The Jacksonian Era 1824 - 1840

1
The Jacksonian Era1824 - 1840

• Chapter 12

2
John Quincy Adams Son of Abigail and John
Adams Harvard University Intelligent and high
morals Seemed hard and cold
Andrew Jackson Hero of New Orleans In the War
of 1812 Old Hickory Man of the people
Election of 1824
William H. Crawford Farmer, school teacher,
lawyer Secretary of War (Madison)
Henry Clay Speaker of the House of Representatives
3
John Quincy Adams Democratic-Republican Massachuse
tts 30.9 84
Andrew Jackson Democratic-Republican Tennessee 41.
3 99
Winner
Won plurality but not majority
Electoral College
Election of 1824
Popular Vote
Election of 1824
William H. Crawford Democratic-Republican Georgia
11.2 41
Henry Clay Democratic-Republican Kentucky 13.0 37
4
Andrew Jackson received the most popular votes in
the 1824 election but not a majority of the
electoral votes. The election would be decided
in the House of Representatives
5
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
William H. Crawford
According to the 12th Amendment the House had to
decide between the top three candidates. Henry
Clay was out of the running, but.. as Speaker of
the House he was able to influence the results.
Henry Clay
Speaker of the House
6
There was cheating and corruption and bribery,
too!
Winner!!
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
William H. Crawford
I cannot believe that killing 2,500 Englishmen
at New Orleans qualifies for the various,
difficult, and complicated duties of the Chief
Magistracy.
House Vote Adams 13 Jackson 7 Crawford 4
Corrupt Bargain
Henry Clay
Clay hated Jackson. Clay urged members of the
House to vote for Adams. Jackson was shocked
because he was the winner of the plurality of
both the popular and electoral votes. Once Adams
was named President he appointed Clay as
Secretary of State.
Secretary of State
7
Adams took office in March 1825 but the election
had angered many Americans and this seriously
hampered President Adamss efforts to unify the
nation.
Until the 2000 election John Adams and John
Quincy Adams were the only father and son to both
serve as President.
He made time nearly every day to skinny-dip in
the Potomac River
First President to be photographed, although it
was taken after he was out of office.
The only President to be elected to the House of
Representatives after his Presidency.
(Massachusetts)
8
Adams Goal Adams thought that the federal
government should promote economic growth.
This would help farmers to transport goods to
market

• Economic Plan
• called for the government to pay for new roads
  and canals
• promote the arts and the sciences by building a
  national university and observatory from which
  astronomers could study the stars

9
Most Americans objected to spending money on such
programs. They feared that the federal
government would become too powerful.
Congress approved money for a national road and
some canals but turned down most of Adams other
programs.
10
Election of 1828
New political party The Democratic-Republicans
split between those who supported Jackson -
Democratic Republican Adams - National
Republicans
Jackson is dangerous! He will become a dictator
like Napoleon!
Adams is an aristocrat! Remember the corrupt
bargain!
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
National Republicans
Democratic-Republican
11
WINNER!
12
Growing Spirit of Equality
Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in America in 1831
to study the American prison system. He observed
a democratic society that inspired him to write
the book Democracy in America. Tocqueville wrote
that America was going through a revolution
incomparably greater than anything which has
taken place in the world before.
Of all the countries in the world, America is
that in which the spread of ideas and of human
industry is most continual and most rapid . . .
The American . . . Is less afraid than any other
inhabitant of the globe to risk what he gained in
the hope of a better future . . . There is not a
country in the world where man . . Feels with
more pride that he can fashion the universe to
please himself
Alexis de Tocqueville
13
Growing Spirit of Equality
Suffrage the right to vote

• Who could vote in the 1800s?
• white
• Men
• 21

• What had changed since the 1600s/1700s?
• you no longer had to own property
• no religious requirements

• Limits on Suffrage
• women
• Native Americans
• most African Americans
• Slaves had no political rights

14
New Political Parties
National Republicans
Democratic-Republicans

• Whigs
• wanted the federal government to spur the
  economy
• supporters
• eastern business people
• southern planters
• Former Federalists

• Democrats
• for the ordinary people
• supporters
• frontier farmers
• factory workers in the East

15
Chief Justice John Marshall
First President to ride on a train.
During his life he suffered from smallpox,
depression, malaria, dysentery and dropsy
Andrew Jackson was the only President to pay off
the national debt during his presidency.
16
Jacksonian Democracy

