The Age of Jackson
and
Jacksonian Democracy
The Election of 1828
 Jackson is back for a second round against
John Quincy Adams.
 A new parties emerge:
 The Democratic Party supporting Jackson and
made up of individuals who felt left out of the
political process (small farmers, frontier settlers,
struggling laborers in the city, slave holders, the
“common man”)
 The National Republicans supporting Adams
were made up of mostly merchants in the
Northeast and successful farmers.
The Election of 1828
 The campaign was a vicious one – lots of
mudslinging, personal attacks on
character and the exploiting of the
differences between the candidates.
Adams was wealthy, Harvard educated the
son of a president. Jackson was poor, hottempered, crude and unfit to be president.
 Something new – The campaigns
introduced election slogans, rallies, buttons
and special events like BBQs.
Inauguration Day
 Jackson won the election in a land
slide.
 The victory was seen as a major win
for the common folk.
Inauguration Day
 When he stepped forward to take the
oath of office, he was met with
shouts, wild applause, waves and
salutes for the “people’s president”.
Inauguration Day
 After the inauguration, a crowd “of all sorts
of people, from the highest and most
polished, down to the most vulgar and
gross in the nation” followed Jackson back
to the White House for a celebratory party.
 People partied inside and out. Soon the
crowd grew rowdy. They broke china and
glasses as they grabbed for the food and
drink.
Inauguration Day
 One treat there was a giant block of
cheese shaped in Jackson’s image.
 It was getting late and the crowd was
not leaving, so Jackson had all the
food and drink moved out onto the
lawn forcing people out of the White
House then locked the doors.
Inauguration Day – Check out the
crowd of people!
Jackson’s Administration
 With Jackson a new concept emerged – the
spoil system based on the idea that “to
the victor goes the spoils”.
 It’s a practice of giving government jobs to
political backers as a way of saying thanks
for helping out.
 This was the first time that jobs within the
federal government was open to all walks
of life.
 Jackson fired many federal workers and
replaced them with his supporters.
Jackson’s Administration
 Jackson distrusted many of the Washington
establishment, preferring to trust an
informal group of trusted unofficial advisors
who would often meet in the White House
kitchen. They became known as the
“Kitchen Cabinet”.
 Between the spoils system and the Kitchen
Cabinet, the American democracy had
forever changed.
Sectionalism
The North:
 Had an economy based on trade and
manufacturing.
 Supported tariffs because they helped
them compete with British factories.
 Opposed the government’s sale of
public land at cheap prices (they lost
labors/workers who would leave the
factory towns and go west).
Sectionalism
The South:
 The economy was based on agriculture/farming.
Agribusinesses sold most of their crops to foreign
nations.
 The most popular crops were the cash crops of cotton
and tobacco.
 Imported manufactured or finished goods.
 Supported a low tariff, because high tariffs made
imported goods too expensive and they were afraid
that Europe would impose their own tariff in return.
 Increased dependence on slavery.
Sectionalism
The West:
 The economy was based on farming,
but not large scale agribusiness like
that of the South.
 Wanted policies that supported
frontier farming and encouraged
further settlement.
 Number one thing they wanted was
cheap land and better infrastructure!
The Debate Is On
 In 1828 Congress passes an exceptionally
high tariff on manufactured goods coming
from Europe.
 Tensions increased between the North and
South regarding the issue of tariffs.
 The North supported the tariff because it
kept American goods cheap and imported
goods expensive.
The Debate Is On
 The South opposed the tariff because
it made imported goods more
expensive and they had to buy most
of their things from overseas. Plus
they feared the threat of retaliation
by European nations.
 The South called the tariff the Tariff
of Abominations.
The Debate Is On
 Vice President John C. Calhoun, a
southerner from South Carolina, sided with
the South and protested the tariff.
 Calhoun argued that states, having formed
the national government, had the right to
nullify a federal law it considered
unconstitutional. Therefore stating that
state power should be greater than federal
power.
The Debate Is On
 Some Southern states threatened to
secede from the Union and form their own
government.
 According to Calhoun and the States’
Rights Doctrine, states had created the
federal government, so they should have
the last word on decisions affecting them.
That the states have many rights and
powers that are independent of the federal
government.
 Calhoun would resign over this issue!
The Debate Is On
The Hayne-Webster Debate:
 Senator Robert Y. Hayne (SC) argued that
nullification give states a way to lawfully
protest against federal legislation.
 Senator Daniel Webster (MA) argued that
nullification could only mean the end of the
Union. “Liberty and union, now and
forever, one and inseparable!”
The Debate Is On
Jackson weighs in:
 “The Union…must be preserved!” Jackson
was against nullification while he supported
states’ rights (he would later need the
South’s help with his little “Indian
problem”).
 In 1832 Jackson asks Congress to pass
another tariff that would lower the previous
rate hoping to mollify the South.
The Debate Is On
 South Carolina was unhappy with what little
Congress did and passed the Nullification
Act – declaring both the 1828 and 1832
tariffs “null and void and not binding upon
this State, its officers or citizens”.
 It threatened to withdraw from the Union if
federal troops were used to collect duties.
 Voted to form its own army.
The Debate Is On
 Jackson is angered over the audacity of
South Carolina and had Congress pass the
Force Bill – it allowed the president to use
the United States military to enforce acts of
Congress i.e. collection of taxes.
 The message was clear: If South Carolina
did not give in, it would face the full force
of the United States military.
 South Carolina had gone too far and no
other southern state would stand by their
side.
The Debate Is On
Henry Clay to the rescue:
 Hoping to avoid a civil war, Henry Clay
offered a compromise that would lower the
tariff little by little over the next ten years.
 South Carolina quickly agreed to the
compromise and her leaders would enforce
the law (tariff).
 The Nullification Crisis is over, but bitter
feelings remain that will fester and
ultimately erupt.
Jackson and the BUS
 Jackson opposed the Second Bank of the
United States feeling that it was an
unconstitutional extension of the power of
Congress. After all it was privately owned
by wealthy individuals who could potentially
hold the nation hostage financially and
tended to treat the common people
unfairly.
 He felt that the states should have the
power to control the banking system.
Jackson and the BUS
 Maryland passed a tax that limited
the Bank’s operation.
 James McCulloch refused to pay the
tax and Maryland took him to court.
 The Supreme Court ruled in
McCulloch v. Maryland that the
national bank was constitutional.
Jackson and the BUS
 Nicholas Biddle, the Bank’s director
and Jackson’s enemy, pushed for a
bill to re-charter the BUS.
 Jackson vetoed the bill and weakened
the Bank’s power.
 Jackson began depositing
government money into state banks
run by his friends.
 This was disastrous for the economy!
Jackson and the BUS
 With no governmental oversight, state
banks began to give out too many loans,
offered easy credit to people buying land in
the West, and printed a flood of almost
worthless paper money.
 Jackson urged people to use gold and silver
to buy government-owned land instead of
paper money.
 Inflation soared.
 The economy went in to a depression – the
Panic of 1837
Here are a few terms you need to
know for your quiz:
Majority
Plurality
Old Hickory
Nullify
Secede
Nicholas Biddle
William Henry
Harrison
 Whigs
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Andrew Jackson
John Quincy Adams
National Republicans
DemocraticRepublicans
 Favorite son
candidates
 Mudslinging
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Here are a few terms you
need to know for your quiz:
John C Calhoun
Tariff
Spoils system
John Tyler
Nullification Act
Nominating
conventions
 Suffrage/Right to
vote
 Caucus
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 Force Bill
 Bank of the United
States (BUS)
 Political party
symbols
 State’s Rights
 Caucus
 Economic depression