Chapter 10: The
Age Of Jackson
What impact did Andrew
Jackson’s presidency have on
the nation?
Northern factory and Southern plantation
Section 1: Jacksonian Democracy
❖ Expansion of Democracy
❖ In the North small scale shops were replaced by large
factories.
❖ In the South small farms developed into large cotton
plantations: owned by wealthy worked by slaves.
❖ Wealth was redistributed into a few hands leaving
ordinary Americans behind.
Andrew Jackson
Expansion of Democracy
❖ the same people believed they were losing power in the
government
❖ They believed that the wealthy were trying to take over the
government.
❖ Hoping for change, small farmers, frontier settlers, and
slaveholders rallied behind Andrew Jackson.
Jackson’s Politics
❖ War hero from the War of 1812.
❖ presidential candidate in the 1824 elections.
❖ people believed Jackson would defend
the rights of the common people and slave states.
❖ they were disappointed when he lost the
1824 election.
Jackson’s Popularity
❖ There were many democratic reforms.
➢ Some states changed their voting regulations to allow more white
males the right to vote.
➢ usually excluded free blacks from voting even if they had been
allowed under the original state constitution.
➢ Nominating conventions were popular with Political partiesparties chose their candidates.
➢ This period was known as Jacksonian Democracy-1820s -30s
Election of 1828
❖ Determined that Jackson would
win the 1828 his supporters
formed the Democratic Party.
❖ They were called National
Republicans by Adams
supporters.
❖ The candidates were Jackson
and John Q. Adams again.
❖ Focused on personalities
The Campaign
➢ Jackson was a war hero who
worked hard to get where he had.
➢ Adams was a Harvard graduate
and his father had been president.
Tried to appeal to the common man
with Jackson.
Jackson’s
Inauguration
❖ Jackson’s victory was a win for
the common people.
❖ Jackson rewarded some of his
followers for their support.
➢ spoils system-the practive of
giving government jobs to political
backers.
➢ Jackson also relied heavily on his
kitchen cabinet-an informal group
of trusted advisers who sometimes
met in the White House kitchen.
Section 2: Jackson’s Administration
❖ Sectional differences Increase
➢ three regions emerge in the early 1800s.
➢ The North-economy based on trade and manufacturing.
➢ The South-economy based on farming.
➢ The West-frontier economy was just emerging.
Tariff of Abominations
❖ The northerners supported a
high tariff (tax) on imported
woolen goods.
❖ They wanted to keep the
competition with Britain out of
the states.
❖ But the southerners believed the
tariff was too high and it would
hurt their economy.
❖ Before Jackson took office
Congress placed a high tariff on
imports:
➢ Southerners called it Tariff
of Abominations (an
abomination is a hateful
thing)
➢ This new tariff added fuel to
the growing sectionalism
between north and south.
Tariff of Abominations-Northern
Tariff of Abominations-Southern
States’ Rights
Debate
At the core of the dispute was the
question of an individual state’s
right to desregard a law that had
been passed by the U.S. Congress.
Nullification Crisis
❖ John C. Calhoun had supported a strong central government.
❖ However, the Tariff of Abominations convinced him to join his fellow
southerners.
❖ Economic depression and previous tariffs had severely damaged the
economy of his home state, South Carolina.
❖ Some leaders in the state even spoke of
leaving the Union over tariff issues.
Crisis Continued
❖ Calhoun drafted the South Carolina Exposition and Protest.
➢ It said Congress should not favor one state or region over another.
➢ He used this Protest to advance the states’ rights doctrine-said that state power should be
greater than federal power.
➢ He believed states had the right to nullify or reject any federal law they judged as
unconstitutional.
➢ Others disagreed on the basis that the American people made up the Union, not individual
states.
The Conflict became known as the Nullification Crisis.
The HayneWebster Debate
Calhoun’s theory went as far as
to question the power of the
Supreme Court.
❖ Nullification was debated in the
Senate in 1830.
❖ Robert Hayne of South
Carolina and Daniel Webster of
Massachusetts.
❖ Hayne argued for nullification
and Webster against.
Jackson
Responds
❖ He was deeply opposed to nullification.
❖ He urged Congress to reduce the rate of the tariffs
in 1832.
❖ South Carolina didn’t think it would help any.
❖ South carolina passed the Nullification Act-declared the 1828 and 1832 tariffs void and
threatened to secede from the Union if federal
troops were used to collect the now “illegal” taxes.
❖ Jackson swore he would uphold the federal law in
South Carolina.
➢ Force Bill was passed approving the use of
the army if need be.
➢ No other states supported South Carolina.
continued response...
