The Era of the Common Man
Andrew Jackson vs.
John Quincy Adams
 Jackson was billed as
the “common man”
while Adams was
portrayed as an
“aristocratic elitist”
 Jackson won both the
popular and electoral
vote in a majority
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1767 – 1845
Democrat
7th president
Nicknamed “Old Hickory,”
a tribute to his background
as a frontiersman
War hero from both War of
1812 and Seminole Indian
War
First president to survive
an assassination attempt
Suffrage extended to any
adult white male
 Jackson was 1st president
to come from background
of poverty, so he was the
hero of the common man
 Still, Jackson hated Native
Americans and supported
slavery
 http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=vYh7pato4uE&fe
ature=related
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Jackson began new
tradition of dismissing what
had been career
government officials and
replacing them with his
party’s loyal followers
 This still happens today –
Presidents reward their
supporters with important
government jobs
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1800 – 1831
Virginia slave who had
religious “visions”
 Practiced as a Baptist
preacher (nicknamed
“The Prophet” by other
slaves)
 Believed that God
called on him to lead a
slave rebellion
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August 21, 1831
Slave uprising that
resulted in the deaths of 56
whites in VA
 Quickly suppressed by the
militia, dozens of slaves
(including Turner) were
executed for their roles in
the rebellion
 Led to harsher slave
codes- bans throughout
the South on educating
slaves and allowing slaves
to freely assemble without
white supervision
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1832: South Carolina declared
new tariffs unconstitutional
and thereby nullified
 John C. Calhoun resigned as
Vice-President to support SC
position as a senator
 Jackson considered this
treasonous and prepared to
use military force on SC to
enforce the tariffs
 SC threatened to secede
(leave the US) if high tariffs
weren’t repealed
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Henry Clay delayed
passage of the Force Bill
which would give Jackson
permission to take military
action against SC until he
could force through a bill
that would gradually
reduce tariffs over the next
10 years
Once this compromise
tariff was passed, SC
repealed its nullification
and crisis was averted
Jackson disliked the Bank
Congress passed a bill
extending the Bank’s
charter in 1832, but
Jackson vetoed; instead,
Jackson withdrew all of the
federal governments
deposits from the Bank and
moved them to state
banks or “pet banks”
 National Bank no longer
had money to lend and
closed
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Turn to page 257
Look at “Analyzing
Political Cartoons”
Answer 1 & 2
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1834: National Republican
Party changed its name to
the Whig Party
“Whigs” in England were
people who opposed the
power of the king;
American Whigs felt that
Andrew Jackson had been
abusive of his power as
president
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Jackson supported his VP
Martin Van Buren as his
successor
Van Buren easily won the
Democratic nomination at
convention (1st time
national party convention
used)
Whigs could not settle on
one candidate to run and
so their votes were split;
Van Buren won
1782 – 1862
Democrat
8th President (1837-41)
Former Vice-President
and Secretary of State
under Jackson
 Lost presidential
elections of 1840 and
1848
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State banks loaned
money freely without the
National Bank to oversee
them
Loaned more money than
they had, leading to
failure of many of the
banks
Inflation soared,
unemployment rose,
businesses closed, many
people lost everything
Ruined Van Buren’s
presidency
Whigs nominated war
hero William Henry
Harrison after Henry
Clay and Daniel
Webster each proved
too divisive to win
majority support within
the party
 Harrison easily
defeated Van Buren
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1773 – 1841
Whig
9th President (1841)
Nicknamed “Old
Tippecanoe” from his fame
as hero of Northwest
Indian War
Shortest tenure in US
history – president for only
32 days before dying of
pneumonia
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1808: Congress banned
the importation of new
slaves
1820: 1.5 million slaves in
US
1850: 4 million slaves in
US
Demand for slaves grew
as demand for cotton
grew
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1850: South’s white
pop = 6 million
1850: South’s slave pop
= 3.6 million
350,000 slave owners
37,000 owned 20+
slaves
8,000 owned 50+ slaves
11 owned 500+ slaves
1825 – 1855: 5 million
European immigrants
arrived
 Arrived poor,
concentrated in ethnic
neighborhoods
 Created a cheap labor
force for Northern
factories
 NYC Immigrant Central
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Many Americans began
to oppose immigration
and promote the rights
of “Native” Americans
 Resented immigrants
taking jobs from
American citizens
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1840s – 1850s
Anti-Catholic nativist group
To be a member, had to be a
male Protestant of English
descent over the age of 21
 If questioned about the group,
members would reply, “I know
nothing”
 Briefly became a political party,
with some success in
Massachusetts and Illinois
 Broke apart due to divisions
over slavery issue
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Didn’t want to
compete with freed
slaves for jobs, so
supported Southern
slave owners!
 Many Irish, in fact,
would fight for the
South in the Civil War
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Causes of growth:
Urbanization: people
move from country to
cities
 Immigration: European
immigrants arrived at
northern ports, tended
to stay in north or go
west
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Number of seats in the House
of Representatives is based
purely on population, so
North was gaining control of
one house of Congress
 Slaves only counted as 3/5ths
of a person in the 3/ 5ths
compromise
 naturalized immigrants
counted as a whole person
for population counts
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North
Economy based on the “factory
system”: manufacturing and
commerce
Relied on plentiful immigrant
labor
Favored high tariffs that
protected US industries
Wanted a strong federal
government to build
transportation networks,
protect trade, and regulate the
economy
South
Economy based on the
“plantation system”: largescale farming of cash crops
 Relied on slave labor
 Opposed to high tariffs –
imported many European
goods, feared Europeans
would retaliate by putting
tariffs on Southern agricultural
exports
 Favored strong state
government, feared a strong
federal government would
restrict slavery
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3 events/people that promoted
nationalism.
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2 events/people that promoted
sectionalism.
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1 example of how nativism brought
division to the country