Andrew Jackson

“General Jackson, who the Americans have for the second time chosen to be at their head, is a man of violent character and middling capacities; nothing in

the whole of his career indicated him to have the qualities needed for governing a free people;

moreover, a majority of the enlightened classes in the Union have always been against him.”

-de Tocqueville (1832)

The ‘Myth’ of Jackson?• Andrew Jackson was orphaned at the age of 14.• He was the only president to serve in both the Revolutionary War and the

War of 1812.• Jackson was racist and sexist. He also believed that the earth was flat.• Jackson was the only President to have been held as a prisoner of war. This

was during the Revolutionary War. Jackson was only 13 years old.• In 1806 Jackson had a duel with Charles Dickinson over some things that

he said about Jackson's wife. Dickinson got the first shot, and hit Jackson directly in the chest, about two inches from his heart. Jackson only stumbled. Instead, he raised his gun and killed Dickinson! He then walked away. The bullet had lodged to close to his heart to be removed, so he carried it there for twenty years.

• Anyone could come to Andrew Jackson's public parties at the White House, and just about everyone did! At his last one, a wheel of cheese weighing 1,400 lbs. was eaten in two hours. The White House smelled of cheese for weeks.

• On January 30, 1835, a mentally disturbed man named Richard Lawrence fired two different guns at Jackson from point-blank range. Both weapons failed to fire. Jackson then chased after Lawrence and beat him with his cane.

• At his funeral in 1845, his pet parrot had to be removed because it was swearing

• Jackson, Mississippi is named after Andrew Jackson.

Election of 1824• The Election of 1824 clearly showed that the "era of good feelings"

had come to an end. All the candidates were Democratic-Republicans, but personal and sectional interests outweighed political orthodoxy. The candidates included: -John Quincy Adams, son of a Federalist president, represented the interests of the Northeast (high protective tariff) and was the leading contender -Henry Clay of Kentucky shared political views with Adams, but they held one another in contempt — the rigid New Englander versus the hard-drinking Westerner -Andrew Jackson, a Senator from Tennessee and military hero, drew Western support from Clay despite the fact that his political views were not well-known -William H. Crawford of Georgia was born in Virginia and hoped to continue the "Virginia Dynasty;" he held to the old-line Republican view of limiting the role of the central government, but was still the congressional power brokers' favorite -John C. Calhoun of South Carolina harbored presidential aspirations, but backed out in the hope of securing the vice presidency.

Election of 1824Candidate

PartyElectoral

VotePopular

Vote

Presidential

John Quincy Adams (MA)

Democratic-

Republican

84 115,696

Henry Clay (KY) " 37 47,136

Andrew Jackson (TN) " 99 152,933

William H. Crawford (GA)

" 41 46,979

Corrupt Bargain?• The Twelfth Amendment provided that elections in which

no candidate received a majority should be decided by the House of Representatives from among the top three candidates. Clay was out of contention and Crawford was an unlikely prospect because of a serious illness.

• Jackson clearly expected to win, figuring that the House would act to confirm his strong showing. However, Clay, as Speaker of the House, used his influence to sway the vote to Adams. Although they were not close, Clay knew that he and Adams shared a common political philosophy. Clay also was not interested in doing anything to further the career of Jackson, his main rival in the West.

• Adams prevailed on the first ballot in the House of Representatives and became the nation's sixth president. His subsequent appointment of Henry Clay as Secretary of State led to angry charges of a "corrupt bargain."

Significance

• End of Era of Good Feeling

• Sectional differences / interests

• Effect on Jackson?

Election of 1828

• The Election of 1824 had left supporters of Andrew Jackson bitterly disappointed. He had garnered the most electoral votes, but had been denied the presidency by the House of Representatives.

• The Election of 1828 was unique in that nominations were no longer made by Congressional caucuses, but by conventions and the state legislatures. John Quincy Adams was re-nominated by forces then calling themselves the National Republicans.

• Jackson referred to as a Democratic Republican (soon to be simply Democratic)

Election of 1828Candidates Party

Electoral

Vote

PopularVote

Andrew Jackson (TN)John C. Calhoun (SC)

DemocratRepublican

178 647,286

J.Q. Adams (MA)Richard Rush (PA)

NationalRepublican

83 508,064

The election results were a clear victory for Jackson, but were highly sectional in nature. The South, West, and the states of Pennsylvania and New York went for Jackson; New England voted for Adams. The final tally showed:

Jackson’s Inauguration

• What does this account tell us about Jackson’s popularity?

• Why is this account important?

• How does this account identify the significance of the western territories?

