The Jackson Era Part 1

The Jackson Era

Jacksonian Democracy

New Parties Emerge

WHAT NEW WAYS OF CAMPAIGNING APPEARED DURING THE ELECTIONS OF
1824 AND 1828?
• From 1816 to 1824, the U.S. had only one major political party.

• This was the Democratic Republican Party.

• The party was far from united, and in 1824, four candidates competed for the

presidency.
• Party leaders chose William H. Crawford, who was a former senator from Georgia, to be

their candidate.

• Three other candidates were favorite sons, who is a candidate for national office who had

support mostly from his home state.
•Their views reflected the interests of their regions.

Multiple Choice

Who is a candidate for national office who had support mostly from their home state?

• Patriot Person

• United Young One

• Favorite Son

• Honored Hero

New Parties Emerge

• Two favorite sons Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay were from the West.

• Henry Clay

• From Kentucky, was Speaker of the House.

• Andrew Jackson

• From Tennessee, was a war hero from the War of 1812.

•He claimed to speak for the Americans who were not in politics.

• The third son was John Quincy Adams.

• He was from Massachusetts, son of the former president, and popular among the

merchants.

• The House Chooses the President

• In the election, Jackson received a plurality, which is the largest number of

something, but less than a majority, of the popular vote.

• No candidate received a majority, or more than half, of the electoral votes

Multiple Select

What are the names of the TWO favorite sons from the West?

• Henry Clay

• Thomas Jefferson

• James Madison

• Andrew Jackson

New Parties Emerge

• The House Chooses the President cont.

• The Constitution requires that the House of Representatives select the

president when no candidate has won a majority of the electoral vote.

• As the House prepared to vote, Clay met with Adams.

• Clay agreed to use his influence as Speaker to defeat Jackson.

• With Clay’s help, the House chose Adams as president.

•Adams, named Clay had his Secretary of State, which is a position that is an eventual stepping stone
to the presidency.

• Jackson’s followers accused the two men of making a corrupt bargain, and stealing

the election.

• Adams as President

• Adams and Clay denied any wrongdoing.

• No one ever found any evidence, however, the charge cast a shadow over Adams’s

presidency.

Multiple Choice

What is it called where one steals an election?

• Litigation

• Fraud

• Legality

• Corrupt Bargain

New Parties Emerge

• Adams as President cont.

• In his first message to Congress, Adams announced his plans.

• He was going to improve waterways and roads, build a national university, and

support scientific research.

• Adams proposal upset his opponents.

• They wanted a more limited role for the federal government.

• They believe that it was wrong for the government to spend money on such projects.

• Congress though approved funds for improving rivers, harbors, and roads.

• The Election of 1828

• By 1828, the Democratic Republican Party had split.

• The Democrats supported Jackson.
• The National Republicans supported Adams.

Multiple Select

What THREE things did Adams plan announce in his first message to Congress?

• Improved Waterways and Roads

• Build A National University

• Build A New Economic System

• Support Scientific Research

New Parties Emerge

• The Election of 1828 cont.

• Most Democrats favored states’ rights and distrusted strong central

government.

• The National Republicans wanted a strong central government, and supported

measured to build roads and a national bank to facilitate economic growth.

• During the campaign, both sides resorted to mudslinging, which is a method in

election campaigns that uses gossip and lies to make an opponent look bad.

• The candidates also used slogans, buttons, and rallies, which became a regular part

of American political life.

• In the election, Jackson received most of the votes cast in the frontier states.

Multiple Choice

What kind of election campaign method uses gossip and lies to make an opponent look bad?

• Inferences

• Mudslinging

• Drama

• Feud

New Parties Emerge

• The Election of 1828 cont.

• Jackson also received many votes in the South, where his support for states’

rights was popular.

• John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who had been Adams’s vice-president, switched

parties to run with Jackson.
• Calhoun also supported states’ rights.

• Jackson won the election easily.
• Shortly after the election, Jackson’s supporters officially formed the Democratic

Party.

Multiple Choice

What is the name of the party that Jackson's supporters formed shortly after the election?

• Democratic

• Republican

• Federalist

• Know-Nothing

Jackson as President

HOW DID ANDREW JACKSON MAKE THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM MORE
DEMOCRATIC?
• Andrew Jackson had qualities most Americans admired.

