Unit Ten: The Jacksonian Era

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Unit Ten The Jacksonian Era

• Jacksonian Democracy

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Election of 1824

• At the end of Monroes second term he chose not
  to run again and retired to his Mansion at Oak
  Hill.
• Since the Democratic-Republicans were the only
  major political party the choice of who was to be
  the next President went to a list of candidates
  representing specific regions or interests known
  as Favorite Sons.
• These Sons chose to run William Crawford
  (South), John Quincy Adams (North), Henry Clay
  Great Compromiser (West), Andrew Jackson Hero
  of New Orleans (West), and John C. Calhoun
  (South).

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Favorite Sons of 1824
William Crawford
Andrew Jackson
John Q. Adams
John C. Calhoun
Henry Clay
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Election of 1824

• The election was a bitter race between all the
  candidates, but when the results came in Jackson
  carried the popular vote and the electoral votes
  with 99 to Adamss 84, Crawfords 41, and Clays
  37. (Calhoun had dropped out to be Vice President
  for Adams or Jackson).
• Since no candidate had a majority of electoral
  votes the election according to the twelfth
  Amendment went to the House of Representatives to
  be decided.
• Only the highest three went to the House, so Clay
  was out of the race, but he was Speaker of the
  House.

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Corrupt Bargain

• Crawford was also out, due to the fact he had a
  stroke that paralyzed him, leaving the election
  between Adams and Jackson.
• When the votes were cast Adams won the
  Presidency, due to the fact Clay swung his votes
  Adamss way.
• The Jackson people called the election
  of Adams the Corrupt Bargain because
  Adams got the Presidency and Clay got
  to be Secretary of State. (the Jackson
  people worked four years to destroy
  Adams and Clays political careers)

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J. Q. Adams Administration

• Adams wanted to keep the nationalist agenda going
  with aid to internal improvements, a national
  university, legislation aiding agriculture,
  commerce, and manufacturing, and for the
  advancement of the arts, sciences, and
  literature.
• The growing sectional divide and the Jacksonians
  kept any of his programs from developing.
• Adams also hurt himself by believing that people
  in government positions should get them on merit
  not favor, so many of his officials constantly
  disagreed with him.

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J. Q. Adams Administration

• Another blow to the Adams administration was his
  sympathy for the Native Americans, which led to
  an unsuccessful standoff with the state of
  Georgia.
• In foreign affairs, relations with Latin America
  went sour when the two diplomats Adams sent to a
  convention for Latin American countries called
  the Panama Congress failed to show up.
• The biggest issue of Adamss Administration
  though was the introduction of the Tariff of 1828
  called the Tariff of Abominations, which passed
  into law as a high protective Tariff. (favored
  Northern industry, but disfavored Southerner
  agriculture)

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Election of 1828

• In the Election of 1828 the Democratic/Republicans
  split into two separate parties the National
  Republicans running John Q. Adams and the
  Jacksonian Democrats running Andrew Jackson.
• The election was bitterly fought with much
  mudslinging (political technique of only talking
  about the negative aspects of an opponent )
  coming from both sides. (Jackson was accused of
  being a drunk, gambler, killer, and an adulterer
  while Adams was accused of being an elitist,
  Aristocrat, and a hater of the common man).

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Election of 1828
Rachael Jackson
Mudslinging
Click on Above Political Cartoon to hear the song
that won him the election The Hunters of
Kentucky
The Donkey
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Jacksonian Democracy

• Andrew Jackson Old Hickory won the
  election because he was seen as the
  Peoples President and the Common
  Mans Candidate.
• Jacksons election was a symbol of a new movement
  in America known as Jacksonian Democracy where
  any ordinary citizen could be an official and
  common sense was all that was required to handle
  public office or a government job.
• Jackson himself believed in expanded suffrage,
  Manifest Destiny, Patronage, Strict
  Constructionism, Laissez-fare economics, and a
  strong President (use of veto power).

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Jacksonian Democracy

• One reason for Jacksons win was an expansion of
  the franchise/suffrage (civil right to vote), as
  new states and old did not require property
  qualifications.
• Another reason was the end of King Caucus in
  favor of nominating conventions where
  Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates
  were chosen directly by the people for the party
  ticket using ballots to be voted on by the
  electoral college. (This gave more power to the
  popular vote)
• Party candidates were fighting over the spoils
  of office, which were government positions given
  to friends, political allies, or supporters by a
  candidate through the spoils system/patronage.
  

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Jacksonian Democracy

• Jackson also believed in rotation in office,
  limiting government bureaucrats to a certain time
  in office (like elected officials) to allow for
  more people to take part in government.
• As soon as Jackson was elected President he
  replaced many government jobholders with people
  friendly to his own policies.
• The beliefs of Jackson scared the Washington
  establishment, and made many believe King Mob
  now ruled America.

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To The Victors Go the Spoils
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Trouble in Washington

• Jacksons election was a bitter sweet victory,
  due to the death of his wife, Rachel, which he
  blamed his political opponents for during the
  election.
• When Jackson setup his administration, he setup
  two cabinets, one official and the other called
  the Kitchen Cabinet. (Only Martin Van Buren and
  John Eaton were part of both).
• The Kitchen Cabinet was were Jackson got most of
  his advice and information on national issues.

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Trouble in Washington

• Some trouble developed in Jacksons
  administration due to issues surrounding the
  Secretary of War John Eatons wife, Margaret,
  known as the Petticoat or Eaton Affair.
• The wives of the cabinet members and key
  congressmen wives did not have anything to do
  with her, reminding Jackson of the treatment of
  his own wife.
• The outcome of the scandal was the resignation of
  almost the whole official cabinet, and led to a
  close relationship between Jackson and Van Buren.
  

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The Tariff!!!

• One of the big issues of Jacksons first term was
  the Tariff of 1828/Tariff of Abominations and the
  push by the state of South Carolina to nullify
  (to cancel) the Law known as the Nullification
  Crisis.
• In 1828 John C. Calhoun wrote The South Carolina
  Exposition and Protest establishing the doctrine
  of Nullification ( the idea that the union was a
  compact of the states and were created first,
  hence the states could nullify any Federal law
  that they thought went against the U.S.
  Constitution.
• The nullification question was part of a larger
  issue of states rights vs. Federal power, and if
  a state did not agree it could leave the union.
  

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The Tariff!!!

• The question of union led to the Hayne-Webster
  Debate (1830) in the Senate, where Robert Y.
  Hayne (SC) supporting nullification went against
  Daniel Webster (MA) supporting union Webster won
  the debate with his speech, Liberty and Union,
  now and forever, one and inseparable!
• The issue of nullification also led to an
  exchange of words at the annual Jefferson Day
  Dinner, where Jackson and his Vice President
  Calhoun split ways.
• Congress then passed the Tariff of 1832 to lower
  the tariff, but this still did not satisfy SC or
  most of the South.

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The Tariff !!!

• South Carolina met in convention and signed an
  Ordinance of Nullification on the two Tariffs.
• Enraged by the nullifiers and the thought of
  civil war, Jackson asked Congress to enact
  legislation called the Force Bill to allow him
  the power to use the military to enforce the
  Tariff.
• As a middle road Henry Clay introduced the
  Compromise Tariff of 1833 which lowered tariff
  collections over a ten year period Congress
  passed both it and the Force Bill.
• After this South Carolina withdrew nullification,
  but it did not completely end the debate of
  states rights.