Chapter 11 The Jackson Era (1824-1845)
Section 1 Jacksonian Democracy
James Monroe Leaves Office
•From 1816 and 1824, the US had only one political party
•The Republicans
•James Monroe refused to run for a third term
•Four candidates from the party ran for president
•The candidates views different and they represented different regions
Candidates of 1824
•The Party nominated William H. Crawford, a former congressmen from Georgia
•The other three were favorite sons (Backed by their home states instead of a party)
•Andrew Jackson came from Tennessee (West) and war hero
•Henry Clay from Kentucky (West) and Speaker of the House of Representatives
•John Quincy Adams from Massachusetts (Northeast) and son of former son John Adams
The Election of 1824
•Jackson received the largest number of popular votes
•But, no one received a majority of the electoral vote
•Jackson won a plurality
•According to the 12th Amendment, when no candidate receives a majority of electoral voted, the House of
Reps selects the president
The House Decides
•Henry Clay met with John Quincy Adams
•Clay agreed to use his influence as Speaker of the House to defeat Jackson
•In return, Clay hoped to gain popularity as secretary of state
•With Clay’s help, Adams was elected president
•Adams quickly named Clay secretary of state (traditionally a stepping stone to the presidency)
•Jackson’s followers accused the two men of making a “corrupt bargain” and stealing the election
The Adams Presidency
•Adams and Clay denied any wrongdoings
•The charge of “corrupt wrongdoing” cast a shadow over Adams presidency
•Adams had an ambitious program of legislation
•Also improving roads and waterways
•Adams wanted to have a national university
•Adams proposals horrified his opponents who wanted a more limited role for the federal government
•In the end, Congress granted money for improving rivers, harbors, and roads
The Republican Party
•By 1824, the Republican Party split
•Democratic-Republicans supported Jackson
•National Republicans supported Adams
•Jackson’s “Democrats” favored states’ rights and mistrusted strong central government
•Many Democrats were people from the frontier, immigrants, or workers in the big cities
The National Republicans
•Wanted a strong central government
•Supported federal measures like road building and the Bank of the United States
•They believed this would help the economy
•Many were merchants or farmers
Campaign of 1828
•Both partied resorted to mudslinging (insults)
•Adams was accused of betraying the people
•The Democrats said the election was a contest “between an honest patriotism, and an unholy, selfish ambition,
on the other.”
•The National Republicans fought back with a song embarrassing incidents of Jackson’s life
•John C. Calhoun, Adams’ Vice President, switched parties to run with Jackson
•Jackson won an overwhelming victory
“Old Hickory”
•Like many of his supporters, Jackson was born in a log cabin
•He was a war hero
•His troops called him “Old Hickory” because he was as tough as a hickory stick
•Many felt that Jackson’s rise from a log cabin to the White House demonstrated the American success story
New Voters
•President Jackson promised “equal protection and equal benefits” for all Americans
•At least for all white American men
•During his first term, a spirit of equality spread throughout American politics
•Many states loosened the restrictions for voting (Owning property)
•Democracy expanded as people who had not been allowed to vote became new voters
•More men participated in the political process
•Women could not vote. African Americans and Native Americans had few rights of any kind
•22 of the 24 states changed their constitutions to allow the people to choose presidential electors
The Spoils System
•Democrats wanted more ordinary people in government jobs
•They felt that the federal government had become a bureaucracy (a system in which nonelected officials carry
out laws)
•Jackson replaced workers with his supporters
•The fired employees protesting, saying Jackson was acting like a tyrant
•One Jackson supporter said: “To the victors belong the spoils”
•The practice of replacing government employees with the winner’s supporters is called the spoils system
Electoral Changes
•Jackson’s supporters abandoned the unpopular caucus (Candidates chosen by Congress)
•Nominating conventions replaced them
•Delegates from the states chose the party’s presidential candidate
•This allowed many people to participate in selecting candidates
The Tariff Debate
•A high tariff on European manufactured goods pleased Northeastern factory owners
•By making European goods more expensive, more American made goods would be sold
•Southerners hated it because tariffs meant higher prices
•John C. Calhoun argued that a state had the right to nullify (cancel) a federal law if it was considered to be
against state interests
•Daniel Webster (North) disagreed, claiming that nullification would destroy the Union
Nullification
•Jackson spoke to Calhoun- “Our federal Union… must be preserved”
•Calhoun responded- “The Union- next to our liberty, most dear”
•Calhoun meant that the Union must take second place to a state’s liberty to overrule the Constitution if its
interests were threatened
•1832- Congress lowered the tariff, but the protests from the South continued
South Carolina’s Response
•South Carolina passed the Nullification Act, declaring it would not pay the “illegal” tariffs of 1828 and 1832
•South Carolina threatened to secede if the government interfered
•To ease the crisis, Jackson backed a bill that would gradually lower the tariff
•Jackson also had Congress pass the Force Bill, allowing him to use the military to enforce acts of Congress
•South Carolina accepted the new tariff, but nullified the Force Bill
Essential Question
•How did political beliefs and events shape Andrew Jackson’s presidency?
–Limiting the strength of the federal government
–States’ rights
–Broadening democracy
–Spoils system
–Nullification challenged his ideas