Jacksonian Democracy (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Chapter 12

Jacksonian Democracy

(c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved

Chapter 12Chapter 12

Prologue: 1819

• Jacksonian Democracy rooted in 2 events:– Heated debate over Missouri’s admission as a

slave state– Severe financial collapse led to Americans’

doubt of the market revolution under Jeffersonian republic


The West, 1803-1840s

• Louisiana—Jefferson’s “empire of liberty”

• Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

• Sacajawea

• Time passes– Americans settle southern part– Sioux dominate northern part


The Argument over Missouri

• Slaveholding Missouri applies for admission as a state

• James Tallmadge, Jr.– Tallmadge amendments– “three-fifths” rule

• House opposed to Missouri as a slave state• Senate in favor of Missouri as a slave state


The Missouri Compromise

• Maine detached from Massachusetts as a new free state• Jesse Thomas and the Thomas Proviso

– No slavery North of 36’ 30” minutes in Louisiana Purchase area

• Crisis brought out evidence of:– South’s commitment to slavery– North’s resentment of southern political power


The Panic of 1819

• Origins of the Panic of 1819– Drop in American foodstuff exports– Easy credit and speculative boom in the U.S.

• Second Bank of the United States– Langdon Cheves

• Nationwide collapse in the economy• Rise in unemployment• Resentment against the Bank of the United States


Republican Revival

• Republicans called for a Jeffersonian revival that would limit government power and guarantee southern rights within the Union


Martin Van Buren Leads the Way

• Invented modern, disciplined patronage based party

• “Era of Good Feelings” in Van Buren’s view– Led to Federalist state– Sectional politics

• Salvation was disciplined national party


The Election of 1824• William H. Crawford: Candidate of Van Buren

and the Congressional Caucus• John Quincy Adams: Federalist convert• Henry Clay: American System• John C. Calhoun: Vice-President• Andrew Jackson: the wild card

– Frontier nabob with violent reputation– Florida– Popular war hero


“A Corrupt Bargain”

• Jackson assumes he won 1824 election• House of Representatives decides• Clay’s support toward a candidate would

determine the outcome of the Presidential elections– Clay offered his support to Jackson, then Adams, in

exchange for appointment as secretary of state– Jackson refused, Adams accepted

• Reaction very negative and dominated Adams administration


Jacksonian Melodrama• Jackson’s claims that selfishness and intrigue had

corrupted the republic– Panic of 1819 caused by corrupt Bank of U.S.– National debt a source of corruption– King caucus– Theft of 1824 election

• Individuals can become corrupt and selfish, but the democratic majority was, by nature, opposed to corruption and governmental excess

• Republic is only safe when governed by the will of the majority


Nationalism in an International Arena

• Adams’s role in American politics prior to the Presidency

• Rush-Bagot Treaty (1817) and the British-American Convention (1818)

• Adams-Onis Treaty (1819)• Monroe Doctrine (1823)


Nationalism at Home

• Adams isolated himself and offended popular democracy

• Proposed ambitious national development plan

• Easily portrayed as enemy of democracy and proponent of high taxes and intrusive government


The Birth of the Democratic Party

• Van Buren– Supports Jackson, but as head of disciplined, Democratic

party committed to Jeffersonian ideals– Calhoun – Thomas Ritchie and Virginia Republicans

• Rebuilding Jeffersonian Coalition with the Democratic Party– National party committed to states’ rights and minimal

government


The Election of 1828• Slander more than debate of public policy• Adams’s supporters attack Jackson

– Duels and brawls– Coffin handbill– Bigamist with Rachel Donelson Jackson– Strategy backfires, many see Jackson as melodramatic hero

• High voter turnout and Jackson landslide• Victory of popular melodrama over cultural gentility


A People’s Inauguration

• Rowdy inaugural crowd

• Rachel’s death

• No more King Caucus or Corrupt Bargains


The Spoils System

• Secretary of State Van Buren

• “Spoils system” or “rotation in office”

• 10% of officeholders replaced


Jacksonian Democracy and the South:

