Chapter 9
Jacksonian America
Objectives
• 1. Jackson’s philosophy of government
and his impact on the presidency.
• 2. Jacksonian Democracy
• 3. Nullification theory of John C. Calhoun,
and President Jackson’s reaction to the
attempt to put into action.
• 4. Jackson and the war on the Bank of the
United States
• 5. Democrats and the Whigs
The Rise of Mass Politics
• All adult white males
• Gave all voters the right to hold public
office
• Property qualifications were abolished
• Blacks could not vote anywhere
• No state allowed women the right to vote
• No secret ballots
Political Parties
• Permanent, institutionalized parties were a
desirable part of political process that was
essential to democracy
• In the 1830s a fully formed two-party
system began to operate at the national
level
• The Anti-Jackson Party were called –
Whigs
• Democrats – the nations oldest party
? What Is He For ?
• Jackson spoke about the importance of
State’s Rights
• Strongly committed to the Preservation of
the Union
Calhoun and Nullification
• John C. Calhoun (the V.P.) began to assert
a dangerous constitutional theory!
• Nullification
• South Carolina had become angry over a
federal tax that they were ready to
consider a drastic remedy
• Secession
Calhoun
• Calhoun knew his political future rested
with his home state of South Carolina
• 1. Since the federal government was
created by the states
• 2. The states should be the final arbiter of
the Constitutionality of federal laws
Theory of Nullification
• If a state concluded that Congress passed
an unconstitutional law it could:
• 1. Hold a special convention and declare
that the law null and void within the state
• 2. The law would remain void until ¾ of the
states ratified it as an amendment to the
Constitution
• 3. The nullifying state would then have to
choose between submitting to the law or
seceding from the Union
The Crisis
• Jackson insisted that nullification was
treason
• Asked Congress for a Force Bill
authorizing the president to use military
force to enforce acts of Congress
• South Carolina accepted the tax
Eaton Affair
• Senator Eaton has having an affair
• Upon the death of her husband she
married Senator Eaton
• Jackson makes Eaton part of the cabinet
• Mrs. Calhoun would not include Mrs.
Eaton in social affairs
• Remembering what had happened to his
own wife – this was the last straw
Rise of Van Buren
• Kitchen cabinet
• John C. Calhoun was to be Jackson’s pick
for President
• Because of the Nullification Crisis and the
Eaton Affair
• Martin Van Buren was picked to be the
next President
Removal of the Indians
• Trail of Tears
• Supreme Court Cases to weaken the
Native tribes
Bank War
• By law the bank of the US was the only place for
the Federal funds
• Soft-money faction = those who wanted more
money in circulation
• Hard-money faction = those who wanted gold or
silver (Jackson supported)
• In 1832, Congress passed the re-charter of the
Bank
• Jackson Vetoed it
• The Election of 1832 was over the Bank
Bank Destroyed
• Jackson decided to remove the
government’s deposits from the bank
• Federal monies were then placed in state
banks
• The Bank died in 1836
• The country lost a valuable institution
which affected the economy for almost
100 years
Election of 1836
• Democrats – Martin Van Buren
• Whigs – Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and
John C. Calhoun
• Whiggery – expanding federal power,
encouraging industry and commercial
development
Economic Panic of 1837
Election of 1840
• Log Cabin Campaign
• Whigs – William Henry Harrison and John
Tyler
• Democrats – Martin Van Buren
• Harrison Wins
• Harrison dies one month into office
• Tyler establishes relations with China
Caroline Affair - 1837
• US v. Britain (Again)
• American Steamship Caroline to captured
and burned by the British – one American
is killed
• Britain refuses to apologize
• America arrests Alexander McLeod for
murder
• New York defused crisis by acquitting
McLeod