Democracy and Andrew Jackson

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Democracy and Andrew Jackson
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Essential Question
Champion of the Common Man?
KingAndrew?
OR
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Jacksons rise to Power

• Jacksons victory makes him extremely popular,
  but he loses the election of 1824
• -Actually, Jackson won the popular vote, but
  didnt get enough electoral college votes. When
  the vote went to the House of Representatives,
  the Western, unsophisticated Jackson stood no
  chance. He lost to John Q. Adams.
• -Jackson begins campaigning immediately after
  the vote. He campaigns for 4 years and wins the
  election of 1828 in a landslide

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Voting Requirements in the Early 19c
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Why Increased Democratization?

• White male suffrage increased
• Party nominating committees.
• Voters chose their states slate of Presidential
  electors.
• Spoils system.
• Rise of Third Parties.
• Popular campaigning (parades, rallies, floats,
  etc.)
• Two-party system returned in the 1832 election
• Dem-Reps ? Natl. Reps.(1828) ? Whigs
  (1832) ? Republicans (1854)
• Democrats (1828)

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Voter Turnout 1820 - 1860
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1828 Election Results
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The Center of Population in theCountry Moves WEST
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The New Jackson Coalition

• The Planter Elite in the South
• People on the Frontier
• State Politicians spoils system
• Immigrants in the cities.

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Jackson the Common Mans President
Three Areas of Contention

• 1 The Spoils System. After election, Jackson
  immediately removes 10 percent of all
  officeholders under his power and appoints his
  friends and supporters...known as The Spoils
  System.

2 Native American Policies. Congress then passes
Jacksons Indian Removal Act, allowing Jackson to
move Native Americans off their land and to
reservations west of the Mississippi River.
3 The Bank War. Jackson then attempts to
eliminate the National Bank because he felt it
was a corrupt institution that kept the common
man down.
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Jacksons Faith in the Common Man

• Intense distrust of Easternestablishment,
  monopolies, special privilege.
• His heart soul was with theplain folk.
• Belief that the common man was capable of
  uncommon achievements.

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So was Jackson Democratic?

• The Spoils System
• -Jackson removed 690 people from office and
  replaced them with friends and supporters (to
  the victor goes the spoils).
• -Allowed people who hadnt previously been
  allowed in government to participate
• -Made decisions according to personal gain.

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So was Jackson Democratic?

• Indian Removal
• -Jackson took people from their homes, laced
  their blankets with smallpox, and forced them to
  walk hundreds of miles.
• -He claimed he was freeing up land for the
  American citizen (voters).

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Primary Sources Questions

• What is the motivation of the federal government?
• How do President Jacksons actions contradict his
  image of the common man
• What constitutional provisions and democratic
  ideals were challenged during the period of
  Indian Removal?

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Supreme Court Cases

• Cherokee Nation v Georgia - a domestic
  independent nation with unquestionable right to
  their land.
• Worcester v Georgia - a distinct political
  nation- Georgia had no authority in Cherokee
  nation

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Indian Removal Act

• Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830.
  The Federal government would provide funds to
  negotiate treaties that would force the Indians
  to move West.
• For Jackson, the removal policy was not only
  liberal, but generous because it would enable the
  Indians to maintain their way of life.
• The Cherokees Indians had done what Jefferson had
  asked and had turned from hunting to farming.
  They established small manufacturing shops, built
  schools, and begun publishing a newspaper in
  their own language. They decided to form a
  separate state with its own constitution

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The Supreme Court

• Georgia refused to recognize the action of the
  Cherokees and opened Cherokee land to white
  settlers.
• Chief justice Marshall 's decision held that the
  Cherokees formed a nation with clearly defined
  boundaries within which the laws of Georgia can
  have no force. Based on this ruling the citizens
  of Georgia could not enter Cherokee territory.

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Jackson Indian Removal

• In response to Justice Marshall's ruling Jackson
  said "The Supreme Court has made it's decision,
  now let them enforce it." In doing so he ignored
  the Courts order.
• Jackson told the Cherokees that they could not
  flourish in the midst of civilized community and
  that they had only on choice to remove to the
  West.
• The Cherokee had to make an 800 mile journey made
  partly by steamboat and railroad and partly on
  foot. This journey was called the "Trail of
  Tears."

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Indian Removal
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The Legacy of Indian Removal

• Government officials stole the Cherokees money,
  while outlaws made off with their livestock.
• Cherokees buried more than a quarter of their
  people along the trial of tears.

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The Tariff Question

• 1816 Congress passed a tariff to protect the
  infant United States industries. The tariff was
  raised in 1824 and again in 1828.

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Unfair Tariff

• Jacksons Vice President, John Calhoun of South
  Carolina, called it a Tariff of Abominations
  because the high tariff on manufactured goods
  prevented Great Britain from selling its goods in
  the United States Calhoun and others felt the
  North was getting rich at the expense of the
  South

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Nullification

• Calhoun's argued in favor of nullification
  Calhoun devised a nullification theory much like
  that expressed in Jeffersons Kentucky Resolution
  against the Alien and Sedition Acts.
• If the Federal Government refused to permit a
  state to nullify a federal law, the state had the
  right to secede, or withdraw from the Union.

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Jacksons Response

• South Carolina threatened to secede and in 1832
  Congress passed a new tariff law that lowered
  duties
• Jackson was furious, he threatened to hang
  Calhoun and to lead Federal troops in the field
  if necessary.
• He issued a proclamation declaring that South
  Carolinas action threatened the existence of the
  Union and violated the letter of the
  Constitution.
• This led to the passage of the "Force Bill" and
  South Carolina agreed to pay the tariff.

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So was Jackson Democratic?

• The Bank War
• -The National bank maintained US currency and
  maintained much of the economic wealth of the
  United States.
• -Jackson felt the Bank was a privileged
  institution that served only the interests of
  the wealthy and did nothing for the common
  mantoo much power, too few hands.
• -Jackson defies vetoes the banks charter in
  1836, and asked the Secretary of the Treasury to
  stop putting government money in the bank. When
  he refused, Jackson fired him and selected
  someone who would put money in state Banks (Pet
  banks)
• -Results New political party (Whigs)
  created to oppose Jackson Nation goes into a
  depression Jackson ignores Checks and Balances
  Constitutional problems.

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Bush to Veto Water Boarding Bill

• The Veto Yesterday and Today

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Jacksonian Democracy

• Democratic or not?
• -Jacksons goal was to help the common man and
  take the government away from the rich elite. In
  many ways, he did that. However, in doing so he
  contradicted many of the basic ideas of the
  Constitution and challenged long-held beliefs
  about the makeup of American democracy. So the
  question remains, Was Andrew Jackson
  democratic? You must decide that for yourself.

• Quote describing Andrew Jackson
• No one likes him, except the people."