THE TRIUMPH OF WHITE
MEN'S DEMOCRACY
America: Past and Present
Chapter 10
Democracy in Theory and
Practice
Fear that democracy would lead to anarchy
wanes in the 1820s and 1830s
 Equality of opportunity stressed
 America becomes society of winners and
losers
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Democracy and Society
Egalitarian expectations despite
growing economic inequality
 No distinctive domestic servant class
 No class distinctions in dress
 White male equality before the law
radical by European standards
 Egalitarian attack on licensed
professions
 Popular press the source of information
and opinion
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Democratic Culture
Artists work for mass, democratic
audience rather than for an aristocratic
elite
 Popular genres include Gothic horror,
romantic fiction, melodramas, genre
paintings
 Serious artists seek to inspire with
neoclassical sculpture, landscapes of
untamed nature
 Only a few truly avant-garde, romantic
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Democratic Political Institutions:
Politics of Universal Manhood
Suffrage
Nearly all adult white males gain right to
vote without property qualification
 Appointive offices made elective
 Professional politicians emerged
 Public benefits of two-party system
extolled
 Political machines develop at state level
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Democratic Political Institutions :
National Parties
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Changes in presidential elections spur party
growth
Parties often serve special economic interests
Parties share republican ideology, commitment to
equality of opportunity
Parties differ on how to achieve common aims
Neither party seeks to extend rights beyond adult
white male constituency
Radical third parties argue the cause of African
Americans, women, working people
Economic Issues
Interest in government economic policy
intensified after 1819
 Some wanted to do away with banks,
paper money, and easy credit
 Others wanted more government aid
 Political parties took stands on the role
of the federal government in economic
growth
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Labor Radicalism and Equal
Rights
Working men’s parties and trade unions
emerged in the 1820s and 1830s
 They advocated public education
reform, a ten-hour workday, an end to
debtors prison, and hard currency
 They made some gains but they proved
to be only temporary
 The women’s rights movement and
abolitionists made little progress
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Jackson and the Politics of
Democracy
Jackson becomes a symbol of
democracy’s triumph
 Actions of Jackson and his party
refashion national politics in a
democratic mold
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The Election of 1824 and J. Q.
Adams' Administration
The election of 1824 a five-way race
 Jackson wins popular vote
 Adams wins in House of Representatives
with Henry Clay’s support
 Clay’s appointment as Secretary of State
leads to charges Adams "bought" the
presidency
 Mid-term election of 1826 gives Jackson
forces control of Congress
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Jackson Comes to Power
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Jacksonians organized for election of
1828
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appeal to sectional self-interest
make politics exciting to the average man
Jackson wins election as a man of the
people
 Jackson democratizes presidency
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fires at will officeholders he does not like
defends by asserting the right of all men to a
government post
Indian Removal
Indian removal policy inherited from
prior administrations
 Jackson agrees that the federal
government had not pushed Indians
hard enough
 Responds to Cherokee resistance by
asking Congress for Indian Removal act
of 1830
 1838--U.S. Army forces Cherokees west
along the Trail of Tears
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Indian Removal
The Nullification Crisis
John C. Calhoun leads development of
intellectual defense of state sovereignty
 1828--tariff passed, South Carolina
objects but takes no action
 1832--tariff passed, South Carolina
nullifies
 Jackson threatens to send army
 Both sides retreat
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South Carolina gets lower tariff
Jackson demonstrates federal will
The Bank War and the
Second Party System
"The Bank War" a symbolic defense of
democratic value
 Leads to two important results
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economic disruption
a two-party system
Mr. Biddle's Bank
Bank of the United States unpopular
 Open to charges of special privileges
 Manager Nicholas Biddle looks and
behaves like an aristocrat
 Bank possesses great power and
privilege with no accountability to the
public
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The Bank Veto and the
Election of 1832
Jackson vaguely threatens Bank in first
term
 Biddle seeks new charter four years early
 Congress passes, but Jackson vetoes
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claims the Bank is unconstitutional
defends veto as a blow for equality
Jacksonian victory in 1832 spells Bank’s
doom
Killing the Bank
Jackson destroys Bank by federal deposits
 Funds transferred to some state (“pet”)
banks
 Biddle uses his powers to cause
recession, attempts to blame Jackson
 Destruction of Bank provokes fears of
dictatorship, costs Jackson support in
Congress
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The Emergence of the Whigs
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Whig party a coalition of two forces
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opponents of Jackson
Anti-Masonic party
Whigs defend activist government in
economics, enforcement of “decency”
 Democrats weakened by
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defection of working-class spokesmen
depression produced by Jackson’s fiscal
policies
The Rise and Fall of Van Buren
Martin Van Buren succeeds Jackson in
1836
 Term begins with Panic of 1837
 Laissez-faire philosophy prevents Van
Buren from aiding economic distress
 Van Buren attempts to save government
funds with independent subtreasuries
 Whigs block subtreasuries until 1840
 Panic of 1837 blamed on Van Buren
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The Rise and Fall of
Van Buren (2)
Whigs fully organized by 1840
 Whig candidate William Henry Harrison
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image built as a common man who had
been born in a log cabin
running mate John Tyler chosen to attract
votes from states-rights Democrats
Harrison and Tyler beat Van Buren
Heyday of the Second Party
System
Election of 1840 marks rise of permanent
two-party system in the U.S.
 Whigs and Democrats evenly divide the
electorate for next two decades
 Parties offer voters a clear choice
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Whigs support a "positive liberal state,"
community
Democrats support "negative liberal state,"
individual
Parties share a broad democratic ideology
Tocqueville’s Wisdom
Alexis de Tocqueville praises most
aspects of American democracy
 Warns of future disaster if white males
refuse to extend liberty to women, African
Americans and Indians.
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