The Jacksonian
Era
Comp Book Notes
DEMOCRACY AT WORK

More voters (suffrage)
Before 1820s: only white land owners
 1830s: all white men over 21
 increased voter turnout to 80% by 1840
 More people involved in government

Limits on Suffrage

No Suffrage:




Women
Native Americans
Most African Americans
slaves
Election of 1824

John Quincy Adams- had support of New
England



Andrew Jackson- support from the West
Henry Clay- support of the West
William Crawford- support of the South
Election of 1824


Jackson “Old
Hickory”: wins
popular vote
No candidate wins
majority of
electoral votes
 House
of Reps.
chooses president
“Corrupt Bargain”
•
•
•
Speaker of House (Clay) can influence results
Adams wins
Henry Clay: Secretary of State
How do you think
John Q. Adams does
as President
because of the
corrupt bargain?
Unpopular President



No one likes Adams because Jackson is
“the people’s representative,” and he
should have been president.
Attempted to bring the country together
through a program of growth and internal
improvements
Most Americans rejected spending so
much money.
A Bitter Campaign

Jackson v. Adams (1828)


Jackson easily wins this time
Propaganda on BOTH sides:


Adams: Jackson is a dangerous military
chieftain; could become a new Napoleon
Bonaparte
Jackson: Adams made a corrupt bargain; is an
aristocrat (out of touch, upper class)
Turning point in American History
Marked the beginning of political involvement
for ordinary Americans.
Beginning of mudslinging campaigns which are
still used today.
Mudslinging Reached New Heights
His opponents accused him of murder,
gambling, slave trading and treason.
Why had ordinary Americans
not really participated in
politics up until now?
Why is mudslinging used in
political campaigns?
Jackson Fact or Fiction



Andrew Jackson exercised his veto power twelve
times as President, more than all of his predecessors
combined
There was never an assassination attempt on Jackson
 Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter,
approached Jackson as he left a congressional
funeral held in the House chamber of the Capitol
and shot at him. His gun misfired.
Andrew Jackson was the only President in American
History to pay off the national debt and leave office
with the country in the black.
#
Vice Presidents:
John C. Calhoun
Martin Van Buren
Jacksonian Democracy

Andrew Jackson:




Military man from war of 1812
Born in a log cabin
Parents were poor farmers
small farmers and others left
out of growing U.S. economy
admired him
Jackson argued that the
president, as the only
representative of all
the people, should rule
supreme.
Congress did not agree.
Struggle between
executive branch and
legislature over which
branch should dominate
the government.
JACKSONIAN
DEMOCRACY:
The idea of spreading
democracy to all the
people, not just the
elite, thus ensuring
majority rule.
How is this
different from
Jefferson's vision
of democracy?
A new style of Democracy
What principle of the
Constitution does not allow
one branch to dominate
over the other branch?
JACKSON
STARTED CURRENT
DEMOCRATIC
PARTY.
“Let the people
rule!”
-A. Jackson
You’ve been elected president of this
classroom. You now must choose your
cabinet. Fill the following positions;
Orange Chair Designator:
White Board Decorator:
Environmental Protection Chairperson:
Librarian:
Climate Control:
Classroom Maintenance:
Did you choose your friends or people you
knew would be good for the job? Or was it a
mix of both? Is there any danger in just
choosing your friends? Danger in only
choosing those good for the job?
What problems can occur
when jobs are given to
people just because they
are friends with someone?
Notes: Rewarded
supporters with
government jobs and threw
opponents out!
• “Civil Servants”ordinary citizens who can
fill government jobs
Rationale for system:
*Government remains
responsive to the people.
*Assured loyalty to the
president.
*Increases Party support.
•The “Kitchen
Cabinet” formed to
advise Jackson
unofficially – result
of spoils system.
Jackson is seated in a collapsing chair, with the "Altar of Reform"
toppling next to him, and rats scurrying at his feet. The rats are (left to
right): Secretary of War John H. Eaton, Secretary of the Navy John
Branch, Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, and Treasury Secretary
Samuel D. Ingham. Jackson's spectacles are pushed up over his
forehead, and his foot is planted firmly on the tail of the Van Buren rat.
"Resignations" fill the air behind him, and a pillar marked "Public
confidence in the stability of this administration" falls to the left.
Today presidents routinely appoint their supporters to
head government departments and offices, but in
Jackson's day many government positions were held by
men who had been there since George Washington.
Even before his inauguration, Jackson planned to
replace men he saw as corrupt federal employees
(civil servants) with new appointees who could
restore virtue and morality to government.
Jackson's POV
"In a country where offices
are created solely for the
benefit of the people no
one man has any more
intrinsic right to official
station than another."
Jackson called this
process "rotation in office".
Jackson's Critics
Viewed Jackson's
appointments
as dangerous to the country.
Felt Jackson was only
rewarding
supporters and not filling
positions with qualified
people.
Called it a "spoils system"
Notes: Jackson vetoed the bank charter
and withdrew federal money to “pet banks”
– state banks who supported Jackson
Disliked the bank because he felt bank
was organization by wealthy Easterners in
which ordinary citizens had no control
This 1834 lithograph by
David Claypool Johnson
shows Kentucky senator
Henry Clay sewing
President Andrew
Jackson's mouth shut.
Jackson's fight to
destroy the Bank of the
United States and his
removal of the Treasury
secretary led to the
Senate's censure of
Jackson for abuse of
presidential power.
Who benefits from tariffs?

