Henry Clay-Speaker of the House
Chooses JQ Adams over Jackson
“Corrupt Bargain”was struck: Clay chose
Adams, and Adams chose Clay as secretary
of state.
Q: Why was this such a prime position?
Jackson and his supporters smelled a rat :”Judas of
the West”
They believed Adams bribed Clay in order to win
presidency and for Clay to win secretary position.
No evidence to back claim
This did, however alter the way presidents would be
chosen in the future.
JQA still smarting over corruption charges
“Minority President”- lost popular vote (p 256258)
Personality:
Irritable, sarcastic, & tactless
In truth: JQA pretty straight politician-gave no
favors to his supporters (which greatly
aggravated them)
Preferred national over states’ rights
EX: asked Congress to build roads/canals;
proposed a national university (as did GW);
asked for federal assistance in building
astronomical observatory.
Public’s reaction: Waste of public funds!
Why was the South particularly outraged?
Public disliked his policy of curbing westward
expansion and specualtion
Cherokee issue: Adams wanted to deal humanely
with the Cherokees, despite the Georgians
bitterness.
Georgia’s governor- threatened to revolt if govt.
worked on behalf of the Cherokees.
He succeeded in getting the fed out of the
decision, and at the same time made Adams
look weak-nullifying his presidential authority.
Began his campaign when Adams became president.
Jackson: Dem/Rep
Adams: Nat’l/Rep
Jackson: viewed as rough frontiersman, champion of
the common man
Adams: viewed as corrupt aristocrat—couldn’t
escape the “Corrupt Bargain”
(in reality, JQA was probably too honest for
office of President)
NOT a frontiersman
Wealthy planter-slave owner
Mudslinging:
Accused Adams of gambling in the “presidential
palace”
Accused Adams of pimping for a Russian Tsar
Came from the West and South
Adams won the elitist New England and parts of
the middle states
RESULTS: Jackson victorious in electoral votes
What does this mean for political pull?
Personality:
Tall, skinny, sickly, and irritable
Brawler
Poor writer and speller
Temperamental (not the kind of congressional
member we have today)
Dueller
Impassioned
Wow!
Hickoryites flock to Washington
Barge into the White House
Drunken mess
Made many conservatives verrry nervous about
the new president. They compared it to the
French Revolution…
Rewarding supporters with political posts/public
office
Jackson defended the spoils system-thought it was
democratic to give high posts to “neighbors”
Plus: Too many from Washington’s era still in power
Minus: Cronies not always right for the jobs
Plus: Protected American industry against foreign
competition
Minus: Drove up the prices for all Americans and
created hostilities with foreign countries
(they retaliate with their own tariff on
American agricultural products)
Southerners particularly hostile to tariff
Southerners believed they were being discriminated
against
Why?-Because the North was experiencing a boom in
industry while the South was experiencing a
decline in prosperity
South and cotton: they sold their cotton relatively
cheap around the world, but were forced to buy
American manufactured goods at a high rate
Slavery issue: South also thought feds would interfere
with the slavery
The Exposition- written in secret by JCC
In it, he declared that states nullify the tariff
Legacy: Medal “First President of the Southern
Confederacy”
Legacy: Never pushed for secession, wanted intact
Union
Legacy: Believed that slave owners should be able to
take their human property anywhere in the United
States without interference from the govt.
Not happy with the new Tariff of 1832
-they thought it was still too high
Nullifiers and Unionists clash!
Nullies win 2/3 of the state election of 1832
-this means they can nullify the tariff of 1832
-they also threaten to secede from the Union
if Washington tries to collect custom duties
by force.
Stubborn and defiant
refused to be bullied and sent reinforcements to South
Carolina to suppress uprising
Henry Clay intervenes:
compromise Tariff of 1833 cuts the old tariff by 10%
over 8 years
Calhoun & South in favor of new tariff
Force Bill- passed by Congress as a result of the threat
from SC. Authorized president to use force to collect
federal tariffs
Glad the big fight was over, but still needed to
save face
Met for another convention and repealed
nullification
BUT…
They also nullified the Force Bill and adjourned
Results: Neither side came out as winner. Henry
Clay declared a “hero” for saving the country
Westward expansion=confrontation w/natives
Attempt at “civilizing” N. Am. By the Society for
Propagating the Gospel Among Indians since 1787
Mixed reactions- Some Cherokees comply, some violently
resist
Many Cherokees turn into prosperous cotton planters and
own slaves
“Five Civilized Tribes”- Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek,
Chickasaw, and Seminole
Georgians want Cherokees to submit to the White
man’s rule.
Cherokee appeal to Supreme Court (3 times are
victorious)
Jackson refuses to recognize Supreme Court’s
decision
Why???
Jackson forcibly removes 100,000 Indians from their
rightful land in the Indian Removal Act of 1830
N. Americans die during the decade-long march west
of the Mississippi
Bureau of Indian Affairs established in 1836
their job was to reestablish relations with Indiansbut by this time Indians have no faith in the White
man.
Resist eviction, but are crushed in 1832
(Lincoln was among the troops who bloodily
destroy the Sauk and Fox)
Seminoles retreat to Everglades and for 7 years
participate in guerilla warfare against US
soldiers
1,500 US soldiers were killed-small number
compared to the lives lost in the Native
American nations.
A Monster?
-Acted as a branch of government
>Main depository for funds of government
>Controlled the nation’s gold & silver
The BIG problemPrivately owned and operated, so “regular” people
didn’t have any control-only rich elites
Czar Nicholas Biddle
-Disliked b/c he held a lot of power (probably
more than he should have)
West disliked because of the foreclosures on
western farms
Webster & Clay proposed to renew the Bank of
US four years earlier than it was supposed to
-Why???
Backfire!
-Jackson vetoed the re-charter, claimed bank as
unconstitutional
Made Jackson seem like a Jackass with too much
power because Supreme Court had already
ruled it was constitutional
Became one of the hottest topics of the next
presidential election
Interesting Contest
Mudslinging on both sides
3rd party enters the ring: Anti-Masonic party
-influential on east coast
>and evangelicals
-also Anti-Jackson party…why?
A new process: national conventions to nominate
presidential candidates
Also new: political platforms
-What is that?
Although out “monied”by Clay, Jackson wins in
an electoral college landslide
Jackson’s ego took over
-determined to kill the Bank of US
-even his trusted advisors thought it was a bad
idea
>so, Jackson fired them and finally found a
Treasury crony to do his bidding
End result of killing the bank:
-“Pet banks” (friends of Jackson)
-Wildcat banks (small banks w/little financial pull)
More end results of “Killing the Biddle”
 Specie Circular




