THE AGE OF JACKSON
Chapter 9: HIST 103
7
ANDREW JACKSON
DEMOCRAT (TN)
1829-1837
INAUGURATION DAY - MARCH 4, 1829
“Proud day for the people”
Old Hickory
“General Jackson is their own President!”
King Mob
“Reign of ‘King Mob’ seems triumphant!”
party at the White House - ruined many ornate furnishings
EXTENDING FRANCHISEMENT
Extension of franchisement during the 1820s
Massachusetts: every voter be a taxpayer (drop property)
Ohio: all white males
New York: not ‘life, liberty, and property’
Rhode Island: Dorr Rebellion
SECOND
SYSTEM
GROWTH PARTY
OF PARTY
LOYALTY
belief that permanent parties were essential
to success of a democracy
1. sense of purpose
2. “Loyal Opposition”
Martin Van Buren (NY)
“Bucktails”
political party loyalty stabilizes the country
“PRESIDENT OF THE COMMON MAN”
View of the Democratic Party
perception
reality
equal protection & equal benefits to all white men
assault on eastern aristocrats
subjugation of blacks, Indians, and women
Spoils System
“To the victors belong the spoils” - William L. Marcy (NY)
executive branch duties plain and simple
removed 1/5 of federal officeholders
“OUR FEDERAL UNION”
Commitment to Preservation of the Union
1. Decrease economic power of the federal government
2. Increase enforcement power of the executive branch
THEORY OF NULLIFICATION
South Carolina Push for Secession
Tariff of Abominations (1828) hurt the southern planter
slowed economy due to exhausted farmland
John C. Calhoun (VP)
theory of nullification
states were final arbiters of constitutionality of laws
special convention declare federal law null & void in the state
Petticoat Affair
Peggy O’Neale | John Eaton (TN)
THE PETTICOAT AFFAIR
Secretary of War
Peggy O’Neale
John Eaton
Vice President
John C. Calhoun
President
Andrew Jackson
Sec. of State
Martin Van Buren
WEBSTER-HAYNE DEBATE
States Rights vs. National Power
began over proposed pause of western land sale
Hayne (D-SC) thought it was NE ploy to maintain power
Webster (W-MA) attacked “challenge to integrity of the union”
NULLIFICATION CRISIS - 1832
1. no relief from Tariff of Abominations
2. state convention summoned
3. Hayne elected Governor - Calhoun to Senate
4. 1833 - Force Bill (Jackson)
5. Calhoun in Senate - no states supported South Carolina
6. Clay intervenes - lower tariff
7. Force Bill and Compromise signed on same day
8. Nullification removed in South Carolina
WHY DOES THE NULLIFICATION CRISIS MATTER?
it was not really about the tariff!
“the tariff was only a pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy
the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question”
- Andrew Jackson (1833)
If the federal government would not have stood up
against South Carolina nullifying a tariff, would they have
stood up against the nullification of changes to slavery.
WHITE ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE INDIAN TRIBES
“noble savages”
people without civilization but with inherent
dignity that makes civilization possible
“savages”
uncivilized and uncivilizable
whites should not live in close proximity
move west of the Mississippi River
1. out of the way
2. Great American Desert
3. never will be settled by whites
THE BLACK HAWK WAR (1831-1832: ILLINOIS)
Black Hawk did not accept previous treaty giving up Illinois
rival faction signed the treaty
state militia/federal troops repel the invaders
Importance of the Black Hawk War
-viciousness of white military efforts
-attacked Black Hawk even during attempted surrender
-pursued the Sauk and Fox while they fled
Black Hawk captured and “tour of the East”
FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES
Southeast United States
Agricultural Economies
Cherokee Nation
-own written language
- formal constitution
-stable culture/economy
INDIAN REMOVAL
removal of tribes from eastern lands
state laws regulated remaining tribes
Indian Removal Act (1830)
- appropriate money to finance negotiations of relocation
- most resistance was weak
Cherokee stop white encroachment through court action
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) & Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
agreed to cede land in Georgia for $5 million + land
“
John Marshall has made his
decision. Now let him enforce it.
-Andrew Jackson (1832)
“
Even aged females, apparently nearly
read to drop in the grave, were
traveling with heavy burdens attached
to their backs, sometimes on frozen
ground and sometimes on muddy
streets, with no covering for their feet.
-Kentuckian
“
the remnant of that ill-fated race
was now beyond the reach of
injury or oppression.
-Andrew Jackson (1832)
Trail of Tears - today
SEMINOLES
➤
Refused to sign treaty until
pressured in 1832-1833
➤
Most moved to the west
➤
Chief Osceola
➤
➤
refused to leave
➤
uprising in 1835
Seminole War (1835-1842)
➤
$20,000,000 expense
➤
1500 US deaths
➤
Seminoles remained
INDIAN REMOVAL OVERVIEW
Why was Indian Remove the choice of the government?
What were the final results of Indian Removal?