• Jackson got 80% of Southern vote

• How to protect Southern interest in limited government– Calhoun: states veto federal legislation– Van Buren: political party committed to states’

rights within the union

Southerners and Indians

• “Civilized Tribes” sanctioned by federal government

• Resented by white Southerners as challenge to states’ rights

• Georgia Governor George Troup’s land grab

• Cherokee Republic


Indian Removal

• Indian Removal Act of 1830 • John Marshall

– Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1830)– Worcester v. Georgia (1832)– “Marshall has made his decision: now let him

enforce it.”—Andrew Jackson

• “Trail of Tears”


Southerners and the Tariff

• “Tariff of Abominations” (1828)– Van Buren’s role

• Increases sense of Southern unease– Diminished cotton exports– Increased price of imports that the South depended on– Showed willingness of other agrarian regions to make

deals contrary to interest of slave owning South


Nullification• Exposition and Protest (1828)

– Virginia and Kentucky Resolves (1798)

• Jefferson birthday dinner toasts– Jackson: “our federal union, it must be preserved”– Calhoun: “the union, next to our liberties, the most dear”

• Tariff of 1832• South Carolina’s Nullification Convention• Force Bill (1833)• Compromise Tariff of 1833


The “Petticoat Wars”• Peggy O’Neal Timberlake Eaton and

Secretary of War John Eaton

• Parallels with Andrew and Rachel

• Floride Bonneau Calhoun

• Widower Martin Van Buren– Nice to Eaton– Leaks anti-Jackson letter from Calhoun


The Fall of Calhoun

• Van Buren and rest of cabinet resign• “Kitchen Cabinet”• New cabinet does not have Calhoun supporters• Van Buren is Jackson’s 1832 running mate and

designated successor• Calhoun loses


Petitions, the Gag Rule, and the Southern Mails

• Jackson and Democrats successfully opposed moral issues in politics

• “Postal campaign” and petitions– Postmaster Amos Kendall– “Gag rule”

• Southerners see disciplined Democratic Party as guarantor of their interests


Jacksonian Democracy and the Market Revolution

• Nostalgic loyalty to Jefferson’s agrarian republic

• Tried to reconcile Market Revolution to principles of republic

• Paper money and the American System were corrupt and anti-republican

• Whigs spring up in opposition to Jacksonians

The Second Bank of the United States

• The Bank of the United States exercised central control over the nation’s monetary and credit systems

• Millions resented and distrusted the national bank as a privileged, powerful institution

• Jackson saw the bank as concentration of power that threatened the republic


The Bank War• Clay and the 1832 bank recharter

• Jackson bank veto message– Bank is special privilege that allows

Northeastern and British merchants to take Southern and Western wealth

• Election of 1832: pro-Jackson, anti-bank landslide

• “Pet Banks” and Roger Taney


The Beginnings of the Whig Party

• Origin of the name Whig

• “King Andrew I”

• Anti-American System– Maysville Road veto

• Nicholas Biddle calls in Bank of U.S. loans

• Clay and the Senate Censure of Jackson


A Balanced Budget

• Budget surplus– Tariffs brought in more revenue– Jackson administration spent little– Sale of public lands brought in more revenue

• National debt paid off 1833• Deposit Act (1836)• Specie Circular (1836)


“Martin Van Ruin”

• Election of 1836– Whigs 3 candidate sectional strategy– Van Buren’s national Democratic party wins

• Panic of 1837– Whigs blame Jackson’s hard money policy and specie circular– Democrats blame speculation and paper money

• “Sub-Treasury” (“Independent Treasury”)


The Election of 1840

• “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” – William Henry Harrison – John Tyler

• “Log Cabin Campaign”

• “Martin Van Ruin”


Two Parties

• Election of 1840– Signaled the solidification of the second

party system– Both parties competitive in all regions– High voter turnout


Conclusion• By 1840 American politics was 2 party national

system– Whigs: the American System– Democrats: limited government

• 1830-1860: The growth of American economy became a question of state and local government actions

• Growing political problems surrounding slavery• The 2-party system focused national political

debates on economic development, not sectional issues like slavery


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Jacksonian Democracy (c) 2003 Wadsworth Group All rights reserved Chapter 12