More on Jackson's Presidency

People:

• William Crawford

  • Served as Secretary of War

  • Acted as Secretary of the Treasury

  • Appointed as Minister to France

  • Served as Secretary of War under President James Monrow

• Henry Clay

  • Helped pass the Tariff of 1832

  • Proposed the Compromise Tariff of 1833

  • Played a key role in the Nullification Crisis

  • Advocated for the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States

  • Ran for president in the election of 1832

• John Quincy Adams

  • John Adams’ son

  • Smart and incredibly well-establish

  • Had his father temperament (not social and very cold/awkward)

• Andrew Jackson 

  • He was born to Irish immigrants, he joined the continental army because his family all died. He refused to shine a british officer’s shoes and he got cut in the face and arm. He had a strong reputation in his early years. 

  • Jackson fought in over 100 duels and kept 37 pistols in good condition, he dueled anyone who challenged his honor, especially when they mentioned Rachel

  • During his inauguration many farmers came to Washington to support him, they eventually ransacked the white house trying to meet jackson 

• John C Calhou

  • Served as Vice President under Andrew Jackson

  • Advocated for states' rights and nullification

  • Supported the Indian Removal Act

  • Resigned as Vice President in 1832

  • Elected as U.S. Senator from South Carolina

• William Henry Harrison

  • Served as U.S. Minister to Colombia

  • Elected to U.S. House of Representatives

  • Opposed Jackson's policies, especially regarding Native Americans

  • Ran for presidency in 1836 but lost to Van Buren

• Martin Van Buren

  • Served as Vice President under Andrew Jackson

  • Developed the "spoils system" in politics

  • Established the Democratic Party

  • Fought against the Second Bank of the United States

  • Advocated for states' rights and limited federal government powers

• Nicholas Biddle

  • Attorney General under President Jackson

  • Major figure in the Bank War

  • Advocated for states' rights

  • Fought against centralized power

• General Winfeild Scot

  • General Winfield Scott was a military hero in the War of 1812

  • He was known for his strategic planning and discipline

  • Scott was involved in the Nullification Crisis in South Carolina

  • He clashed with President Andrew Jackson over military matters

  • Scott was eventually removed from his position by Jackson

• Daniel Webster

  • Opposed Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act

  • Advocated for states' rights and preservation of the Union

  • Served as Secretary of State under President Harrison and Tyler

  • Negotiated the Webster-Ashburton Treaty with Britain

  • Supported the Compromise of 1850 to prevent Civil War

• Robert Hayne 

  • Argued for states' rights in the Webster-Hayne Debate

  • Served as Governor of South Carolina

  • Opposed the Tariff of 1828 (Tariff of Abominations)

  • Supported nullification of federal laws

  • Elected to the U.S. Senate

• Richard Lawrence

  • Mentally insane person who tried to assassinate jackson but he misfired, leading to Jackson beating Lawrence with a cane

• Charles Dickinson 

  • He was the best shot in TN and killed 26 people in duels, “profaned rachel’s name”

  • The man who was killed by Jackson after insulting him, shoots jackson but misses heart, gets shot

• Thomas Dorr

  • Led the Dorr Rebellion in RI because the government in the state was very strict and did not let many people vote so they created their own government and tried to gain ammunition but failed. THis led to RI giving more freedoms to their citizens. 

• Peggy Eaton

  • Peggy Eaton was a prominent figure in Washington society during the early 19th century.

  • She was the wife of John Eaton, a close friend of President Andrew Jackson.

  • Peggy Eaton was at the center of a scandal known as the Petticoat Affairs

  • The Petticoat Affair led to significant political repercussions within Jackson's administration.

• Rachel Donelson Robards

  • She wanted to marry Jackson but legally couldn’t get a divorce. Eventually she was granted a divorce by her husband but he forgot to sign. This was unknown to Jackson and Rachel, so it created a scandal because she was married to two people. This was used as gutter politics against jackson and was considered a reason for her death
    
    

Chronological Order of Presidencies 

1824 Election

• Crawford, Jackson, Adams, and Clay were candidates. Jackson received the most votes but not a majority, thus it went to the house with Jackson and Adams.

• Crawford was in poor health and Clay did not have enough to be in the running in the house. Clay pulled strings with MO, KY, and OH to go to adams. In exchange for getting the votes, adams gave clay the position of secretary of state, this was labeled the “corrupt bargain”

• This resulted in animosity between Jackson and Clay, as Jackson was robbed of the votes because the states that switched would have gone to Jackson because the states were western. He labeled Clay as “Judas of the West'' 

• John Quincy Adams’ Presidency 

  • Adams wanted a strong national government that was similar to clay’s american system

  • The problems of his administration was the sectionalism of the country, his personality, and the tariff of abominations which taxed too many goods at too high of a rate, Adams gets blamed for the tariff

• 1828 Election

  • Jackson representing the Democratic Republicans (now modern democrats) and Adams representing National Republicans