❖ Henry Clay proposes a compromise (Surprise! Considering his hand in the
Missouri Compromise).
❖ The Compromise would lower the tariff gradually over several years.
❖ Both the U.S. Congress and South Carolina approved the compromise.
❖ Despite the agreement neither side changed its beliefs on states’ rights.
❖ The argument would continue into the conflict known as the Civil War.
Jackson Attacks
the Bank
He did not always support
federal power.
❖ He opposed a Federal Bank
with the power to act as the
financial institution for the
government.
➢ It held federal deposits, made
transfers of federal funds between
states, and dealt with any
payments or reciepts involving the
federal government.
➢ It also issued currency or bank
notes.
Banks
❖ Many states, especially southern, opposed the Bank.
❖ They believed that the Bank only helped wealthy business people.
❖ Jackson questioned the legality of the Bank and believed it was
unconstitutional.
❖ He thought the states should have the power to control the banking system.
McCulloch v.
Maryland
The Court ruled that the national
bank was constitutional.
❖ Some states, Maryland,
decided to tax the Bank’s
operations.
❖ McCulloch, a cashier at a Bank
branch refused to pay.
❖ The state took him to court and
it went all the way to the
Supreme Court.
The death
of the
Bank...
❖ Nicholas Biddle, the Bank's director,
decided to push for the renewal.
❖ Jackson claimed he would “kill it”.
❖ He vetoed the legislation when Congress
sent it to him.
❖ He moved the Bank’s funds to state banks,
who used it for easy credit to consumers
causing inflation.
❖ His policies opened the door for more
economic troubles.
State bank notes were out of control. Jackson battled it
by telling Americans to use only gold or silver.
Panic of 1837
● 1834 a new political party was
created to oppose Jackson-The
Whig Party-favored the idea of a
weak president and a strong
Congress.
● The Democrats chose Martin
Van Buren to run.
● The Whigs chose four different
men.
● Because of the indecision and
● After Van Buren took office the country
experienced the Panic of 1837-a severe
economic depression.
● It was Jackson’s fault but everyone
blamed Van Buren.
● The Whigs then united against Van Buren
in 1840 and ran with William Henry
Harrison and won.
Section 3: Indian
Removal
Indian Removal Act in 1830authorized the removal of Native
American who lived east of the
Mississippi River to lands in the
West.
❖ Congress established Indian
Territory-U.S. land in what is
now Oklahoma and planned to
move Native Americans there.
❖ Supposedly this would protect
Indians from further conflict
with settlers.
❖ To manage the lands and the
Indians Congress approved the
creation of a new government
agency-the Bureau of Indian
Affairs.
Indian Resistance
● The Choctaw were booted off of their land by the Mississippi legislature.
○ They were forced from their home to Indian territory with inadequate supplies and many died
of cold, disease, or starvation.
● Other tribes resisted-The Creeks were captured by federal troops and forced to walk to Indian
Territory; Many in chains.
●
The Chickasaw negotiated a treaty for better supplies but still many died during the removal.
Cherokee
Resistance
● Many Cherokee hoped to avoid
removal by adopting the
contemporary culture of white people.
● They invited missionaries to set up
schools for children to read and write
English.
● They developed their own government
modeled after the U.S. Constitution:
with an election system, bicameral
council, and court system.
● All headed by a chief.
● After gold was discovered on their land in
Georgia, their treaty rights were ignored.
● Georgia began to prepare for their removal;
when they refused the militia attacked.
● They claimed that they were an independent
nation and Georgia had no legal power over their
lands.
● In Worcester v. Georgia the Court ruled that the
Cherokee nation was a distinct community in
which the laws of Georgia had no force.
Georgia does not
listen
supposedly Jackson said, “John
Marshall has made his decision;
now let him enforce it.”
❖ Although he viloated his
presidential oath to uphold the
laws of the land man members
of Congress and American
citizens did not care how he
removed the Native Americans.
● Spring 1838 U.S. Troops began removing all Cherokee to Indian
Territory.
● The 800 mile journey is known as the Trail of Tears.
● During the march the Cherokee suffered from disease, hunger, and
harsh weather.
● ¼ of the 18,000 Cherokee died on the march.
Other Native
Americans Resist
Other Native Americans decided
to fight U.S. troops to avoid
removal
❖ Chief Black Hauk of the Fox
and Sauk Indians led a
struggle, however they ran out
of food and supplies by 1850
and were still forced to leave
their land.
❖ Seminole leaders were forced
to sign a removal treaty.
❖ This led to the Second
Seminole War.
❖ 4,000 Seminoles were
removed and hundreds killed.
❖ Eventually the U.S. gave up
and small groups remained in