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Ch. 14: Andrew Jackson and the Growth of American Democracy
Ch. 14: Andrew
Jackson and the Growth of American Democracy
Compare the following two images:
• The first image is from the Federalist Period and shows President George Washington.
• The second image is from the Jacksonian Era and shows President Andrew Jackson.
• What are the major differences between the people shown in the pictures?
Compare the following two images:• As the first image shows, the country was
run by the rich and well-born during the Federalist Period, because they were the only ones who could vote.
• As the second image shows, the common man (ordinary Americans) had more power during the Jacksonian Era. This is because the 1828 election (when Andrew Jackson became president) was the first presidential election that allowed most ordinary American men to vote. However, voting rights still didn’t extend to African Americans, Native Americans, or women at this time.
The Jacksonian Era
• The period from the 1820s to the 1840s was a time of great political change.
• During this time, more and more people became involved in the democratic process.
• You can see this change in the livelier, more inclusive music and images of the period.
• President Andrew Jackson was at the center of the political changes of the 1820s to the 1840s, which is why the entire era (or time period) is named after him – the Jacksonian Era.
Do you remember the War of 1812?
• The War of 1812 was fought between America and Britain. One of the greatest American victories during the war was the Battle of New Orleans. General Andrew Jackson’s men killed or wounded about 2,000 British soldiers, while only about 20 American soldiers were killed or wounded. The victory made Jackson a war hero, which would later aid him when he ran for the presidency.
The man in the bottom-right represents supporters of states’ rights, those who believed that the states didn’t have to listen to the national government on matters in which they disagreed.
The woman in the bottom-left represents Native Americans. Jackson’s presidency would prove very harmful to them.
The man in the upper-right represents common people. Jackson was very popular with common Americans, those without a lot of money or power.
The man in the upper-left represents rich and well-born people (planters, merchants, bankers, and lawyers). They didn’t trust Jackson and most voted for Adams.
Graphic Organizer on pg. 185
Andrew Jackson
The Election of 1828
• Until the 1820s, the right to vote had been limited to the rich and well-born. It was said that only white men with property had the education and experience to vote wisely.
• As new states formed out west on the frontier, all men were given the same rights, including the right to vote.
• This led to other states changing voting laws to give the “common man” the right to vote.
• However, African Americans, Native Americans, and women still weren’t allowed to vote.
• More than three times as many people voted in 1828 than in 1824.
• Many of the new voters believed that they could rescue the country from disaster.
• They believed that the country had been taken over by the corrupt rich.
• Jackson had promised to return the government to “the people.”
• His election reflected a shift in power to the West and to the farmers, shopkeepers, and small business owners who supported him.
The Election of 1828
The Election of 1828
• Andrew Jackson is being sworn in as President of the United States.
The Inauguration of Andrew Jackson
• More than 10,000 people came to Washington, D.C. to witness Jackson’s inauguration on March 4, 1829.
• After Jackson was sworn in as president, a huge crowd followed him to the White House.
• The celebration turned into a near riot as everyone surged into the White House at once. Jackson was nearly pressed to death before escaping out a back door.
• “It was the people’s day, and the people’s president, . . . and the people would rule.”
The Inauguration of Andrew Jackson
From the Frontier to the White House
Andrew Jackson was born in this cabin in a small, rural South Carolina town on March 15, 1767.
From the Frontier to the White House• Jackson was a self-made
man, achieving his wealth through his own efforts not by being born into a privileged (wealthy) family.
• His father died before he was born, leaving Jackson, his mother, and his brothers poor.
• As a young boy, Jackson loved sports but had a hot temper and often would pick fights.
From the Frontier to the White House
• When the American Revolution began, Jackson was only 13 years old.
• He joined a local militia and was captured by the British.
• One day, a British officer ordered Jackson to polish his boots.
• Jackson responded, “Sir, I am a prisoner of war and demand to be treated as such.”
• The outraged officer lashed out with his sword, slicing Jackson’s head and hand.
From the Frontier to the White House
• After the war, Jackson decided to become a lawyer and chose to practice law in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Jackson soon earned enough money to buy land and slaves and become a gentleman planter.
From the Frontier to the White House
• Jackson almost died after challenging a slave trader named Charles Dickinson to a pistol duel because Dickinson had insulted Jackson’s wife. Jackson’s shot killed Dickinson, but Dickinson’s shotwas so close to Jackson’s heart that doctors were not able to remove it.
From the Frontier to the White House
From the Frontier to the White House• In 1824, Jackson ran for president against
Henry Clay, William Crawford, and John Quincy Adams. Jackson won the popular votes, and the most electoral votes as well.
• However, he did not have a majority of the electoral votes, so the decision went to the House of Representatives who chose from the three leading candidates.
From the Frontier to the White House
• Clay, who had come in fourth, urged his supporters in the House to back Adams. Adams won as a result and chose Clay to be his secretary of state.
• Jackson’s supporters accused Adams and Clay of making a “corrupt bargain” to rob Jackson of the presidency, vowing revenge in the 1828 election.
John Quincy Adams
Henry Clay
From the Frontier to the White House
• Jackson’s supporters used the time between elections to build a new political organization that came to be called the Democratic Party.
• The Democratic Party still exists today and it is the party of Barack Obama.
• This new party promised to represent ordinary farmers, workers, and the poor, not the rich and well-born.