  • This was the start of gutter politics, they personally attacked the character of each other, Jax accuses Adams of buying gambling equipment and Adams uses the scandal of Rachel against Jackson. Adams produces a handbill explaining Jackson executing deserters during the war of 1812

  • There was expanded suffrage, as white men no longer had to own property, this gave Jackson the upper hand because he was the “people’s candidate” and got many new votes from the western poor people

  • Jackson won and adams served in the house for an additional 19 years

Jackson Presidency 1828-1836

• It became the “Era of the common man” and he won votes by connecting to his voters

• He created the “spoils system” in which he turned over many government positions when he was elected and put people in power who were loyal to him rather than being good for the job. People needed to get “patronage”

• In office he extended the power of the national government, more specifically the executive branch by using many vetoes. 

Peggy Eaton Affair 

• Jackson’s secretary of war had a wife who was being outcast by the other wives of the cabinet members, specifically Calhoun’s wife. Jackson empathized with her and created the kitchen cabinet which was an informal group that Jackson could trust. Martin Van Buren Orchestrates resignations and apologies of the cabinet members, making it possible for Jackson to reshape his cabinet. The Peggy Eaton Affair was important because it marked Van Buren getting closer to Jackson and Calhoun getting further from him

• A man named richard lawrence tried to assassinate Jackson but failed (go to people section for more detail)

• There were three main issues during Jackson’s presidency, they were the treatment of the indigenous people, the National Bank, and the Nullification Crisis. 

Nullification Crisis / Tariff  

• There were problems in the south because the tariff of abominations helped the north and hurt the south, as southern farmers brought in less money for their produce, and they overpaid for their equipment. THis set in the Panic of 1819. This combined with slave rebellions by Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey which resulted in paranoia in the south and southerners feared the power of the federal government. 

• The theory of nullification was by John C Calhoun, who was the vice president of Jackson. It said that any state could ignore or strike down an act of congress it deemed unconstitutional. THis was very similar to the VA and KY resolutions. Calhoun targeted the tariff first because he thought it was unconstitutional, but more importantly it set the precedent for states being able to nullify anything (like slavery in the future)

• In the Webster-Hayne Debate, Senators Robert Hayne of SC and Daniel Webster of MA first began debating about western land sales, but it eventually progressed into nullification. Hayne presents the theory of nullification and states that the core aspect is for the freedom of the states. Webster responds with a six hour speech saying if they let nullification happen, then the constitution would be like “a rope made of sand” and ultimately Webster is seen as the victor in the debate and increases nationalism. 

• At a dinner party honoring Thomas Jefferson’s birthday hosted by Calhoun, Calhoun honors TJ and draws the connections of TJ’s VA and KY resolutions with nullification. Calhoun’s goal is to get the support of Jackson with nullification. But to the surprise of Calhoun, Jackson says “our union must and shall be preserved” which Calhoun responds with “Our union, next to our liberty most dear” The result is that the growing tensions between Calhoun and Jackson since the Peggy Eaton affair finally make Calhoun and Jax enemies. 

• South Carolina responded in their 1832 state convention where they nullified the tariff and threatened secession, and Jackson responded with the Force Bill that said that the executive branch could use force to execute laws. So Jackoson sent ships down to SC to put out the secession threat. 

• This all ended with Henry Clay making a compromise that the government would lower the tariff if South Carolina did not use nullification, except this was not a permanent solution to the broad nature of secession, which shows the cracks before the civil war. 

Jax Treatment of Indigenous people 

• Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which said that the president could move the NAs west of the MS river and out of states inside the states

• In the Supreme case Worcester v. Georgia, Marshall’s supreme court delivered a huge victory for the NAs as it said that the states had no right to put restrictions on the NAs and their lands as they were a separate political entity. 

• But Jackson, overusing his executive powers, said “let marshall enforce it” and he disregarded the ruling, which effectively ruined Marshall’s work to make the Judicial branch powerful. 

• So in the Trail of Tears, General Winfield Scott oversaw the five civilized tribes move west of the MS River to modern day Oklahoma, the Seminoles put up a fight and some stayed in FL. There were brutal conditions and many people died along the route, and the new land was much worse than what they had before.  

Jackson and the Bank of the US 

• Both Soft money people and Hard money people disliked the bank. This is because SM people didn’t like how the bank prohibited state banks from issuing bank notes because they wanted fast economic growth. HM people did not like it because they hated all banks and they didn’t like bank notes and they wanted conservative growth. Jax eventually sided with the HM people and did not like the bank at all.

• Nicholas Biddle was the President of the bank, and was afraid Jackson was going to kill the bank. The charter expired in 1836 but Jackson wanted to move it up so he could destroy the bank. Henry Clay was running against Jax and he thought that backing the bank could win him votes in the upcoming election. Biddle wants to keep the bank going and when Jackson vetoes the renewal, Clay thinks it will make Jax look bad but Jackson still won the election. 