• Jacksons inauguration in 1829 reflected the
  growing spirit of democracy.
• First westerner to occupy the White House
  (Tennessee)
• man of the people born in a log cabin and his
  parents were poor farmers
• it was the first time ordinary people went to
  the capital to watch the President take the oath
  of office

17
Jackson Biography

• born in a log cabin
• parents died before he was 15 and he basically
  raised himself
• fought in the American Revolution at age 13
• refused to clean a British soldiers boots and
  the soldier slashed Jacksons hand and face with
  his sword.
• lawyer
• fought in the War of 1812
• led American forces to victory in the Battle of
  New Orleans

• defeated the Creek Indians in Georgia and
  Alabama
• fought in 13 duels
• most for the honor of his wife
• challenged Charles Dickinson to a duel in 1806
  Dickinson shot first and the shot broke two of
  Jacksons ribs and lodged two inches from his
  heart. Jackson fired second and killed Dickinson.
  
• Jackson was shot in 1813 in the arm by Jesse
  Benton. The doctors suggested amputation but
  Jackson refused. The bullet was finally removed
  in 1831 (without anesthesia)

18
Andrew Jackson as President

• He wanted to expand the powers of the
  president
• made full use of veto power
• believed the President represented all the
  American people
• opponents called him King Andrew

19
Andrew Jackson as President

• Advocate for Indian removal
• Creek Indians called him Sharp Knife
• he defeated them in the battle of Horseshoe
  Bend in the War of 1812
• As President he continued to negotiate the
  removal of the Indians to lands in the west

He threatened to kill their leaders if they did
not give up 20 million acres of lands that had
been guaranteed to them by earlier treaties
20
The Spoils System
Spoils system the informal practice by which a
political party, after winning an election, gives
government jobs to its voters as rewards.
Jackson did it on a much larger scale than
previous Presidents.
Critics
Jackson argued that he was serving democracy by
letting more citizens take part in government.
accused him of rewarding Democrats rather than
choosing qualified men
21
Kitchen Cabinet
A term used by political opponents to describe
the collection of unofficial advisors Jackson
consulted with.
When Jackson rewarded his supporters with
government jobs he did not necessarily pick them
for their qualifications for the position. He
soon stopped meeting with his official Cabinet
and met with a group of unofficial friends.

• Jacksons Kitchen Cabinet
• Francis P. Blair, Duff Green, Isaac Hill, Amos
  Kendall, William B. Lewis
• journalists or editors of newspapers
• Democratic leaders

22
Second Bank of the United States

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• founded in 1816 by President Monroe
• charter from 1816 1836

23

• Andrew Jackson objected to the Bank of the United
  States
• 1. unconstitutional
• Only states could charter banks and the bank
  was too powerful
• 2. undemocratic
• run by private bankers
• 3. disliked the President, Nicolas Biddle
• Jackson thought he was arrogant and vain and he
  used the bank to benefit the rich

3
Jackson vetoed the bill to renew the Bank. The
Bank would have to close in 1836. Jackson ordered
the federal government to stop putting money in
the Bank. The loss of federal money crippled the
Bank and this led to an economic crisis
VETO
24
Tariff of 1828
Why?
Congress passed the highest tariff in the history
of the nation in 1828. John Quincy Adams signed
it in May, 1828. This was one of the reasons he
was not reelected. It put a 62 tax on 92 of
imported goods.
To protect industry in the North from European
goods.
Reactions
Tariff of Abomination!!

• North
• mostly factories/industry
• pro tariff

• South
• mostly agriculture
• against tariff

25
Tariff of Abomination
Many people thought the tariff was
unconstitutional.
States are the final authority on the
Constitution because they created the national
government!
One of the biggest opponents to the Tariff was
the Vice President John C. Calhoun.
Calhoun was from South Carolina. He claimed
that a state had the right to nullify a federal
law that it considered to be unconstitutional.
Because Calhoun strongly disagreed with Jackson
he resigned as Vice President in 1832. (He was
the first Vice President to resign from
office.) He was later elected as a Senator from
South Carolina.
26
Nullification Crisis

• South Carolina passed the Nullification Act in
  1832.
• Declared the tariff was illegal
• It threatened to secede from the Union if the
  Nullification Act was challenged

This could lead to a civil war!

