Chapter 11 – The Jacksonian Era
• To what extent did Andrew Jackson’s election initiate a
new era in American politics?
• What was Jackson’s attitude toward federal
involvement in the economy?
• How did Jackson respond to the nullification
controversy?
• What happened to the Indians living east of the
Mississippi Rover by 1840?
• Why did a new party system of Democrats and Whigs
emerge?
President Andrew Jackson
• Did President Jackson shape his
times or did the times shape
Jackson and his presidency?
Jacksonian Democracy
Tindall – Page 476
• Andrew Jackson’s America was very
different from the America of 1776.
• Most white men had gained the vote when
states removed property qualifications for
voting. The Jacksonians sought to
democratize economic opportunity; thus
politics changed with the advent of
national conventions, at which party
leaders chose their party’s candidates and
platforms. Powerful elites remained in
charge of society and politics, however.
Jacksonian Policies
Tindall – Page 476
• Jackson wanted to lower taxes
and reduce government spending.
• He vetoed bills to use federal
funds for improvements, and his
belief that banks were run by
corrupt businessmen for their own
ends led him to veto a bill for the
chartering of the Second Bank of
the United States.
Nullification Controversy
Tindall – Page 476
• When a South Carolina convention nullified the
Tariffs of 1828 and 1832, Jackson requested that
Congress pass a “force bill” authorizing the army to
compel compliance with the tariffs.
• After South Carolina accepted a compromise tariff
put forth by Henry Clay, the state convention
nullified the force bill. Nullification, an extreme
states’ rights ideology, had been put into action. The
crisis was over, but both sides claimed victory.
Indian Removal Act of 1830
• Tindall – Page 476
• The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized the relocation of
eastern Indians to federal lands west of the Mississippi River.
• The Cherokees used the federal court system to try to block
this relocation, but despite the Supreme Court’s decision in
their favor, federal troops forced them to move; the event
and the route they took came to be known as he Trail of
Tears.
• By 1840 only a few Seminoles and Cherokees remained,
hiding in remote areas of the Southeast.
Democrats and Whigs
Tindall – Page 476
• Jackson’s arrogant behavior, especially his use of the
veto, led many to regard him as “King Andrew.” Groups
who opposed him coalesced into a new party, known as
the Whigs, thus forming the country’s second party
system.
• The panic of 1837, during Martin Van Buren’s
administration, ensured Whig victory in the election of
1840 despite the party’s lack of a coherent political
program.
Page 477
Page 477
President Mnemonic Devices
•President Mnemonic Devices
• Would a jolly man make a jolly visitor
help to prepare the feast?
• Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe, JQ Adams, Jackson, Van Buren,
Harrison, Tyler, Polk, Taylor, Fillmore
• Song 1
• Song 2
Jacksonian Democracy
Margaret Bayard Smith
According to this account,
can we characterize
Andrew Jackson as the
“People’s President?”