Jacksonian Democracy

1
Jacksonian Democracy

• 1828-1840

2
Democratizing Politics

• The difference between Jeffersonian democracy and
  Jacksonian democracy was one of attitude.
• Jefferson believed that the average citizen could
  be educated to determine right
• Jackson believed that the ordinary man
  instinctively knew what was right.
• America was becoming more democratic, the new
  western states eliminated property qualifications
  for voting.
• In general most states started to drop property
  qualifications. Rhode Island was the last to
  change its constitution after the abortive Dorr
  Rebellion that protested the states requirement
  that voters (men) posses at least 134 worth of
  real property More offices were elective rather
  than appointed.
• Free public schools gained wide-spread support,
  adult education and secondary education indicate
  interest in improving knowledge.
• Office holders begin to call themselves
  Representatives.

3
1828 The New Party System in Embryo

• During the campaign of 1828, Jackson avoided
  taking a stand on the issues of the day and
  relied on his military reputation and Adams
  talent for making enemies
• The Campaign 1828 was characterized by character
  assassination, mud slinging, and lies of the
  worst sort
• The great questions of the day were largely
  ignored
• The public responded, each candidate received far
  more votes than all four candidates had received
  in the preceding presidential election.
• Adams refused to attend the inauguration
  ceremonies because Jackson had failed to pay the
  traditional pre-inaugural courtesy call.

4
The Jacksonian Appeal

• Jackson portrayed himself as a simple, common man
  from the backcountry of America.
• Jackson was the first man elected from the West.
• He was not from the eastern aristocracy.
• He was the first man elected who had been born in
  a log cabin.
• He was the founder of the Democratic Party
• For all that, Jackson was not a common man.
• He was a wealthy land speculator and owned a fine
  plantation
• He had opposed cheap money schemes

5
The Jacksonian Appeal

• But he did epitomize many American ideals
• He was intensely patriotic
• He was generous to a fault
• He was natural and democratic in manner
• He was a fighter, a relentless foe, and a
  gentleman in the best American tradition
• He had a reputation as a man of honor and had
  fought numerous duels for honor.
• He had fought in the Revolutionary War, several
  Indian Wars, and won the Battle of New Orleans
  during the War of 1812.
• For these reasons Jackson drew support from every
  section and every social class .
• During his inaugural party he opened the White
  House to all his supporters, many from the
  backcountry. In the following near riot, Jackson
  nearly got killed and the White House was
  trashed.
• He spent the next several months across the
  street in the Blair House

6
The Spoils System

• To the Victor go the Spoils
• Jackson was determined to punish those office
  holders who had attacked him and his wife during
  the campaign
• Many of the men he removed from office were
  incompetent or corrupt. Even Adams had to admit
  many of the disposed men deserved their fate
• He also felt that office holders should be
  rotated periodically. In his words, no one was
  entitled to hold an office
• By rotating jobholders he felt that more citizens
  could participate in the government
• It also removed the danger of an entrenched
  bureaucracy

7
A contemporary cartoon depicting the Spoils
System under President Jackson
8
President of All the People

• President Andrew Jackson believed in exercising
  authority directly.
• Jackson did not rely on his cabinet for advise
• Instead he formed an informal kitchen cabinet
  that consisted of friends and Martin Van Buren,
  secretary of state
• Even his kitchen cabinet could only advise him,
  Jackson in many cases did what he wanted.
• Jackson favored Jeffersons frugal approach to
  government, he was penny pinching and had little
  imagination.
• Jacksons popularity was mainly his personality

9
A contemporary cartoon depicting Jacksons
cabinet in flight over the Peggy Eaton Affair
10
Sectional Tensions Revived

• Jackson tried to address problems that had
  sectional significance
• He tried to slightly reduce the tariff, which
  southerners supported
• He tried find a way to reduce the price of
  government lands without forcing the government
  into the red
• During a debate in the Senate on the public land
  issue, the debate had been shifted to the issue
  of tariffs, Senator Robert Hayne, of South
  Carolina, argued that nullification actually
  strengthened the union.

