THE AGE OF JACKSON
THE AGE OF JACKSON
• Andrew Jackson’s
election in 1828,
ushered in a new
era of popular
democracy
ELECTION OF ANDREW
JACKSON
• Jackson, hero of the
common man, won
election in 1828
• Supported by western
farmers & workers in
the cities
• Jackson who also won
re-election in 1832
ANDREW JACKSON
IS ON THE $20 BILL
JACKSON
• Jackson believed:
• Common man could hold office w/o
experience (said all that was needed was
the “common sense of the common
man”
• Rotation in office
• Spoil system-rewarding supporters with
public office
• National rather than state sovereignty
JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY
• As part of his political
philosophy, Jackson
sought to grant political
power to all common
people & ensuring
majority rule
• Called Jacksonian
Democracy,
•
SPOIL SYSTEM
• Jackson hired his supporters to replace
the previous administration’s staff
• gave many jobs to his friends and political
allies
INDIAN REMOVAL ACT - 1830
• By 1820 only about 125,000 Indians lived east of
Miss. R.
• Five civilized tribes in southeast, Cherokee,
Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, & Seminole
• Indians want to live in peace with the white man
• Their land was very fertile
• It was wanted by whites to grow cotton
INDIAN REMOVAL ACT 1830
• Congress, with Jackson’s support, passed
the Indian Removal Act in 1830
• Under this law, the federal government
funded treaties that forced tribes west
• The Cherokee Tribe in Georgia refused
and were supported by the Supreme Court
INDIAN REMOVAL ACT 1830
• Jackson refused to abide by the Court
decision
• Jackson said, “John Marshall (Supreme
Court Chief Justice) has made his
decision, now let him enforce it.”
• Trail of Tears U.S. troops rounded up
the Cherokee and drove them west,
mostly on foot. . .thousands died
INDIAN REMOVAL - 1830
TRAIL OF TEARS
•
•
•
•
•
15,000 Cherokee are forced to move by
the Army
It was116 day march
More than 25% died of illness or
exhaustion
The Cherokee called it “The Trail Where
They Cried”
We know it as The Trail of Tears
* ge-tsi-ka-hv-da a-ne-gv-i *
The Trail Where They Cried
Seminole Wars
• The attempt to remove Seminole Indians
from Florida resulted in the Seminole
Wars
• The was the costliest war fought to obtain
Seminole Wars Indian land.
Tariff of Abomination
• 1828-last months of J.Q. Adams congress
passed a bill that significantly raised the tariff on
raw materials & manufactured goods
• South called it the Tariff of Abomination
• The South felt the economic interests of the
Northeast were determining national policy
NULLIFICATION
THREAT
• to free South Carolina
from the tariff, John
Calhoun (Jackson’s VP
from S.C.), developed
the Theory of
Nullification
NULLIFICATION CRISIS
• Calhoun believed if a state found an act of
Congress to be unconstitutional, it could
declare the law void within its borders
• Tensions only relieved by a Clay
Compromise Tariff in 1833
JACKSON’S BANK WAR
• Jackson opposed National Bank so he
created Pet Banks – so called because
they were favored by Jackson’s
Democrats
JACKSON’S BANK WAR
Many felt Jackson was
acting more like a King
than a president
• In 1832, his opponents
formed a new party –
the Whigs
PANIC OF 1837
• In 1836, Democrat Martin Van
Buren won the Presidency
• He inherited problems from
the “Bank Wars”
• Jackson’s Pet Banks printed
money without Gold backing
• Banks allowed people to
borrow more than they could
repay
MARTIN VAN BUREN 1837-1841
PANIC OF 1837
• In 1837 a panic set in and many banks closed,
accounts went bankrupted, and unemployment
soared
• inflation occurs
• people went to state banks to trade paper $ for
gold & silver, the banks (ran out) defaulted
resulting in a depression (severe economic
slump)
HARRISON & TYLER
• Whig William Henry
Harrison defeated
Democrat Van Buren
in the election of 1840
• Harrison, died a month
into his term
HARRISON
1841
TYLER
• His VP, John Tyler
1841-1845
became president
• John Tyler becomes 1st VP to become
president as result of Pres. death
MEXICAN-AMERICAN
WAR
• 1844 presidential election
winner, James Polk,
wanted to annex Texas as
part of the U.S.
• Negotiations failed and
U.S. troops moved into
Mexican territory in 1845
MEXICAN PRESIDENT
SANTA ANNA
MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR
• America victories soon followed, and in
1848 Mexican leader Santa Anna
conceded defeat
The Mexican Cession
• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed –
U.S. gets (larger) Texas, New Mexico &
California
• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo also called
The Mexican Cession
CALIFORNIA GOLD
RUSH
• After gold was discovered
at Sutter’s Mill, migration to
California rose from 400 in
1848 to 44,000 in 1850
• Folks who rushed to San
Francisco in 1849 became
known as Forty-niners
• By 1857, the total amount
of gold mined in California
topped $2,000,000,000