• He was a patriot, a self-made man, and a war hero.

• Expanded Voting Rights

• President Andrew Jackson promised “equal protection and equal benefits” for

all Americans, well…at least all white Americans.

• In the past, only men who owned land and paid their taxes could vote.

• However, by the 1820s, many states began to loosen these requirements.

•White male sharecroppers, factory workers, and others could now vote.
• By 1828, nearly all states let voters, rather than state legislatures, choose the presidential electors.

• Women could still not vote, and no rights had been given to African Americans or Native

Americans.

Multiple Select

What were the THREE things that most Americans admired about Andrew Jackson?

• Patriot

• Mayor

• Self-Made Man

• War Hero

Jackson as President

• Making Government More Democratic

• Democrats wanted to further open government to the people.

• They argued that ordinary citizens could do most government jobs.

• They were disturbed that the federal government had become a bureaucracy, or a system in

which nonelected officials carry out laws.

• Soon after taking office in 1829, Jackson fired many federal workers and

replaced them with his supporters.

• The fired employees protested, and charged the president of acting like a tyrant.

Multiple Choice

What is a system in which nonelected officials carry out laws?

• Oligarchy

• Absolutism

• Democracy

• Bureaucracy

Jackson as President

• Making Government More Democratic cont.

• One Jackson supporter said: “To the victors belong the spoils.”

• Essentially, Jackson won the election, and his supporters had the rights to the spoils,

or benefits, of the victory.
• This practice of replacing current government employees with supporters of the winner is

called the spoil system.

• Jackson’s supporters also abandoned the unpopular caucus system, in which the

top party leaders chose the party’s candidates for office.

• Instead, the parties began using nominating conventions, or a meeting in which

representative members of a political party choose candidates to run for important
elected offices.
• This allowed many more people to participate in the selection of candidates.

Multiple Choice

What is the practice of replacing current government employees with supporters of the winner?

• Spoil System

• Caucus

• Judicial Review

• Nominating Party

The Tariff Debate

HOW DID A FIGHT OVER TARIFFS BECOME A DEBATE ABOUT STATES’ RIGHTS
VERSUS FEDERAL RIGHTS?
• A tariff is on imported goods.

• The high tariff on European manufactured goods was pleasing to Northeastern

factory owners.

• Tariffs made European goods more expensive.

• This encouraged Americans to buy American made goods.

• Southerners disliked the tariff.

• They had a profitable trade selling their cotton to Europe.

•They feared this tariff might hurt this trade, and raise costs on the goods they got from the European
markets.

• In 1828 Congress had passed a very high tariff law.

• Vice President Calhoun stated that states had the right to nullify, or refuse to

accept this law.

• President Jackson disagreed, fearing that this nullification would destroy the Union.

Multiple Choice

What made European goods more expensive?

• Taxes

• Tariffs

• Shipping Costs

• Work Costs

The Tariff Debate

• In 1830 in Washington, at a dinner for Thomas Jefferson’s birthday, Jackson

made his feelings clear on nullification.
• Jackson offered a toast, and facing Calhoun, said, “Our Union! It must be

preserved!”

• Vice President Calhoun then countered with a toast, The Union, next to our

liberty, most dear.”

• Calhoun then added, “It can only be preserved by respecting the rights of the

states.”

• Not long after this confrontation, Congress passed the Maysville Road Bill.

• It provided money to build a road in Kentucky.

• Jackson vetoed the bill, stating that since the project was entirely in Kentucky, it was

a state issue, not a federal one.

Multiple Choice

Which state did the Maysville Road Bill build a road through?

• Kansas

• Tennessee

• Kentucky

• Mississippi

The Tariff Debate

• In 1832 Congress passed a lower tariff.

• It was not enough to stop the protest, and as a result, South Carolina passed the

Nullification Act, which stated it would not pay illegaltariffs.

• The state threatened to secede, or break away, from the Union if the federal

government interfered.

• Jackson believed in a strong Union.

• He asked Congress to pass the Force Bill, which would allow him to use the

military to enforce the law.

• South Carolina accepted the new tariff, but nullified the Force Bill.

Multiple Choice

What did Jackson ask Congress to pass that would allow him to use the military to enforce the law?

• 1st Amendment

• Jay's Treaty

• Homestead Act

• Force Bill