates ran: john quincy adams, henry clay, william crawford and andrew jackson

    • Jackson won popular vote but didn't win electoral college 

    • “Corrupt bargain” clay delivered votes for quincy adams in house of reps

      • Nobody won the electoral college so clay gave his votes to john quincy adams and jackson got pissed off >:O so he called it the corrupt bargain


  • Alienated followers of jackson 

    • Asked congress for money for internal improvements in the american system

    • Aid to manufacturing 

    • National university and astronomical observatory 

      • Opponents said it was a waste of money and a violation of the constitution 

    • 1828 new tariff law that helped northern manufacturers

      • Opponents called it a “tariff of abominations"

      • Tariff: tax on foreign goods; makes them expensive -- encourages people to buy items from internal businesses and not foreign goods

      • South didn't like it bc they bought the most foreign goods; and they thought it was a unfair tax bc it harms their industry


  • Jackson used discontent of southerners and westerners -- ugly election

    • Accused adams wife of being born of wedlock

    • Adams accused jackson's wife of being a wh*re :D ????

      • Possible cause of her death ?? T_T

      • She was married before she married jackson

      • Back then if your husband disappeared for more than 7 years your allowed to assume he's dead and remarry-- that's what she did

      • He showed up later???

    • 3 times as many voters as in the previous election

    • Jackson won by a massive margin -- won every state west of the appalachians


  • Presented himself as a representative of the common man -- not a common man at all

    • Embodied the self made man

    • Criticised the rich

    • Frugal jeffersonian 

      • Opposed federal spending and national debt

    • Interpreted the powers of congress narrowly

      • Vetoed more bills than any other president before

      • Justified this--congress is bad i don't like it and they are passing unjust laws against the commoners and like to side with the rich

      • Congress said this wasn't democracy because every representative voted for the laws?

      • He said americans voted for him so he could choose for them


  • Indian removal act 1830

    • Democracy did not extend to american indians

      • Killed the most amount of indians

    • Move indians to make room for land hungry us citizens

    • The act forced the resettlement of thousand of india west of the mississippi (oklahoma: dry, barren, brutal)

      • Largest amt of indians still live in oklahoma today bc of this 

    • Bureau of indian affairs created in 1836 -- assisted with resettlement

    • Cherokee nation v georgia 18231 and worcester v georgia 1832

    • “John marshall has made his decision now let him enforce it” - jackson

      • Marbury v madison, very long ago - 30 something yrs

      • Still chief justice

    • Jackson ignored the supreme court’s decision of the act being unconstitutional and still did it

    • Trail of tears !! 

      • Us army forced 15000 cherokees to leave georgia 4000 died on the way


  • Nullification crisis

    • Jackson favored states rights-- but not in it led to disunion

    • 1828 south carolina declared the “tariff of abominations” unconstitutional 

    • John c calhoun's nullification theory

      • States had the right to decide whether to obey a federal law or declare it null and void (based on virginia and kentucky resolutions)

      • Vice president i think 

      • Ugly ahh monkey 

      • Black and white couldn't live together; black ppl are like kids?? 

      • Cannibalism something 

      • In favor of slavery

    • 1832 - calhoun and south carolina held a special conversion to nullify tariffs of 1828 and 1832

    • Jackson issued a proclamation to the people of south carolina 

      • Nullification and diffusion are treason -- treated military actions

    • Comprise came with lowered tariff

    • Jacksons strong support of general power forced advocates of states rights to retreat 

    • Jackson supported the south in banning antislavery literature being sent through the US mail.


  • Bank veto

    • Jackson saw able of the us as unconstitutional 

    • Said bank president nicholas biddle used bank t serve the interest of the wealthy 

    • Henry clay supported the bank and sponsored the rechartering bill

    • Jackson vetoed it - a hydra of corruption

      • Claimed it wa s private monopoly that enriched the wealthy and foreigners at the expense of the common ppl

      • Hated the national bank - jefferson’s little rat

      • Problems in the economy bc no bank anymore >:( 

      • States got money but some had more some had little

    • Helped jackson win the 1832 election in a landslide

    • Led to expansion of credit and speculation


Jackson’s second term

  • Pet banks

    • Jacoskn transferred all federal funds from the BUS to the state banks - “pet banks”

  • Specie circular

    • Price for land and goods inflated

    • required all purchase of federal land to be made in gold and silver rather than paper bank notes

    • Bank notes lost value and land sales plummeted 

    • Panic of 1837

  • Van buren became president in 1836 -- from NY

    • Whigs criticized democrats for laissez faire economics

      • Hands off 

      • Free market

    • Jacsoknian era over by 1844


Two party system 

  • Democrats - jackson

    • Favored local rule, limited govt, free trade, equal opportunity for white males

    • Opposed monopolies, national bank, high tariffs, high land prices

    • Support came from southerners, westerners, small farmers, urban workers

  • Whigs - henry clay 

    • Favored clay’s american system (national bank, federal funding of internal improvements, protective tariff)

    • Opposed immortality, ice and crime, often blamed on immigrants

    • Support came from new englanders, mid atlantic, upper midwest, protestants of old english stock and middle class urban professionals