11
Sectional Tensions Revived

• Later, when confronted by Daniel Webster, the
  South Carolina, Robert Hayne, at right,
  congressman launched into a lengthy speech
  applauding states rights.
• Webster replied in a speech that made the states
  rights position appear close to treason. It was
  the finest speech of Websters career. It
  resolved nothing, but it did define the political
  battleground for the next twenty years.
• Haynes position was supported by Vice-President
  John C. Calhoun, also of South Carolina.

12
Jackson Versus Calhoun

• Jackson stood firmly for the Union and would not
  even tolerate talk of disunion.
• Calhoun was a strong advocate of states rights,
  eventually Calhoun would champion the cause of
  nullification
• On most issues other than states rights both
  Calhoun and Jackson were very much in agreement
• Calhoun also wanted to be president and had only
  accepted the post as Jacksons vice-president
  because he believed Jackson was in poor health.
• There were several minor issues during Jacksons
  presidency that lead to a split of the two men
• The Peggy Eaton affair
• Jacksons invasion of Florida in 1818
• Though of little substance, these slights
  convinced Jackson that Calhoun was not a man of
  honor.

13
The Nullification Crisis

• The tariff law of 1832 lowered tariffs far less
  than the planters of South Carolina wanted.
• As a result, South Carolinians began to talk of
  nullifying the law. Many South Carolinians cited
  John Calhouns Exposition and Protest as the
  basis for the argument on nullification
• President Jackson took the exact opposite
  position.
• In July 1832 he warned South Carolinians that if
  one drop of blood was spilt over this issue he
  would go down there (South Carolina) and hang the
  first nullifier he found from the first tree he
  found.

14
The Nullification Crisis

• On November 24, 1832 the South Carolina
  convention passed the Ordinance of Nullification
  and prohibited the collection of taxes
• The legislature then passed a bill to raise and
  equip an army
• Jackson addressed the people of South Carolina on
  December 10, 1832 telling them that he would use
  armed force if need be to enforce the law of the
  United States
• He further stated that disunion by armed force
  was treason.
• South Carolinas radicals had counted on other
  states for support, but this support did not
  materialize and they found themselves facing
  Jacksons wrath alone
• The Radicals sobered at the thought of government
  troops and backed off. Calhoun who had played a
  part in the episode was some what embarrassed.
• In the future South Carolina would ensure the
  support of other states before it attempted
  nullification again.

15
The Bank . . . I Will Kill It

• The main issue in the election of 1832 was the
  destruction of the Bank of the United States
• Jackson distrusted banks because they often
• issued more banknotes than they had specie
• (gold and silver) to back up their banknotes.
  
• He distrusted the Bank of the United States
• because it was a monopoly.
• After McCulloch v. Maryland Langdon Cheves
• had put the Bank of the United States on a
  sound
• financial footing. Cheves had been replaced
  by
• Nicolas Biddle, at right, who had managed the
  bank brilliantly.
• Biddle managed the Bank of the United States as
  if
• it were a central bank, regulating credit
  throughout the country

16
The Bank . . . I Will Kill It

• Small banks often over extended themselves by
  making large commercial loans, and issuing more
  paper currency than they had specie to back up
  their paper.
• Biddle was able to force smaller banks to make
  more conservative loans by buying up large
  amounts of banknotes and presenting them to the
  banks for conversion back to specie.
• In every field of economic activity, reckless
  lending had caused inflation and greatly
  exaggerated the ups and downs of the business
  cycle.
• Biddles policies acted to stabilize the economy

17
Jacksons Bank Veto

• Prominent National Republicans wanted to use the
  Bank as a tool against Jackson.
• They reasoned that the Bank was too important to
  the country and Jacksons opposition would
  undermine his popularity.
• Knowing that Jackson would veto the bank, the
  National Republicans urged Biddle to petition
  Congress for a renew the Banks charter in 1832
  instead of its official renewal date in 1836.
• If Jackson vetoed the Bank charter it would
  provide Henry Clay a lively campaign issue to
  beat Jackson with.