• In Jackson’s veto message he said that the bank makes the rich richer and the poor poorer, this was the first time a president vetoed something just bc they didn’t like it

• In the 1832 election, Jackson defeats clay and jackson is the “champion of people” and clay is “champion of money” 

• To finally destroy the bank, Jax deposits no new money into the bank, he payed bills with the money in the bank, and he deposits money into state banks called “pet banks” that were irresponsible because they handed out money to anyone one

• The secretary of the treasury refused but eventually he appointed Roger B Taney, just another example of the spoils system. 

• Jackson kills the bank but he is censured by congress and portrayed as “King Andrew the first” by the new Whig party, that is against the tyranny of jackson.

• Jackson created the surplus bill which distributed the surplus money from the government into the irresponsible state banks, he also created a specific circular which said land could only be bought with hard money like silver and gold. This creates the Panic of 1837 people rush to get gold and silver to buy land 

1836 Election

• This election saw the second party system emerge, as the whig party favored the merchant and commercial classes and wealthy planters. The Whigs sought to limit Van Buren from receiving a majority vote and to send the vote into congress by splitting up the candidates. The Whigs wanted a larger government with strong commerce and industry. THey disagreed with the democrats with western expansion and the banks. Whigs were aristocrats.  The “Great Triumvirate” consisted of Henry Clay, John C Calhoun, and Daniel Webster, but this plan failed because there was no strong leader and they failed to limit Buren from getting the majority in the election. 

Van Buren Presidency 

• Van Buren’s presidency was plagued by Jackson’s financial decisions because the panic of 1837 started when Buren was in office. Buren tried to amend this by creating the Independent Treasury system which was where the government could put their money that was private. 

1840 Election

• This election saw the Whigs uniting behind WIlliam Henry Harrison. Even though the Whigs were aristocrats they presented WHH as a common man. “Log Cabin and Hard Cider” was the popular term for Harrison as he was seen as the common man. “Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too” was a chant used. This is because there was an increase in campaigning.

Harrison / Tyler Presidency 

• Harrison died a month into his election because he got pneumonia during his inauguration. His VP John Tyler becomes President. Harrison won because of his campaigning. 

John Quincy Adams: “A tale of two presidencies”

• Era of good feelings that later fractured into sectionalism

JQA, Henry Clay, and William Crawford, and Andrew Jackson ran for president in the election of 1824

AJ wins the popular vote, but not the majority → election goes to the house

• In the House, Clay supports JQA because he hates Jackson

• Quincy Adams wins the house and appoints HC as secretary of state (controversial)

• “The Corrupt Bargain”: End of era of good feelings, and people are mad

Adams only has the support of the Northeast. He uses the government and divides the country

• Pushes federal funding for roads: controversial

• Raises tariff of 1824, tries again in 1828 but gets no support from the South

• “Log Rolling”; exchanging political favors to buy votes (in this case, to support the tariff)

  • Makes tariff incredibly high and complicated due to so many expansions

  • “Tariff of Abominations” in 1828 because its so big

  • Calhoun (VP) is very mad and recognizes that the tariff would impoverish the South

Lesson 2: Era of the Common Man

_________
A new political party emerges: The Jackson Democrats

• In power for 24/30 years

• Economic, cultural, social participation in politics

Replacing officials:

Positive:

• Cohesive unit

• Efficiently work with president

• New ideas and more participation

Negative: 

• Less stable and neutral

“No person has the right to public office” - Andre Jackson

“Entrenchment is corruption”

• Empowers people by replacing his cabinet

What about Slavery?

Missouri Compromise took slavery out of politics for a while and Jackson was careful to avoid the question

In Texas, 1836 declared independence. Jackson recognizes it but does not bring it into the union to avoid the slavery question

Lesson 3: Webster - Hayne Debates

_________

April 1830: Dinner party for Thomas Jefferson’s Birthday: Opportunity to regain political voice for Calhoun and others

• Jefferson was the original advocate for nullification → nullifies try to attach to him (but treason)

• Toasts written by Calhoun

• AJ: The Federal Union must be Preserved

• Calhoun: The Union, Next to our Liberty, Most Dear

Lesson 4: Maysville Veto and Indian Removals

_________

Trail of Tears: 15 thousand Cherokee forcibly moved to Oklahoma

They were killed if they resisted

5 thousand died

Lesson 5: Nullification Crisis

_________
Context: Jackson’s kitchen cabinet, the Jefferson Dinner. Jackson and Calhoun fell apart after Jackson finds out that Calhoun wanted to court martial him during the Florida affair

Jackson still has to address the tariff question-- it was lowered but not enough for SC

South Carolina argues about protective vs revenue tariff

• Protective: unconstitutional → a tariff can only be for revenue

“Tyranny of the majority” : when a certain group gets the majority, they can pass whatever they want

• Calhoun says that the North can now pass whatever they want

• November 1832: South Carolina holds a special convention

Jackson says that South Carolina will not get away with what they are doing and sends troops to Charleston and the border between North and South Carolina