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The New Democrats
Jackson, Van Buren, Harrison/Tyler, Polk, Taylor/Fillmore, Pierce,
Buchanan1829-1861
Andrew Jackson1829-1837
Jackson
• Hero to common man
• Return to Jefferson
• Cheap land
• By 1833 all eastern Indians west of MS R.– Except Cherokees
• Opposed internal improvements– Eliminated debt
The Tariff Controversy
• Modest reduction
• SC threatens nullification
• Jackson threatens force & gets tariff lowered – SC backs down
• Precedent – force against states defying federal authority
Bank War
• Privilege attacked
• Bank symbol for unfairness (monster)
• “pet banks”– Flood of paper money– Speculative boom
• 1832 reelected w/54% of vote– Beat Clay
Jackson
• Aggressive – pushed congress
• Peoples champion
• The Veto
• “spoils system”
• Chief Justice Taney replaced Marshall
Legacy
• Extends freedom & opportunity
• Common man now included
•
• Democratic Party
Democrat Contradiction
• Party of states rights, slaveholders, & individual freedom
Martin Van Buren1837-1841
1836 Election
• VB defeats 3 Whigs– Adams-Clay Nat. Rep. Party– Anti-Jackson abuses
• Public convinced nation going in right direction
Problems
• Texas issue• Trail of Tears (4000 die)• Panic of 1837
– Easy money = get rich quick speculative boom
– Deep depression– Cotton fell 50%, banks suspend specie
payments– Unemployed protest
• Independent Treasury est.– Gov’t $ buried in subtreasuries
• Public lost trust in Jackson’s banking system
• Huge opportunity for opposition party
Whig Party Take Over
• 1840 Harrison easily defeats Van Buren– Colorful campaign– Democratic defeat will not end Jackson
paradigm– Dies in 30 days
• John Tyler former Democrat– Betrayed Whig economic program– Stole victory from Whigs
Democrats Back
• 1844 Polk defeats Clay in close election
• Program– Expansion - TX, CA, OR– Reduce tariff– Ind. Treas.
• 1 term promise
James K. Polk1845-1849
Achievements
• OR Terr.
• Mexican War– Easy victory– CA & southwest– Gen. Zachary Taylor a hero
• Reduced tariff
• Ind. Treas.
• Why were Dems. not rewarded
The Wilmot Proviso
• New terr. threatens sectional balance
• Northern Dems betrayed by pro-South tilt of party
• 1846 Sen. Wilmot antislavery
• Bill would ban slavery from new terr.
• Not just about slavery– economics & politics
Northern View
• South blocking nations industrial development– Protective tariff– RR subsidies
• More slave states make it worse
Southern View
• North attracting immigrant wage earners
• Urban centers
• Controlling credit & investment $
• Fear becoming second class colony to tyrannical North
• Must expand slavery west
12 Year Struggle
• Sectional conflict
• Slavery the topic
• Economics & political power
Election 1848
• Free Soil Party “Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men” – Took 10% of vote– “conscience” Democrats
• Taylor defeats Cass
• Whigs gain WH
• Taylor dies
• Fillmore pres.
Millard Fillmore1850-1853
Compromise of 1850
• Fate of slavery in new territories
• Great senate debates
• Henry Clay & Stephen Douglas
• Terms– North got CA & DC slave trade abolished– South pop. sov. in NM & UT. & fugitive slave
law– Did not repeal MO Compromise
Uncertain Future
• RR growth & CA gold = best economy since Panic 1837
• Abolitionism growing in NE
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe– 1850’s 300,000 copies
Franklin Pierce1853-1857
Democrats Return to WH
• 1852 slavery issue settled
• Pierce schemes to add Cuba
• Far West RR– Jefferson Davis South route (easier)– Stephen Douglas North route
• 1854 KS-NE Act– Pop. Sov.– Repealed MO Compromise
Tension Builds
• Civil war in Kansas
• Both sides send supporters
Republicans
• antislavery
• Ex-Free Soilers & “conscience” Dems
• All North & no compromise w/ South
• Business policies – High tariffs & internal improvements– Federalist/Whig
Election 1856
• “bleeding Kansas”
• Dems pick Buchanan
• Whigs break up
• Republicans pick Fremont
• “Know Nothing” Party pick Fillmore
Results
• Know-Nothings – 22%
• Buchanan Dems – 45%
• Republican 11 of 16 free states
• South knows abolitionists going to be a problem
James Buchanan1857-1861
Disaster to Disaster
• Dred Scott Case– Taney Court– Slavery legal in every terr.– North outraged
Kansas
• Proposed slave state– Rigged– North outraged
• Douglas leads attack– MN & OR added free– KS denied
Buchanan
• Dominated by South
• Interests of N & W ignored
• Trying to pacify South– Cuba?– Mexico?
John Brown
• Raid on Harpers Ferry, VA
•
• Celebrated in North – martyr
• South stunned by North response
Panic of 1857
• Deep depression
• Cotton prices soared this time
• South emboldened by economic power
1850’s Excess of Democracy
• Changes in society, economy, frontier produced excess of individualism
• General rejection of traditional political authority & solutions
• Any attempt to curb individual behavior was undemocratic
• “Mob rule” – Federalist greatest fear
Election 1860
• Abe Lincoln (R)– Obscure– Against spread of slavery– Pro expanding industry
• Stephen Douglas (D-North)– Powerful senator
• John Breckinridge (D-South)– Southern Dems split from North
Republicans
• Exploited key contradiction in Dem– Individual freedom & slavery
• Jefferson freedom w/ Hamilton’s economics
• Promised free homesteads
• Big party for all - except slavery
• No room for credible opposition
Republican Victory
• Lincoln 40%
• North finally in charge
• No sympathy for South
• South facing permanent minority status
• SC & 10 others bolt from Union
• Jackson paradigm split in two rival armies
• Civil War
Was It Just About Slavery?
• Fight over the future
• Wealth & power shifting North
• Railroads replacing cotton as key to economy
• 18 free vs. 15 slave states
• Way of life (soil vs. industry & transportation)
• Slavery tool crush the South
Summary
• 32 years• Return to Jefferson• Expand democracy• Fought privilege & helped common man• Extended frontier for ordinary people• Removed Indians• End national bank, lowered tariffs, cut fed
spending• Dems dominate all three branches of govt