* 100 million acres of eastern land (whites)
* $68 million dollars to the tribes
* 32 million acres of western land (tribes)
JACKSON AND FEDERAL POWER
Necessary: use against rebellious states and Indian tribes
Opposed: use regarding economic issues that arise
Veto of Maysville Road bill in 1830
Located solely in Kentucky
SECOND BANK OF THE UNITED STATES
Philadelphia (1816-1836)
Nicholas Biddle - bank president
Federal Government
only place to deposit own money
20% of stock owned by government
Actions of the Bank
provide credit to growing enterprises
issued bank notes (medium of exchange)
restrained the poorly managed state banks (call on currency)
OPPOSITION TO THE SECOND BANK OF THE UNITED STATES
Soft Money
wanted more currency
did not need bank notes backed by gold/silver
restraining state banks limits growth
Who? - state bankers & allies
Hard Money
gold/silver (specie) only basis for money
bank should not issue bank notes
bank should not be involved in expansion of the economy
Who? - Andrew Jackson
THE BANK WAR: ELECTION OF 1832
Bank Renewal Application
Charter expired in 1836, renewal proposed in 1832
- supported by Henry Clay (maybe a major topic?)
Biddle Gains Political Power
grants favors to men that can help preserve the bank
Daniel Webster & Henry Clay
Clay (N-R) in Election of 1832
defeated by Jackson/Van Buren
219 - 49 (55% popular vote)
THE BANK WAR: THE MONSTER DESTROYED
government could not abolish bank until charter expired (1836)
Jackson and the “pet banks”
weaken bank by removing federal deposits
Roger B. Taney - transferred money instead of Secretary of Treasury
Biddle’s Response
calls in loans & raised interest rates
recession results from the changes
Biddle and Jackson - blame game
Allies turn on Biddle and bank dies in 1836
CJ
Roger B. Taney
5th Chief Justice
1836-1864
1. Generally followed Marshall Court rulings
2. Supreme Court determines line for
supporting state’s rights
3. Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
MASSACHUSETTS BRIDGES CASE
Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837)
State Charter for Toll Bridge
Legislative Approval for Toll Free Bridge
Taney’s Response
- object of government to promote general happiness
- takes precedence over the rights of contract/property
the key to democracy was an expansion of
Jacksonian Ideal: economic opportunity which could not occur if
older corporations maintained monopolies
THE WHIGS AND THE SECOND PARTY SYSTEM
Whigs
England - opposes King
* Big Federal Gov’t
* Internal improvements
* Industrial development
* Consolidate economic
system
Merchants
Manufacturers
Wealthy Planters
Evangelical Protestant
King Andrew I
Democrats
* limited government
* expand white/male
opportunities
* defend the union
* attack centers of
corrupt privilege
* oppose establishing
banks/corporations
Farmer/Planter
Laborer
Catholics
New Immigrants
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ELECTION WIN
election win more important than anything else
Purity of the party suffered
(make concessions to win the election)
— Adjustments in views to attract more voters —
One Example:
Anti-Masonry stance adopted by the Whigs
attacked exclusivity (Society of the Freemasons)
Why?
Jackson & Van Buren were Freemasons
ECONOMIC GROWTH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE AGE OF JACKSON
Economic Growth and Stability
1835 - 1837: government sold 40 million acres of land
1835 - 1837: NO DEBT!!! (surplus in the Treasury)
1836: Distribution Act
what to do with the extra money?
Specie Circular
presidential order to slow speculative fever
government only accepts gold/silver in payment for public lands
produced a financial panic
NATIONAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE WHIGS
Daniel Webster - MA
Henry Clay - KY
John C. Calhoun - SC
GREAT TRIUMVIRATE
8
MARTIN VAN BUREN
DEMOCRAT (NY)
1837 - 1841
PANIC OF 1837
The America Martin Van Buren inherited
1. banks and businesses failed
2. unemployment grew
3. bread riots in some cities
4. price of land fell
5. railroad/canal projects failed
6. state governments failed
SUCCESSES OF VAN BUREN
10 Hour Workday - federal projects
Independent Treasury
-
independent treasury in Washington
-
no private banks can access government funds
THE LOG CABIN CAMPAIGN
1840: push to gain more votes in the west
move away from a party only of the elite
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON
9
WHIG (VA)
1841 - 1841
10
JOHN TYLER
WHIG (VA)
1841 - 1845
WHIG DIPLOMACY
Caroline Affair
- strained relationship with the British
Aroostook War
- brawl between lumberjacks that moved into Maine/Canada border
Creole mutiny
- 100 slaves mutiny and established nation in Bahamas
Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842)
- resolve border issues with Maine and ‘Canada’
Treaty of Wang Hya (1842, 1844)
1842 - open trade with Britain & China
1844 - ‘most-favored nation’ status with China
WHIGS BREAK FROM TYLER
Tyler left Democrats in opposition to Jackson
- Tyler abolished the independent treasury & raise tariffs
- did not support recharter of B.U.S.
- vetoed ‘American System’ bills from Clay
Whigs kick Tyler out of the party
- entire cabinet resigned (minus Webster)
- Democrats replaced Whigs
- Southern Whigs rejoin Democrats
(planter class)
- expand the institution of slavery
- fanatical belief in states’ rights