• President Andrew Jackson Reacts
• Publicly he supported a lower tariff
• Asked Congress to pass the Force Bill it
  allowed him to use the army, if necessary, to
  enforce the tariff.

27
Nullification Crisis
After other states saw President Jacksons firm
stand nobody decided to support South
Carolina. Calhoun supported the compromise tariff
that was offered and repealed the Nullification
Act. The Nullification Crisis was over. However,
the tension between the North and South was
increasing.
28
Jackson and the Native Americans

• Native Americans in the Southeast
• Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and
  Seminole
• Many hoped to live in peace with their white
  neighbors
• The land was fertile and ideal for growing
  cotton and the settlers wanted the land for
  themselves

The land should belong to the white settlers.
29
Jackson supported a bill in Congress called the
Indian Removal Act, 1830
Terms It forced Native Americans to move west
of the Mississippi. Whites thought the land west
of the Mississippi was desert and therefore
useless.
30
Trail of Tears
In Cherokee the event is called Nunna daul Isunyi
which means The trail where we cried.

• Date 1838
• Who Cherokee Indians
• What The United States Army forced 15,000
  Native Americans to march hundreds of miles over
  several months to reservations in the West.
• Outcome 4,000 died (mostly women and
  children)

31
Seminole Wars
The Seminole War is also known as the Florida
Wars. There were 3 wars in Florida between
various groups of Native Americans.
First Seminole War 1817 1818 Treaty of
Moultrie Creek was signed in 1823. Seminoles
moved to southern Florida. Second Seminole War
1835 1842 Indian Removal Act passed in
1830 said Native Americans had to move west of
Mississippi but the Seminoles refused to
leave This is known as the Seminole War and
was the most expensive Indian War fought by the
United States and lasted longer than any war
involving US. Third Seminole War 1855
1858 The Seminoles were defeated. The
government forced the Seminole leaders and most
of their people to leave Florida.
32
Election of 1836
The Democrat party chose Martin Van Buren. The
Whig party was split and had 3 candidates. South
Carolina ran its own candidate as an Independent
33
With the Whig party split Martin Van Buren easily
won the election.
34
Martin Van Buren
First President to be born a United States
citizen (born after the Declaration of
Independence)
First President who did not experience the
American Revolution firsthand
He was born in Kinderhook, New York
Only President not to have spoken English as a
first language (he grew up speaking Dutch)
Only served one term (though he did run for
reelection) He was said to have said that the
two happiest moments of his life were the day he
took office as President and the day he left
office.
His autobiography does not mention his wife,
Hannah, once.
35
Panic of 1837
Two months after taking office, Van Buren faced
the worst economic crisis the nation had known.

• Causes
• 1. Banks and the Speculators
• Cotton prices fell because of surplus. The
  planters could not repay loans
• Bank Failures lead to hardships

36
Banks and the Speculators
37
Cotton Prices Fell
Planters had borrowed money to buy land to
plant more cotton. This created a surplus.
The price of cotton fell due to the surplus.
Farmers could not repay their loans
As a result more banks closed
38
Bank Closures Cause Hardships
Who is to blame?
President Van Buren
39
Election of 1840
I may not have won, but everything is still O.K.

• William Henry Harrison
• Political Party
• Whig
• Running Mate
• John Tyler
• Home State
• Ohio
• Presented as a commoner (actually wealthy)
• Nickname
• Tippecanoe

• Martin Van Buren
• Political Party
• Democratic
• Home state
• New York
• Nickname
• Old Kinderhook

40
On March 4, 1841 William Henry Harrison gave the
longest inaugural address in history it was 8578
words. The speech lasted almost 2 hours. Harrison
gave the speech in the middle of a snow storm.
He refused to wear a coat or gloves. Harrison
caught pneumonia and died 32 days later. He
served the shortest term of any President.
41
Vice President John Tyler became the
President. Tyler failed to live up to Whig
expectations Tyler was a former Democrat and he
opposed some Whig plans for developing the
economy. Tyler vetoed a bill to recharter the
Bank of the United States. Most of Tylers
Cabinet resigned. The Whigs officially threw
Tyler out of their party
Because he was the first vice president to
inherit the office of the presidency his
detractors gave him the nickname His Accidency
He fathered more children than any other
president He had 15 children.