In Class Biography Project
“Age of Jacksonian Democracy”
Task: Andrew Jackson is one of America’s most influential, yet controversial Presidents.
Many historians claim that he helped expand democracy, and have named a whole period
of American history for him “Age of Jacksonian Democracy.” Others called Jackson a
king. Below are 7 of Andrew Jackson’s actions while he was President.
In pairs,
1) Read each of his main actions and do either the task A or task B part.
2) When you are done, write in two paragraphs, (giving at least 4 examples
from the Presidential Museum Mural) if Jackson helped to spread Democracy or if he hurt
Democracy in America.
Introduction: New Age of Democracy and the election of 1828
Originally, states only allowed white-male landowners to vote. However, by the 1820’s,
most states had stopped property qualifications, allowing the “common man” to be able to
vote. In addition, political parties had giant national nominating conventions (much like the
kind seen today) and not secret nominations by high-ranking party members. These new
changes were reflected in the election of 1828 – what many consider to be the first “popular
election” and part of a “new age of Democracy.” It pitted incumbent John Quincy Adams (the
sixth President) in a rematch against Andrew Jackson. The election of 1828 was one of the
ugliest in American History.
1) How was American Politics changing in the election of 1828?
Action #1: Rotation in Office and Spoils System
Jackson believed that the old system of federal government employees serving for life made
them lazy and corrupt. When he took office he created a rotation in office system where
Federal employees only served for four years. Jackson also knew how to reward loyalty to him
and fired 10% of the federal employees (most of whom Adams appointed) and gave the jobs to
his friends and people loyal to him in the campaign. This became known as the spoils system
(after the expression – to the victor goes the spoils).
1)
Why did Jackson want to rotate offices?
2)
Why was Jackson’s new appointments to federal jobs known as “the spoils
system?”
Action #2: Kitchen Cabinet
Andrew Jackson did not trust many people, especially people in his cabinet. Instead, he would
have his friends sneak in through the White House kitchen, and met with them to help advise
him. They became known as the kitchen cabinet.
1) What was Jackson’s solution to not trusting his cabinet?
Action #3: Cherokee Indian Removal,
With the United States expanding westward (into the Louisiana Territory), settlers often came
into contact with Indians resulting in constant fighting between the two. Jackson believed (along
with many) that the Indians could not assimilate (become similar to and adopt the culture of)
White Americans. He also believed it would have required too many soldiers to protect the
Indians. The only solution then, was to remove the Indians out of the way of the settlers. He
pressured Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which forced the Indians off of
their native lands and onto new reservations (Government protected Indian land) in a newly
created Indian Territory (now Oklahoma and Nebraska).
1) Why did Jackson believe Indian removal was the only option to deal with the
Indians?
2) Where did Jackson want to send the Indians?
3) Do you agree or disagree with this policy?
Action #4: Jackson vs. the Supreme Court and the Trail of Tears
The Cherokee Indians actually sued in the Supreme Court and in the case of Worcester v.
Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall said that it was unconstitutional for Georgia to remove
the Cherokee from their lands – the Chief Justice said that the Indians are technically a foreign
country and Georgia or the U.S. had no jurisdiction (legal right) to tell them what to do. .
However, Andrew Jackson stated, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce
it.” Jackson then had the army forcibly remove the Indians from their lands. From all over the
United States, 10,000’s of Indians were removed from their native lands and forced onto their
new reservations in the West. In 1838, the Cherokees had to travel 800 miles from Georgia –
along the way government officials stole money, bandits stole livestock and old transport rafts
sunk in icy water – more than 25% of the Cherokee ended up dead along the way to live on land
that was worse than they had in Georgia. This deadly trip the Cherokees took became known as
The Trail of Tears.
1) Why did John Marshall say that it was unconstitutional for the government to
move the Indians?
2) How did Jackson react to Marshall’s ruling?
3)
Why was the Cherokee removal known as the trail of tears?
Action #5: Vetoing Congress
Jackson believed that as President, he was the one who truly represented all of the people (since
he was the one elected by all of them) and not Congress (who he felt only had to win their own
districts and were corrupt anyway) – therefore, the executive and not Congress should have the
most power. Jackson did not let Congress recommend or make foreign or domestic policy but
instead relied on himself and his cabinet (both of them). He also vetoed lots of Congressional
bills that he did not agree with. Senator Henry Clay, who lost to Jackson in the 1832 election,
called Jackson a dictator and fought Jackson throughout his 8 years as President.
1) Why did Jackson believe that the President should have more power than the
Congress?
2) Why do you think Henry Clay called Jackson a dictator?
Action #6: Vetoing the Bank of the United States
One of Jackson’s most important battles came against the Bank of the United States (BUS). He
wanted to destroy the bank because he felt it hurt the American Republic – this became known as
The Bank War. Jackson did not like the bank because:
- It concentrated the nation's money into one business controlled by one elite group.
- It gave cheaper and better loans to Congressmen then ordinary Americans.
- Because of this, Jackson felt it had too much control over members of Congress.
- It favored businessmen from the Northeast over farmers from the Southern and Western
states
- It received all of the federal tax money and used this money to give its owners and
investors profit and to take advantage of state banks.
- Overall, it was a business that only tried to make the rich richer at the expense of the
poor.
Jackson vetoed the renewal of the Charter (contract) of the BUS and it went out of business –
each state now had its own main banks instead. However, this led to lots of complications and
eventually caused The Panic of 1837 – where local banks closed costing many people their
savings, bankrupting hundreds of businesses and put 33% of the population of out work.
1) Why did Jackson not like the Bank of the U.S.?
2) What did he do to the Bank of the U.S.?
3) What was the long term result of closing the Bank of the U.S.?
Action #7 - Nullification Crisis
In 1828 and 1832, Congress passed a tariff (tax on imports) which Southern States, especially
South Carolina did not like because they wanted to buy cheaper goods from England and not
more expensive goods from the North. Jackson’s Vice President John C. Calhoun called this
tariff, The Tariff of Abominations – a “disgusting and loathsome” tariff and resigned as Vice
President out of protest of Jackson supporting it. Calhoun created a nullification theory – that a
state has the right to “nullify” or cancel a Federal law if the state felt it was unfair to them. If
the government still did not let the state nullify the law, then the state had the right to leave the
union. Calhoun believed that “liberty came before union.” In 1832, South Carolina voted to
nullify the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832. Jackson believed that the Union (the United States Federal
Government) was more important than the rights of states and in response to South Carolina’s
actions, Jackson declared South Carolina’s actions treasonous and threatened to hang Calhoun
and send the U.S. Army to enforce the tariff. Henry Clay fortunately stepped in and created a
compromise tariff that was much lower. Henry Clay became known as The Great
Compromiser but the issue of state rights vs. the federal government would continue and get
worse for the next 30 years until the Civil War.
1) Why did Southern states not like the tariffs of 1828 and 1832?
2) What was John C. Calhoun’s solution to the tariff? What does nullification mean?
3)
Why did Jackson not agree with nullification?
4) How did he react?
5) To what extent was the situation resolved?