All public lands must be bought with metallic money
This decree halted speculative boom, let’s face it, not too
many people had enough hard currency to purchase
land
Specie Circular was one reason for the Financial
Panic of 1837
Jackson left office just in time, leaving Van Buren
to clean up the mess…


Opposition to Jackson and the Democrats
Why “Whigs”?


It references the Revolutionary era of anti-monarchy
Whigs contained many elements (in fact, so many that
the party had a hard time staying alive
Some members were groups that were alienated by Jackson:
 Southern State’s righters (Jackson opposed their nullification,
remember?)
 Northern Industrialists & Merchants
 Evangelical Protestants associated with the Anti-Masonic party


Whigs were conservative, but progressive when it came
to supporting active government programs & reforms

Rather than spend $$ on territory, they preferred internal
improvements

Jackson backed his smooth-talking VP for
nomination (Van Buren)

Jackson probably nominated him in order to keep
Jackson’s programs alive, even after his presidency
 Van Buren was somewhat of a “yes man”

Meanwhile, the Whigs, who were kind of
disorganized, could not agree on a single
presidential candidate


Whigs settled on WH Harrison
Van Buren wins both popular and electoral vote
“Little Magician”
 First president who was born an “American”
 “First-class second-rate man”
 Intelligent, witty
 But, he inherited a lot of trouble, some from
Jack’s presidency, but not all



Rebellion in Canada (threatened yet another war
w/Brit)
Annexation of Texas
Depression (mostly from Jack)
Basic causes:
 Rampant speculation prompted by get-rich-quick
schemes
 Jack’s Bank War and Specie Circular
 Failure of wheat crops
 Britain banks were failing (this caused them to call in
loans made to the US—who couldn’t pay them back)
 Bank failures in the US
 Commodity prices fell
 Sales from land fell dramatically
 Customs revenue trickled in
Remember, these problems didn’t happen overnight, they were
there BEFORE Jack left office, VB was at the wrong place at the
wrong time
Whigs try to help the economy:
 Expansion of bank credit
 Higher tariffs
 Subsidies for internal improvements

What’s a subsidy?
 money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a
product or service low or to help a business or organization to
continue to function
How did Van Buren respond?
 His adherence to Jack’s “hands off” policy kept him from
accepting the ideas
 Van Buren applies the “Divorce Bill”
 What’s the Divorce Bill?