I. What Made Jackson Different?

A. First Presidential candidate from west of the Appalachians, first to come from a poor family.

B. It seemed obvious that the American Presidency now belonged to the masses. Yet others said “King Mob” now ruled the nation. Meaning?

C. People felt he was a “common man” like them. He thought that gave him more authority… a mandate from the people.

II. Personal Characteristics?

A. Jackson had a suspicious nature, he disliked special interests groups and men whose power came from privilege

B. He exhibited characteristics of the typical westerner

C. Self made man: raised himself, educated himself, acquired land, money, authority… exhibited the opportunities for social, economic, and political mobility

D. Tough, violent?

III. How did Jackson increase the powers of the Presidency?

A. Kitchen Cabinet: group of advisors, undistinguished men, no one who could overshadow the president, dominated by Jackson

B. The Spoils System-In one of Jackson’s first moves he fired nearly 10% of federal gov’t employees, and gave their jobs to loyal supporters-incoming political parties threw out former appointees and replaced them with their own friends

C. Vetoes-vetoed more legislation than all previous presidents combined-exercised his own agenda

IV. The Nullification Crisis

A. Background / Context:1) What was it?-The Nullification Crisis was a sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson around the question of whether a state can refuse to recognize or to enforce a federal law passed by the United States Congress. It was precipitated by protective tariffs, specifically the Tariff of 1828 (also called the "Tariff of Abominations"). -The issue incited a debate over states' rights that ultimately threatened violent hostilities between South Carolina and the federal government, and the dissolution of the Union.2) Situation:

B. Jackson’s response:-"If one drop of blood be shed in South Carolina in defiance of the laws of the U.S., I will hang the first of the nullifiers I can get my hands on." -sends a part of the US navy to the coast of S.C.-appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to the union-supported the passage of the Force Bill, authorizing the President to take whatever actions he deemed fit to enforce the law. It is the first piece of legislation to publicly deny the right of secession to individual states. Its approval meant that the principle of secession was no longer in keeping with the idea of a national union.

V. Jackson declares war on the National Bank

A. Why he opposed the bank1) As president, Jackson worked to take away the federal charter of the Second Bank of the United States2) In Jackson's veto message, the bank needed to be abolished because:

-It concentrated an excessive amount of the nation's financial strength into a single institution

-It exposed the government to control by "foreign interests"

-It served mainly to make the rich richer -It exercised too much control over members of the

Congress -It favored Northeastern states over Southern and

Western states -Jackson followed Jefferson as a supporter of the ideal

of an "agricultural republic" and felt the bank improved the fortunes of an "elite circle" of commercial and industrial entrepreneurs at the expense of farmers and laborers.

B. How did he fight the bank?

-After a public struggle, Jackson succeeded in destroying the bank by vetoing its 1832 re-charter by Congress and by withdrawing U.S. funds in 1833.

-Significance?

No national bank until the creation of the Federal Reserve system in 1913

Democratic cartoon shows Jackson fighting the monster Bank. "The Bank," Jackson told Martin Van Buren, "is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!"

1833 cartoon--lithograph by Edward W. Clay. Praises Andrew Jackson for his destroying the Second Bank of the United States with his "Removal Notice" (removal of federal deposits). The Devil, along with several speculators and hirelings, flee as the bank collapses, and Jackson's supporters cheer.

VI. Jackson’s Indian Removal Policy

A. Jackson’s Perspective -Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Andrew Jackson's presidency was his policy regarding American Indians. -Jackson was a leading advocate of a policy known as "Indian Removal," signing the Indian Removal Act into law in 1830. The Act authorized the President to negotiate treaties to purchase tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands further west, outside of existing U.S. state borders.-Jackson never publicly advocated removing American Indians by force, but he devoted considerable energies to the negotiation of removal treaties. Nearly seventy Indian treaties—many of them land sales—were ratified during his presidency, the most of any administration.

-While frequently frowned upon in the North, the Removal Act was popular in the South, where population growth and the discovery of gold on Cherokee land had increased pressure on tribal lands. The state of Georgia became involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokees, culminating in the 1832 U.S. Supreme Court decision which ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands. -Jackson is often quoted (regarding the decision) as having said, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!"

B. Trail of Tears:In 1838, 1,600 Cherokee still remained on their lands.-Jackson had offered the Chreokee the opportunity to remain on their land and assimilate into the US, or, to maintain their culture, remove themselves westward to territory in Oklahoma- The terms of the treaty were then enforced by Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren, who ordered 7,000 armed troops to remove them. This resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 Cherokee on the "Trail of Tears."