Origin of the Democratic Donkey• When Andrew Jackson ran for president in
1828, his opponents tried to label him a (derogatory word for a donkey) for his populist views and his slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson, however, picked up on their name calling and turned it to his own advantage by using the donkey on his campaign posters. During his presidency, the donkey was used to represent Jackson's stubbornness when he vetoed re-chartering the National Bank.
From the Frontier to the White House
• Jackson’s supporters organized huge parades, picnics, and rallies. At these events, supporters sang “The Hunters of Kentucky,” the nation’s first campaignsong.
• These efforts helped get him elected in 1828.
Jackson’s Approach to Governing
The Kitchen Cabinet
• Jackson did not rely on his cabinet for advice.
• Instead, he turned to his trusted friends and political supporters.
• These advisors were said to meet with him in the White House kitchen.
• The rich and well-born looked at the “kitchen cabinet” with suspicion, believing that they were not the proper sort to be running the country.
The Spoils System
• Jackson upset many opponents when he decided to reward his political supporters with jobs in the government.
• This would be called the spoils system from the saying that “to the victor belong the spoils [prizes] of war.”
• However, only about ten percent of all civil servants were replaced by Jackson and many of them were dismissed for good reason.
The Nullification Crisis
The Nullification Crisis• In 1828, Congress passed a law raising
tariffs, or taxes, on imported goods such as cloth and glass. The law was favored by northern states where many new factories were located. However, southern states worried that the tariffs would hurt cotton sales to other countries.
• Southerners said that a law favoring one region was unconstitutional. Based on this, Jackson’s vice president, John C. Calhoun, called upon southern states to declare the tariff “null and void,” or illegal and not to be honored.
The Nullification Crisis• In 1832, Jackson signed a new law that lowered
tariffs, but it wasn’t enough for states’ rights supporters in South Carolina.
• Led by Calhoun, they stated that South Carolina had the right to nullify, or reject, the tariff laws of 1828 and 1832 (this action was called nullification).
• South Carolina threatened to secede, or withdraw, from the United States.
• An outraged Jackson called upon Congress to pass the Force Bill, which allowed him to use the federal army to collect tariffs if needed. At the same time, Congress also passed a compromise bill that lowered tariffs still further.
• South Carolina backed down and the nullification crisis ended.
Jackson Battles the Bank of the United States
• The Bank of the United States was partly owned by the federal government.
• Jackson thought that it benefited rich Eastern investors at the expense of farmers and workers as well as smaller state banks.
• The bank’s charter was due to come up for renewal in 1836, but Henry Clay (who was planning on running for president against Jackson) decided to push a renewal bill through Congress in 1832 in hopes of forcing Jackson to take a political stance on the issue that could cost him votes.
• If Jackson signed the bill, renewing the bank’s charter, then he would lose votes from farmers who shared his dislike of banks.
• If Jackson vetoed the bill, he would lose votes from businesspeople who depended on the bank for loans.
• Jackson vetoed the bill, calling the bank an unconstitutional monopoly that existed mainly to make the rich richer even though the Supreme Court had already ruled the bank Constitutional.
Jackson Battles the Bank of the United States
• Jackson’s move was popular with most Americans and he won reelection by a large majority.
• But rather than wait for the bank to die in 1836 when its charter ran out, Jackson decided to starve it to death by ordering the secretary of the treasury to remove all federal deposits from the bank and put the money in the state banks.
• Business owners begged Jackson not to kill the bank, but he refused, calling it a victory for economic democracy.
Jackson Battles the Bank of the United States
Jackson’s Indian Policy
• While admirers of Jackson called him “Old Hickory” because he was as tough as “the hardest wood in creation,” Native Americans called him “Sharp Knife.”
• Jackson earned this name because of his reputation for ruthlessness in battle.
• In 1817, President Monroe had ordered Jackson to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek Indians. He proved successful at defeating both in battle.
• Jackson had no sympathy for Native Americans and he made it national policy during his presidency to remove Native Americans from the East by force.
This engraving shows General Andrew Jackson having defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. After the battle, the Creeks were forced to sign a treaty that required them to give up much of their land in Georgia and Alabama.
Jackson’s Indian Policy
• White settlers moving westward always created conflicts with Native Americans living in those regions.
• The national government had tried to resolve these conflicts with treaties, where Native Americans agreed to give up part of their land in exchange for food, supplies, money, and they promise that they would be able to keep the land that they had left forever.
Jackson’s Indian Policy• Despite these treaties, Native Americans
continued to be pushed off their land by white settlers hoping to farm or mine the land.
• Jackson wanted to remove the remaining Native Americans to a new Indian Territory in the West.
Jackson’s Indian Policy
• Most of the eastern Indians lived in the South. They belonged to five tribes: the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole.
• These tribes had adopted many white ways including farming, reading, and writing. These “Five Civilized Tribes” hoped to live in peace with their white neighbors.
• However, when cotton production spread westward, wealthy planters and poor settlers wanted to take the Native Americans’ homelands.
Indian Removal Act
• In 1830, President Jackson urged Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act, which allowed the president to make treaties in which Native Americans in the East traded their lands for new territory on the Great Plains.
• In 1831, the Supreme Court ruled that Indians had a right to their lands, but an angry Jackson disagreed and decided to remove any Indians who refused to leave by force if necessary.
The Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears
• In 1836, thousands of Creeks who refused to leave Alabama were rounded up and marched west in handcuffs.
• Two years later, under President Martin Van Buren, more than 17,000 Cherokee were forced from their homes in Georgia and herded west by federal troops. Four thousand died from starvation and disease. The journey was called the “Trail of Tears.”
