The Age of Jackson
Chapter 7 Section 3
Main Idea
Main Idea – Andrew Jackson’s policies reflected an interest in the welfare of the common
man, but also violated Native American rights.
Expanding
Democracy
Changes Politics
1. Election of 1824 – aka “The Corrupt Bargain”
a. Andrew Jackson won more popular votes and more electoral votes than any other
candidate, but failed to win a majority of electoral college votes
b. House of Representatives (under the leadership of Henry Clay) picked John Quincy
Adams as president over Jackson
c. President Adams then selected Henry Clay as his Secretary of State
d. The significance of the Election of 1824 was that Jackson and his followers claimed a
“corrupt bargain” had been made
2. Voting Requirements Changed
a. White men no longer needed to own land or property as a requirement to vote
 Universal white male suffrage or the right to vote expanded participation in
politics
3. Election of 1828 – Democratic-Republican Party had split (2nd Party System)
a. John Quincy Adams (National Republican/Whig) vs. Andrew Jackson (Democrat)
b. Andrew Jackson won easily by appealing to the “common man”
4. Spoils System – Jackson rewarded his friends and political allies with federal jobs
a. “kitchen cabinet” – group of close friends who served as informal advisers
1. Background: “five civilized tribes” = Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole
a. All had adopted white culture of their neighbors in the South
b. White planters and miners wanted Native American lands
2. Indian Removal Act of 1830 – signed by Jackson, gave the federal government power
to force the Native Americans to move West of the Mississippi River to reservation lands
in Oklahoma
a. Cherokee resisted forced move to the West in the Supreme Court
 Worchester v. Georgia – Cherokee Nation won their case against Georgia
 The significance of this case was that the ruling was given by John Marshall and it
was ignored by Andrew Jackson
3. Trail of Tears (1838-1839) - all Cherokee forcibly removed by the U.S. army to
reservation lands West of the Mississippi River called “Indian Territory” or Oklahoma
a. 25% of all Cherokee died along the Trail of Tears
b. Land in Oklahoma was inferior, suffering of Cherokee people continued once they got
to the reservation
Removal of
Native Americans