The Growth of Democracy, 1824

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Chapter 11

• The Growth of Democracy, 18241840

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Focus Questions

• What was the role of Andrew Jacksons presidency
  in affirming and solidifying the new democratic
  politics?
• What part did the transportation revolution play
  in unifying the nation?
• How was the basic two-party pattern of American
  political democracy established?
• How did writers and artists and their audiences
  create a distinctive American cultural identity?

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Martin Van Buren Forges a New Kind of Political
Community

• The son of a tavern keeper, Martin Van Buren
  lacked the aristocratic connections necessary for
  political advancement in New York.
• Van Buren built a democratically controlled,
  well-disciplined party organization that brought
  him political power.

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Continental Struggles over Popular Rights

• In 1821, Mexico won independence from Spain.
• Santa Anna was the strongest early president
  assuming dictatorial powers, but was in office
  when Texas and northern provinces were lost to
  the United States.
• In Haiti, independence destroyed the sugar
  industry.
• The British Caribbean islands experienced
  numerous revolts leading to the abolition of
  slavery and the subsequent decline of the sugar
  industry.
• A revolt in 1837 by Upper and Lower Canada led to
  the union of the two regions to make the
  French-speaking population a minority.

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The Expansion and Limits of Suffrage

• Map Population Trends Westward Expansion, 1830
• While the population of the United States more
  than doubled between 1800 and 1830, the
  trans-Appalachian population grew tenfold.

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MAP 11.1 Population Trends Westward Expansion,
1830 Westward population movement, a trickle in
1800, had become a flood by 1830. Between 1800
and 1830, the U.S. white and African American
population more than doubled (from 5.3 million to
12.9 million), but the trans-Appalachian
population grew tenfold (from 370,000 to 3.7
million). By 1830, more than a third of the
nations inhabitants lived west of the original
thirteen states.
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The Expansion and Limits of Suffrage

• Map The Growth of Universal White Suffrage
• In 1800, only white, male, property owners could
  vote in most states.
• As new western states came into the Union,
  suffrage expanded.
• By 1820 most of the older states had dropped
  property qualifications.
• By 1840, 90 percent of adult white males could
  vote.
• Women and African Americans were barred from
  voting.

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MAP 11.2a The Growth of Universal White Male
Suffrage Kentucky was the first western state to
enact white male suffrage without tax or property
qualifications. Other western states followed,
and by 1820, most of the older states had dropped
their suffrage restrictions as well. By 1840,
more than 90 percent of the nations white males
could vote. But although voting was democratized
for white men, restrictions on free African
American male voters grew tighter, and women were
excluded completely.
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MAP 11.2b The Growth of Universal White Male
Suffrage
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The Election of 1824

• Map The Election of 1824
• The 1824 election marked an end to the political
  truce of the Era of Good Feelings. Four
  candidates ran for the presidency.
• Though Andrew Jackson had the most popular votes,
  John Quincy Adams won as a result of the
  so-called corrupt bargain.
• Hostile relations with Congress block many of
  Adamss initiatives.

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MAP 11.3 The Election of 1824 The presidential
vote of 1824 was clearly sectional. John Quincy
Adams carried his native New England and little
else, Henry Clay carried only his own state of
Kentucky and two adjoining states, and Crawfords
appeal was limited to Virginia and Georgia. Only
Andrew Jackson moved beyond the regional support
of the Old Southwest to wider appeal and the
greatest number of electoral votes. Because no
candidate had a majority, however, the election
was thrown into the House of Representatives,
which chose Adams.
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The New Popular Democratic Culture

• A more popular form of politics was emerging.
• New state organizations increased political
  participation and helped elect Andrew Jackson
  president. New techniques of mass campaigning
  encouraged increases in participation.

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The New Popular Democratic Culture The Print
Revolution

• Table The Burgeoning of Newspapers
• The print revolution was most evident in the
  growth of newspapers.
• It also helped democratize politics by
  publicizing the new political pageantry.
• Tightly-organized, broad-based political groups
  emerged.
• Party loyalty among politicians and the public
  was stressed as politics became a feature of
  everyday life.

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FIGURE 11.2 The Burgeoning of Newspapers
Newspapers have a long history in the United
States. Even before the American Revolution, the
colonies boasted 37 newspapers (see Chapter 6),
and within little more than a decade, that number
had nearly tripled. Toward the end of the
century, however, the number of newspapers
expanded rapidly, by 1835 numbering more than 30
times that of 1775.
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Politics, abetted by the publication of
inexpensive party newspapers, was a great topic
of conversation among men in early
nineteenth-century America, as Richard Caton
Woodvilles 1845 painting Politics in an Oyster
House suggests. SOURCERichard Caton
Woodville,Politics in an Oyster House, 1848.The
Walters Art Museum.
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The Election of 1828

• Map The Election of 1828
• In the 1828 election, Jackson triumphed as his
  supporters portrayed the contest as a struggle
  between democracy and aristocracy.
• His victory showed the strength of the new
  popular democratic culture and system of national
  parties made up of a coalition of the North,
  South, and West.