Northern Economy
• Southern Economy
Turn to you neighbor and discuss which region
would benefit from a high tariff.
In 1828, Congress passed the highest tariff in U.S. history. It
was so bad that the Southerners called it the Tariff of
Abominations (something that is hated).
The fight against this tariff was led by
Vice President John C. Calhoun. He
said that states had a right to nullify
a federal law that they considered
unconstitutional.
What does nullify mean?
His reasoning was that since the
states made up the national
government, they had final authority.
Because he disagreed with President Jackson, Calhoun
resigned and became governor of South Carolina.
Why did Southerners
dislike the tariff, even
after it was lowered?
South Carolina passed
the Nullification Act,
which declared the tariff
illegal.
They also threatened to secede if the government
challenged them. What does secede mean?
Finally, the president offered a lower tariff, which
Calhoun supported, ending the Nullification Crisis.
But even though the crisis was over, tensions
between North and South increased for years.
 Congress had passed Tariff of Abominations and
Tariff of 1832.
 Calhoun resigned as Vice President when Jackson
supported federal law over state law.
 South Carolina passed Nullification Act declaring
tariffs of 1828 and 1832 unconstitutional and
threatened to secede from the Union. Known as
the “Nullification Crisis”
Why would South Carolina feel like
the tariffs were unconstitutional?
Does a state have the “right” to
declare a law unconstitutional?
What do you think the Supreme
Court would say?
 “Union must be preserved” against states’ rights
 Jackson got Congress to pass the Force Act
which allowed him to use the army to enforce
federal law.
 Henry Clay, “The Great Compromiser,” proposed a
compromise bill which lowered the tariffs over a
10 year period so crisis eased.
What are the geographic,
economic, and social
reasons why the United
States would be divided
into the West, the North,
and the South?
The Indian Removal Act
“It is impossible to civilize Indians
because they were essentially
inferior to the Anglo-Saxon race”
Cherokee Indians
• Lived peacefully in the
Appalachian Mountains of
Georgia and Tennessee
• Adopted culture of whites
- wrote and spoke English
• Had own written
language and newspaper
• Based their government
on the U.S. Constitution
Battle over land
The State of Georgia wanted Indian lands to
build things on. They also wanted the lands
so that they could build larger plantations.
The Indians refused to move.
Cherokee Sue For Land
Cherokee sued the
government of Georgia for
taking their land
Worcester vs. Georgia
John Marshall of the
Supreme Court ruled
Georgia’s actions are illegal
and that the Cherokee can
stay
President Jackson said, “Chief Justice
John Marshall has made his decision.
Now let him enforce it.”
1) What is the job of the Supreme Court?
2) What is the job of the President?
3) What should happen if a government
official refuses to do his job?
Indian Removal Act

In 1830 Jackson signed the Indian
Removal Act which forced Native
Americans to leave their homes in the USA
and move West of the Mississippi.
Jackson saw Indian
Removal as an
opportunity to
provide for the
needs of the white
farmers and
businessmen. He
also claimed that
removal was also in
the best interest of
the Indians. Why?
Jackson forced 15,000 Indians to walk to
their new land. The walk took several
months. It was in the winter and ¼ of
them died on the trail. Most of the people
that died were the elderly and kids. This
was called the
Trail of Tears.
Was the removal of the
Cherokee Nation
constitutional?
Why did the government
feel it was necessary to
remove the Indians?
You have taken me prisoner with all my warriors - I
fought hard. But your guns were well-aimed. The
bullets flew like birds in the air, and whizzed by our
ears like the wind through the trees in the winter. My
warriors fell around me, it began to look dismal. I saw
my evil day at hand.