18
Jacksons Bank Veto

• Biddle sensed this strategy would backfire and
  only reluctantly agreed to early renewal
• As expected, Congress approved the Banks charter
  in July 1832.
• Jackson promptly vetoed it.
• Jacksons arguments against the bank were mostly
  absurd the utterings of an ignorant man, but it
  struck a chord with many of his followers and he
  was reelected
• Tragically, Jackson could have reformed the bank
  instead of destroying it.
• Jackson then decided to withdraw Federal deposits
  (gold and silver money) from the Bank and
  redeposit the money in state banks.

19
Jacksons Bank Veto

• Before Jackson could execute his plan he had to
  get the Secretary of the Treasury to actually
  withdraw the money, under the law only the
  secretary of the treasure could do this.
• Secretary Louis McLane refused to do so
• Jackson promoted him and replaced him with
  William J. Duane.
• William J. Duane refused to do what Jackson
  wanted
• Jackson replace him with Attorney General Roger
  B. Taney, who did what Jackson wanted.
• Taney began to withdraw funds from the Bank and
  depositing them into state banks, one of which
  was the Union Bank of Baltimore, a bank which
  Taney had invested in.
• To stop the withdrawals on the Bank, Biddle
  created an artificial crisis by demanding payment
  on all bank notes held by the Bank and refusing
  to loan money.
• This action force the state banks to refuse to
  loan money

20
Jacksons Bank Veto

• Biddle hoped that people would blame Jackson for
  the resulting shortage of credit and force him to
  rethink his banking tactics
• For a short time it worked, but Jackson refused
  to cave, instead he sent the businessmen to
  Biddle.
• As the pressure on Biddle mounted, he found that
  he had bitten off more than he could chew.
• In July of 1834, Biddle caved and he began to
  lend money freely, the bank crisis was over.
• Jackson had won.

21
Indian Removals

• Jackson believed that the Indians were savages
  and incapable of governing themselves.
• In 1831 and 1832 the United States fought the
  Black Hawk War. It was the last major resistance
  to the advancing white men in the old North West.
  It was not much of a war and ended when Chief
  Black Hawk was captured and brought to Washington
  D.C.
• The capture of Chief Black Hawk not only ended
  the Black Hawk War, but the remaining Indians in
  the North West fled, most to Canada, opening the
  area to white settlement.
• The Fate of the Five Great Southern Tribes
• Between 1831 and 1833 he forced 15,000 Choctaws
  to migrate to Oklahoma
• The Cherokees on the other hand made major
  efforts to conform to the white mans standard,
  and formed their own state called The Cherokee
  Nation
• It did not matter, planters wanted their land

22
Indian Removals

• Several treaties seemed to recognize the legality
  of their government, but Georgia would not
  recognize the Cherokee Nation
• Court cases
• Cherokee Nation v. Georgia Tribe was not a
  foreign nation and had a right to sue in federal
  court
• Worcester v. Georgia Law of Georgia had no
  force within the boundaries of Cherokee Territory
• Jackson backed Georgias position and ruled that
  the Indians must be removed
• In 1838, the United States forced 15,000 Cherokee
  to leave Georgia for Oklahoma on the Trail of
  Tears.

23
Removal of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and
Chicksaw Indians in the 1830s
24
Boom and Bust

• A mania to invest in property swept the country
  during the 1830s
• Every lot in New York and Chicago was sold to
  speculators
• Jackson became alarmed at the rate of speculation
  and in the summer of 1836 he issued the Specie
  Circular, which required that federal land had to
  paid for in silver or gold
• This circular effectively ended the rush to buy
  land
• As demand dropped off, so did prices
• Speculators were unable to sell land at the
  prices which they had paid, and had to default.
• Banks foreclosed, but could not sell the land, so
  the banks defaulted.