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MAP 11.4 The Election of 1828 Andrew Jacksons
victory in 1828 was the first success of the new
national party system. The coalition of state
parties that elected him was national, not
regional. Although his support was strongest in
the South and West, his ability to carry
Pennsylvania and parts of New York demonstrated
his national appeal.
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A Popular Figure

• Jackson symbolized the personal advancement that
  the frontier offered.
• His inauguration brought out a mob of
  well-wishers whose unruly behavior led critics to
  fear that this was the beginning of the reign of
  King Mob.

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Andrew Jackson was only sixty-one when he was
elected president in 1828, but his lined face and
white hair, captured in this early daguerreotype
by Matthew Brady, perhaps explain why Margaret
Bayard and others referred to him as the old
man. SOURCEMatthew Brady.CORBIS/Bettman.
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A Strong Executive

• Jacksons Democrats created a national coalition
  that transcended sectional identity.
• Jackson was a strong executive who consulted with
  the Kitchen Cabinet, largely ignoring his
  cabinet.
• Jackson strengthened the presidency by using the
  veto more frequently than had all of his
  predecessors combined.
• His most famous veto of the Maysville Road Bill
  of 1830 was a defeat for western rival Henry Clay.

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The Nations Leader versus Sectional Spokesmen

• Regional spokespeople included
• Daniel Webster for the East
• John C. Calhoun for the South and
• Henry Clay for the West.
• Jackson overrode sectional interests and had
  national appeal.

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Two Great Sectional Leaders. The years of
Jacksons presidency were also notable for
the prominence of regional spokesmen, among them
John C. Calhoun, who spoke for the South and
slavery, and Henry Clay who spoke for the West
but whose national ambitions were thwarted by
Jacksons greater appeal. Clays great personal
charm is captured in this 1824 portrait,
contrasting with Calhouns dour expression in the
later photograph
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The Nullification Crisis

• Constitutional ambiguity, sectional interests,
  and the states rights issue caused political
  controversies.
• The 1828 Tariff of Abominations elicited a
  strong reaction from South Carolina. Southerners
  argued that the tariff was an unconstitutional
  effort to enrich the North at southern expense.
• John C. Calhoun wrote a defense of the doctrine
  of nullification claiming states could refuse to
  enforce laws they deemed unconstitutional.
• South Carolina nullified the 1833 tariff and
  threatened to secede.
• Jackson considered South Carolinas action
  treason and passed the Force Bill.
• Henry Clay engineered a compromise tariff that
  ended the threat of civil war.

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Indian Removal

• Map Southern Indian Cessions
• Jackson embraced the policy of Indian cession of
  their lands and removal west of the Mississippi
  River.
• The five civilized tribes of the South were most
  affected.
• Even though the Cherokee had adopted white ways
  and accepted white culture, Jackson pressed for
  their removal.
• Jackson defied the Supreme Court ruling in favor
  of the Cherokee.
• The Cherokee removal was called theTrail of
  Tears.
• The Removal Act of 1830 was strongly opposed by
  northerners.

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MAP 11.5 Southern Indian Cessions and Removals,
1830s Pressure on the five major southern Indian
peoplesthe Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws,
Creeks, and Seminolesthat began during the War
of 1812, culminated with their removal in the
1830s. Some groups from every tribe ceded their
southern homelands peacefully and moved to the
newly established Indian Territory west of
Arkansas and Missouri. Some, like the Seminoles,
resisted by force. Others, like the Cherokees,
resisted in the courts, but finally lost when
President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce a
Supreme Court decision in their favor. The
Cherokees, the last to move, were forcibly
removed by the U.S. Army along the Trail of
Tears in 1838.
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Internal Improvements

• By 1850, rivers, canals, road, and railroads tied
  the nation together.
• The transportation revolution dramatically
  reduced travel times and connected people to the
  outside world.
• States provided more funding for roads, canals
  and railroads than the federal government.

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Legal Support for Private Enterprise

• The Supreme Court fostered economic growth by
• asserting federal power over interstate commerce
  and
• encouraging economic competition by denying
  monopolies.
• State laws enabled businesses to protect
  themselves by granting charters of incorporation.

