Chapter 11 THE AGE
OF JACKSON
2/1-2/12
Election of 1824
• Election of 1824: Jackson won popular votes but lacked a
majority of electoral votes & House decided the outcome
• John Quincy Adams (be careful there are a lot of Adams in
American History) was accused of stealing the presidency
and of a “corrupt bargain” with Henry Clay
• The “Jacksonians” withdrew from the Republican party &
formed the Democratic Party.
Election of 1828
• Jackson appeals to the Common Citizen
• Tried to say JQA was a “wealthy elite”
Won by a landslide
• Funny enough Jackson was actually a rich plantation owner.
Indian Removal Act of 1830
• Wanting more land the Federal Government decided to
move the Native Americans westward. They wanted to
“negotiate” the move west.
• 90 treaties were signed my native Americans but many of
them were tricked into signing them.
Indian Remove Act
• http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trailof-tears
• Watch this video
Trail of Tears
• 1832: Worcester v. Georgia—The Court recognized the Cherokee
Nation as a distinct political community whose people Georgia was
not entitled to regulate by law and take their land.
• Jackson refused to obey the court’s decision and made the
Cherokee who supported (a small group) to sign the Treaty of New
Echota. This gave the Native American’s $5 million and land in
Oklahoma territory.
• This sounds great but moving was brutal and rough.
• Treaty of Echota marked the beginning of the Cherokee exodus.
• 800-mile (1287.4752 kilometers) trip mostly on foot—many died
(more than a quarter of their people) and along the way their
money and livestock were stolen.
• The Trail of Tears was the easily the most dreadful thing that a president
of the United States had done up until that point.
• Jackson went against the court and forced Native people off their land
and into ungoverned and harsh territory.
Jackson and Tariffs
• 1807 & 1816: Congress passed a tariff to protect
American industries & was increased in 1824 &
1828
• “TARRIFF OF ABOMINATIONS” (1828)
• VP Calhoun says- “disgusting and loathsome
tariff”—thought that the North was getting rich
at the expense of the South
• Calhoun- Nullification -questioned the legality of
applying Federal laws in sovereign states—he
thought each state had the right to declare
offending laws “illegal” or nullified.
• Northern states- based on
manufacturing
• They favor the tariff to protect them
from foreign competition.
• Southern States- a plantation economy
• Do not want the tariff- they rely on
foreign (cheap!) manufactured goods.
Jackson Veto’s the Bank
• Jackson & his allies made the general
public come to think of the BUS (Bank
of U.S.) as a privileged institution that
served to “make the rich richer and the
potent more powerful” Nicholas Biddle
(BUS Pres.) extended loans to
congressmen at lower rates of interest
than the average citizen
Pet Banks
• After Jackson’s reelection in 1832, forces the
BUS to withdraw all govt. deposits from
bank’s branches and place them in banks
that were loyal to the Democratic Party
(“Pet” Banks)
• Nicholas Biddle forces many poor into
bankruptcy, but forgives debt to the rich.
Consequences
•2nd BUS had to close its doors
•NY bankers picked up BUS &
became new financial capital of
U.S.
•Jackson angered many people and
they joined the Whig party
(anyone who opposed an
excessively powerful president)
Martin Van Buren
• Inherited Jackson’s
bank war & money
policies
A Legacy of Two Parties
• 1830s: People divided into 2 parties—
Jacksonian Democrats, or the Whigs
(until the 1850s)
• Political style: appealed more to
passion than to reason.
• Political speeches became a form of
mass entertainment & average citizen
became more politically aware than
ever before