25
Jacksonianism Abroad

• Jacksons emotional and dogmatic style also
  effected foreign affairs
• By pushing relentlessly he was able to win some
  victories
• Opening British West Indies to American trade
• But also lead to some failures
• Pressing the French to pay damages incurred
  during the Napoleonic wars

26
The Jacksonians

• Jacksons personality had a large impact on the
  shape of American politics, his followers tried
  to emulate him.
• They were
• suspicious of special privilege and large
  business corporation
• They believed in freedom of opportunity
  unfettered by government restrictions
• They also believed in absolute political freedom
• They also believed that any ordinary man could
  perform the duties of most public offices
• They championed public education and their motto
  was that government governs best which governs
  least

27
Rise of The Whigs

• There was opposition to Jackson, but it was
  disorganized
• Henry Clay organized the National Republican
  party, but it formed only a nucleus for those who
  opposed Jackson, no specific ideology
• Jacksons nickname amongst his enemies was King
  Andrew I.
• When his opponents organized they took the name
  Whigs for their party name.
• This was because the opposition party in England
  had been called the Whigs.
• Once Jackson was out of office, an effective
  second party began to form
• They became known as the Whigs
• At Right King Andrew the First Whig Cartoon.

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Rise of The Whigs

• Jacksons anti-intellectual, and anti-science
  approach had driven many intellectuals out of the
  Democratic party, they went to the Whigs
• One of the problems which faced the Whigs was
  that there were too many leaders and not enough
  workers
• The Whigs never were particularly well organized.
• In the Election of 1836, William Henry Harrison
  was supposed to win based only on his military
  record, but he lost to the far better organized
  campaign of Martin Van Buren.

29
The contenders in the election of 1836, Martin
Van Buren and William Henry Harrison.
30
Martin Van Buren Jacksonianism Without Jackson

• Martin Van Buren was a great political
  manipulator as well as an accomplished statesman
• However his manner of dealing with economic issue
  left much to be desired
• Van Buren took office just as the American credit
  system collapsed
• During the panic of 1837, beginning in May, banks
  in New York stopped redeeming paper money for
  gold, soon all banks suspended specie payments.
• The panic deepened into the depression of
  1839-1843
• Van Buren aggravated the situation by following
  Jacksons hard money policies. He curtailed
  federal spending, and opposed a national bank.

31
Martin Van Buren Jacksonianism Without Jackson

• He did not see the government as cure to economic
  woes, he felt that the people should shift for
  themselves
• Instead of helping to strengthen the economy, Van
  Buren sought an alternative to storing federal
  funds in state banks
• He devised the Independent Treasury Act which
  kept the governments money in several regional
  treasury offices rather than banks. Essentially,
  he created several government owned vaults to
  store gold and silver.
• Opponents pointed out that this would effectively
  take huge quantities of specie out of circulation
• Van Buren went forward with the scheme
• Fortunately banks tended to be more careful about
  loans and in 1849 gold was discovered in
  California, greatly adding to the U.S. reserve of
  specie.

32
The Log Cabin Campaign

• In the 1840 campaign, the Democrats nominated
  President Martin Van Buren, though the financial
  crises was a major factor against his
  re-election.
• The Whigs were far better prepared for the 1840
  election.
• They ran William Henry Harrison for President and
  John Tyler for Vice President
• Whigs did not bother with a platform, just made
  the most of Harrison and a plain man and a
  military hero.
• The platform, if such it could be called was log
  cabin and hard cider. Alluding to the common man
  and temperance.
• It worked, Harrison won 234 votes to 60.

33
William Henry Harrison and his log cabin campaign
for president in 1840
34
The Two Party System Emerges

• The Democrats had so successfully absorbed the
  Federalist
• Ideas before that a true 2 party system never had
  emerged until now.
• The Democrats
• Glorified the liberty of the individual
• Clung to states rights and federal restraint in
  social and economic affairs
• Mostly more humble, poorer folk
• The Whigs
• Trumpeted natural harmony of society and the
  value of community

35
2 party system

• The Whigs
• b. Berated leaders whose appeals and
  self-interest fostered conflicts among Ind.
• c. Favored a renewed national bank, protective
  tariffs, internal improvements, public schools,
  and moral reforms.
• d. Mostly aristocratic and wealthier
• Things in common
• Based on the peoplecatch all phrases
• Both commanded loyalty from all kinds of people.

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I I I
Immigration Innovation Invention 1893 Frederick
Jackson Turners Frontier Thesis