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The Bank War

• Chartered in 1816, the Second Bank of the United
  States was a quasi-private institution.
• The Second Bank acted as a currency stabilizer
  by
• encouraging the growth of strong and stable
  financial interest and
• curbing less stable and irresponsible ones.
• Eastern merchants found the bank a useful
  institution.
• Western farmers and speculators feared the Bank
  represented a moneyed elite.
• Jackson vetoed the bill when Clay and Webster
  pushed for early re-chartering.

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Jackson's Reelection in 1832

• In the election of 1832 Jackson soundly defeated
  Henry Clay.
• After his victory, Jackson withdrew federal
  deposits and placed them in pet banks.
• Jackson claimed that he was the direct
  representative of the people and could act
  regardless of Congressional opinion.

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In this political cartoon, Jackson destroys the
Second Bank of the United States by withdrawing
government deposits. As the Bank crashes, it
crushes the director Nicholas Biddle (depicted as
the Devil), wealthy investors (with moneybags)
and the newspaper editors (surrounded by paper)
who opposed Jackson on this issue. SOURCELibrary
of Congress.
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Whigs, Van Buren, and the Election of 1836

• The Bank called in commercial loans, causing a
  recession.
• Jacksons opponents founded an opposition
  partythe Whigs.
• The new party lost the 1836 election to Martin
  Van Buren.

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The Panic of 1837

• The death of the Bank led to feverish speculation
  and the Panic of 1837.
• The depression that resulted led to great
  hardship giving the newly formed Whig Party its
  opportunity.

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This contemporary cartoon bitterly depicts the
terrible effects of the Panic of 1837 on ordinary
peoplebank failures, unemployment, drunkenness,
and destitutionwhich the artist links to the
insistence of the rich on payment in specie (as
Jackson had required in the Species Circular of
1836). Over the scene waves the American flag,
accompanied by the ironic message, 61st
Anniversary of our Independence. SOURCEPanic of
1837 cartoon,The Times. Courtesy of the Library
of Congress.
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Whigs and Democrats

• Democrats
• Organized to elect Jackson to presidency in 1828
• Party spoke for Jeffersonian democracy,
  expansion, and the freedom of the common man
  from interference of the government of financial
  monopolies
• Its power base lay in the rural South and West
  and among northern urban workers

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Whigs and Democrats

• Whigs
• Organized in opposition to Jackson in early 1830s
• Heirs to Federalism, they favored strong role for
  national government in economy and supported
  active social reform
• Its power base lay in the North and Old
  Northwest among voters who benefited from
  increased commercialization and among southern
  planters and urban merchants

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The Campaign of 1840

• Map The Election of 1840
• In the election of 1840 Whigs portrayed their
  candidate, William Henry Harrison, as a humble
  man happy to live in a log cabin.
• The Whigs won a sweeping electoral victory in a
  campaign with 80 percent voter turnout.

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MAP 11.6 The Election of 1840 The Whigs triumphed
in the election of 1840 by beating the Democrats
at their own game. Whigs could expect to do well
in the commercializing areas of New England and
the Old Northwest, but their adopted strategy of
popular campaigning worked well in the largely
rural South and West as well, contributing to
Harrisons victory.The Whigs choice of JohnTyler
as vice presidential candidate, another strategy
designed to appeal to southern voters, backfired
when Harrison died and Tyler, who did not share
Whig principles, became Americas first vice
president to succeed to the presidency.
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The Whig Victory Turns to LossThe Tyler
Presidency

• The Whig triumph was short-lived as Harrison died
  a month after his inauguration. Vice-President
  John Tyler assumed office.
• A former Democrat, Tyler vetoed a series of bills
  calling for a new Bank of the United States,
  tariffs, and internal improvements.
• The Whigs were unable to bridge the gap between
  North and South.

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Popular Cultures and the Spread of the Written
Word

• Steam-powered presses, the transportation
  revolution, and the telegraph helped facilitate a
  communications revolution.
• Newspapers and almanacs fostered popular culture.

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Creating a National American Culture

• An intellectual movement was stimulated by
  eastern societies and journals.
• Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and
  especially Ralph Waldo Emerson created a
  distinctly American culture.

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Artists and Builders

• Artists such as Albert Bierstedt and George Caleb
  Bingham drew upon dramatic themes from the
  American landscape and lifestyles.
• Neoclassical remained the architectural style for
  public buildings.
• Balloon frame construction enabled Americans to
  build homes at a rapid clip.

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Asher Durand, a member of the Hudson River School
of landscape painting, produced this work,
Kindred Spirits, in 1849, as a tribute to Thomas
Cole, the schools leader. Cole is one of the
figures depicted standing in a romantic
wilderness. SOURCECourtesy of The New York
Public Library.