This bill set up an "independent treasury" where extra government
money would be kept in vaults (not in the banks). This would give
the government stability independent of the whims of the banking
world.
AKA: Independent Treasury Act
Van Buren’s “Divorce Bill” never really popular
 Even his own Democratic party disliked it
 Whigs absolutely condemned the bill
But, by 1840, Congress pass the Independent Treasury
Bill (AKA Divorce Bill)
 And, by ~1841, Whigs repealed it
 But, by 1846, Democrats reinstate the damn thing,
and it eventually becomes the Federal Reserve Bank
Whew!!! Lotsa flip-floppin
Land-hungry Americans continue to move west, into
the huge expanse of Texas (owned by Spain at the
time)
 We gave it to them when we acquired Florida,
remember?
While Spain was making plans to populate the area
with Spaniards, the Mexicans won their independence
from Spain
 The new Mexican regime granted a vast area to
American Stephen Austin in 1823
 His plan was to bring into Texas 300 American
families

Those families would convert to Catholicism and become
properly “Mexicanized” citizens
Austin managed to get the families to Texas, but
most failed to become Catholic or Mexican
citizens
 By 1835 (just 12 years after Austin arrived),
Texan Americans numbered around 30K



Most TAs were good people, but some were jumping
the states to avoid the law (GTT)
Who inhabited Texas?
Men like Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, Sam
Houston

These were men who did not like to be pushed
around!
Texan Americans did not always see eye-to-eye with
Mexicans
 EX: Slavery



MX emancipated in 1830 and prohibited slavery into Texas
Texans refused to follow the slave law
Stephen Austin, who was trying to come up with an
amicable agreement, went to Mexico City in 1833 to
try and come up with a deal
Instead, dictator Santa Anna jailed him for ~8 months
 By 1835, Santa Anna wiped out Texan American rights and
raised an army to fight the TAs

1836, Texans declare their independence
 Have their own flag
 Sam Houston is their Commander-in-Chief
Santa Anna, of course, is furious
 He sends his troops from Mexico into Texas
 Alamo: 200 Texans are wiped out after being under
siege for 13 days

The 13 day siege did buy the Americans some time, but at
the expense of many lives…
 When word of the Alamo got out, ~1300 Americans and ~900
Texans volunteered to avenge the Alamo victims and halt
Santa Anna


April, 1836: The Texans find Santa Anna and his
men on “siesta”
With a blade to his throat, Santa Anna agrees to
sign 2 treaties:


Withdraw his troops
Recognize Rio Grande as the SW boundary of TX
What will happen with the relationship between
self-proclaimed independent Texas and the union of
the US?
 Texas Bride and Old Groom US

Northerners in US wanted no part of annexation b/c of
the slavery issue
Election year: 1840
 Martin Van Ruin (weakly nominated by Dems) versus
Harrison (Whig’s #1 choice)
Harrison:
 Hero of Tippecanoe
 Little to no political enemies
Whigs platform:
 Nothing official (they wanted to offend no one so that Van
Ruin might not be elected again!)

Unfortunately for the Dems, some editor published negative things
about people who lived in the West (which could have been any of Van
Buren’s constituents, but the editor killed that one)
Whigs, of course, love this!
Whigs denounce Van Buren as aristocratic and foofy
Harrison’ background
 Not low-born
 Rich, rich, rich
Harrison wins overwhelming electoral votes 234:60
 Harrison and the Whigs face economic depression


Whigs plan: expand and stimulate economy
Dems: retrenchment (reduce) and end unstable banks and
aggressive corporations
Big changes came after the 1840 election
 Aristocratic politics was out, populist democratic
style politics was in
 Politicians, now forced to listen to constituent
masses of lower, middle, and upper classes
 Mass appeal for politicians born of humble stock


Not over-dressed, over-educated, over-clean, overgrammatical—this is what the public craved
Still, the wealthy aristocratic politicians looked
down upon the new “populist politicians”

“bipeds of the forest”, “coonskin congressmen”
1840 campaign brought a lasting tradition of the two-party
system
 Jeffersonians absorbed so many of the Federalists
programs, that the Federalists became obsolete
 Dems and Whigs did, however, grow from the
Jeffersonian republicanism
 Jacksonian Dems glorified the individual and guarded
against too much govt. interference


They also were for states’ rights
Whigs glorified the good of the community over the
whole, recognizing the need for govt. interference in
order to keep order

They also were for internal improvements, national bank,
protective tariffs, public schools, prohibition, abolition of slavery