Essential Question:
Champion of
the
“Common Man”?
OR
“King”
Andrew?
Jacksonian Democracy
• Andrew Jackson was a war hero who had
defeated the Brits at New Orleans in 1814 and
forced concessions from the Spanish that led to
Florida becoming part of the US in 1819.
• Jackson was a “common man.” He was not born
into the rich, upper class like most presidents,
but achieved his success despite growing up
poor and uneducated.
• Thus, he was very popular with western frontier
settlers and “common folk.”
Jackson’s First
Hermitage Residence
First Known Painting
of Jackson, 1815
General Jackson
During the Seminole
Wars
The “Corrupt Bargain”
• More than any previous election, the election of 1824
was evidence of the growing sectionalism in the US.
• New England backed secretary of state, John Quincy
Adams, but many westerners supported Andrew
Jackson & Henry Clay.
• The election came down to Adams and Jackson and
was so close that the House of Rep had to decide the
winner.
• When Clay gave his support to Adams, he won.
• However, Jackson and his followers protested, when it
was learned that Clay would be named secretary of
state.
• Jackson and his supporters denounced it as a “corrupt
bargain” made to give Adams the presidency.
• 4 years later, however, Jackson defeated Adams in the
presidential race of 1828.
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
“Corru
pt
Bargai
1828 Election
Results
Universal (White Male)
Suffrage
• Jackson’s political style and the changes he inspired
came to be known as Jacksonian Democracy.
• Jackson believed in western expansion and the rights of
white frontier settlers.
• Jackson favored “universal suffrage”- he believed that all
white men should be free to vote, not just those who
owned property.
• With his support, all but a few states dropped the property
requirements for voting.
• Expanding suffrage made the nation more democratic and
empowered the “common man.”
• Who is still excluded in this scenario?
Voting Requirements
in the Early 19c
Voter Turnout: 1820
- 1860
The Spoils System
and More political funsies
•
•
•
•
•
Once in office, Jackson instituted a policy of rewarding his
political supporters with government positions: the Spoils
System. That is, hire your friends, fire your enemies.
Jackson believed the spoils system would encourage common
folks to become politically involved, and would ensure that the
wealthy elite wouldn’t dominate politics. However, this system
led to corruption.
Jackson also favored laissez-faire economics- he did not think
that the govt should regulate businesses.
Jackson also favored a strict interpretation of the Constitution,
even though he often pushed the limits of presidential power
and was often accused of being more like a king than a
president.
He used all of his power to shut down the second national bank
of the US. during his second term in office, b/c he believed it
was unconstitutional.
The Tariff Crisis
Chapter 8, Section 5
•
•
•
•
•
Before Jackson’s first term had begun, Congress passed the Tariff of
1828, a heavy tax on imports designed to boost American
manufacturing.
The tariff greatly benefited the industrial North but forced southerners to
pay high prices for manufactured goods.
In response to the tariff, South Carolina claimed that states could nullify,
or reject, federal laws they judged to be unconstitutional. It based this
claim on a strict interpretation of states’ rights, the powers that the
Constitution neither gives to the federal government nor denies to the
states.
South Carolina nullified the tariffs and threatened to secede, or
withdraw, from the Union, if the federal government did not respect its
nullification.
A compromise engineered by Senator Henry Clay ended the crisis.
However, the issue of states’ rights continued to influence the nation.
Indian Removal
• Jackson believed in Manifest Destiny, and saw Native
Americans that occupied western territories as an
obstacle to be removed.
• As a result, he supported the Indian Removal Act, a
policy by which the US forced Native American off lands
it wanted for white settlement.
• Jackson defied the Supreme Court by supporting
Georgia’s efforts to remove the Cherokee from their lands
in the 1830s.
• The forced march of Cherokees from Georgia to
Oklahoma became known as the Trail of Tears, b/c many
Cherokees suffered and died along the way.
Indian Removal
3
Jackson’s Goal?
3
1830  Indian Removal Act
3
Cherokee Nation v. GA (1831)
* “domestic dependent nation”
3
Worcester v. GA (1832)
3
Jackson:
John Marshall has made his
decision, now let him enforce
it!
The Cherokee Nation
After 1820
Indian Removal
Trail of Tears (18381839)
Jackson’s Professed
“Love” for
Native Americans
Return of the
2-Party System
• Eventually, the differences between Jackson
and men like Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and
John C. Calhoun led to a break in the
Democratic (Jeffersonian)Republican Party.
Jackson’s wing took the name “Democrats,”
and his opponents adopted the name “National
Republicans.”
• Many of the National Republican formed the
new Whig Party- they accused Jackson of
acting like a king (also opposed slavery).
Assessment
• What was the Spoils system?
• Who would have most likely
supported Andrew Jackson?
– A wealthy, eastern businessman
– Henry Clay
– A western farmer
– John Quincy Adams
Assessment
• Describe Jackson’ views regarding the
government’s role in economic matters and
interpretations of the Constitution.
• What was Andrew Jackson’s view concerning
suffrage?
– He believed everyone living in the US
should be allowed to vote.
– He believed any white man should be
allowed to vote.
– He favored restricting suffrage to
landowners.
– He thought that whites and Native
Americans should be allowed to vote, but
not blacks.
Rachel Jackson
Final Divorce Decree
Jackson in Mourning
for His Wife
The “Peggy Eaton
Affair”
An
1832
Cartoo
n:
“King
The 1836 Election
Results
Martin Van Buren
“Old Kinderhook”
[O. K.]
The Panic of 1837
Spreads Quickly!
Andrew Jackson in
Retirement
Photo of Andrew
Jackson in 1844
(one year before his death)
1767 - 1845
• Ms. Susan M. Pojer
Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY
• Pathways to the Present
• Passing the Georgia EOCT