Essential Question:
Champion of
the
“Common Man”?
OR
“King”
Andrew?
Jackson’s
Opponents in 1824
Henry Clay
[KY]
John Quincy Adams
[MA]
William H. Crawford
[GA]
John C. Calhoun
[SC]
Results of the 1824 Election
A
“Corrupt
Bargain?”
Voting Requirements
in the Early 19c
Voting Requirements Eased
• -This enlarged the voting population
• Fewer states had property
qualifications
• In 4 years the number of voters
tripled.
• **Appealed to the ordinary citizen
and took the nickname “Old
Hickory”
Voter Turnout: 1820
- 1860
A Little about Jackson
3
White male suffrage increased
3
Fiery temper
3
War hero, wealthy planter, and worked in law
3
Popular campaigning (parades, rallies, floats,
etc.)
Jacksonian Democracy
• As part of his political
philosophy, Jackson
sought to grant political
power to the common
people
• Called The Spoils System
or Jacksonian
Democracy, Jackson
hired his own supporters
to replace the previous
administration’s staff
• Jackson gave away many
jobs to his friends and
political allies
The “Common
Man’s”
Presidential
Candidate
First Known Painting
of Jackson, 1815
General Jackson
Rachel Jackson
"Ought a convicted
adulteress and her
paramour husband to be
placed in the highest offices
of this free and Christian
land?"
Final Divorce Decree
Jackson in Mourning
for His Wife
1828 Election
Results
Jackson’s Faith
in the “Common Man”
3
3
3
Intense distrust of Eastern
“establishment,” monopolies, &
special privilege.
His heart & soul was with the
“plain folk.”
Belief that the common man was
capable of uncommon
achievements.
Indian Removal
-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
-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 followed the Court ruling as U.S.
troops rounded up the Cherokee and drove
them west, mostly on foot. . .thousands died
The Cherokee Nation
After 1820
Indian Removal
Trail of Tears (18381839)
Trail of Tears
• Beginning in October/November of
1838 Cherokees were put into
groups of 1000.
• 800 mile trip west to new land.
• Money and livestock were stolen
along the way
• Cherokee buried more than ¼ of
their people
• Land was inferior to past land
TARIFF OF
“ABOMINATION”
• In 1824 and again in 1828,
Congress increased the Import
Tariff of 1816
• Southerners called the 1828 Tariff,
“a Tariff of Abominations,” and
blamed it for economic problems
in the South
• The Tariff of 1828 was a protective tariff passed
by the Congress of the United States on May 19,
1828, designed to protect industry in the northern
United States. It was labeled the Tariff of
Abominations by its southern detractors
because of the effects it had on the antebellum
Southern economy.
• The major goal of the tariff was to protect
industries in the northern United States which
were being driven out of business by low-priced
imported goods by putting a tax on them. The
South, however, was harmed directly by having
to pay higher prices on goods the region did not
produce, and indirectly because reducing the
exportation of British goods to the US made it
difficult for the British to pay for the cotton they
imported from the South
Nullification threat
• In an attempt to free South
Carolina from the tariff, John
Calhoun (Jackson’s VP from S.C.),
developed the Theory of
Nullification
• He believed if a state found an act
of Congress to be unconstitutional,
it could declare the law void within
its borders
Jackson’s Bank War
• Jackson opposed National Bank so
he created Pet Banks – so called
because they were favored by
Jackson’s Democrats
• 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 (specie)
backing
• In 1837 a panic set in and many
banks closed, accounts went
bankrupted, and unemployment
Andrew Jackson in
Retirement
Photo of Andrew
Jackson in 1844
(one year before his death)
1767 - 1845