The Age of Jackson

Return of the Two-Party System

The Election of 1824

The candidates for President in 1824 were John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William Crawford.

A Split in the Party

Adams election led to a split in the party when supporters of Jackson thought Henry Clay had supported Adams in return for a promise to be appointed Secretary of State. They separated themselves from the party to support Jackson for President in 1828.
At this point, Jackson and his followers became known as Democrats, and Adams and his followers became known as the National Republicans.

Adams as President

Adams position as President was weakened as Adams was a nationalist during a time of growing sectionalism.

Election of 1828

The new Democratic party won the Election of 1828.
Andrew Jackson was the first "westerner" to be elected President.

Jacksonian Democracy

Jackson's Appeal

Andrew Jackson had lived on the frontier and had been a soldier and military leader before becoming President.
Jackson's election seemed to prove that an ordinary American could become President.
Growing Power of the People
Groups that did not have the right to vote were blacks, women, and white males who did not own property.
Qualifications for suffrage, or the right to vote, were first changed in the new states west of the Appalachian Mountains. Laws in these states allowed almost any white male citizen to vote or hold office. The laws of the older states changed more slowly.
Democracy in Government
President Jackson used the spoils system to keep the government responsive to the people.
In 1829, he began to put members of his own party into government jobs.

Jackson's Use of Presidential Power

Executive Powers

President Jackson used the veto power for political reasons, as well as to stop bills that he thought were unconstitutional.
If a decision of the Supreme Court was different from his own view, Jackson felt he should have the last word.

State's Rights and Union

Nullification stated that state's could decide whether an act of Congress was unconstitutional.
The strongest support for nullification was in the South.
Nullification Crisis
President Jackson's and Vice-President Calhoun's views differed on the authority of the federal government in that Calhoun supported the idea that states had the right to nullify an act of Congress, Jackson opposed nullification.
What brought about the nullification crisis was it centered over the tariffs of 1828 and 1832.

Maysville Road Veto

In May 1830, Congress passed a bill to buy stock in the Maysville Road Company. The company was to build a road in Kentucky. President Jackson vetoed the bill on the grounds that it was not a national project, but a state project for the benefit of only Kentucky. People in the West were upset.

Jackson and the Bank

Veto of the Renewal Bill: President Jackson believed a Bank of the United States was unconstitutional. Henry Clay, who hoped to run for President in 1832, favored the renewal of the bank charter. Clay thought that if Jackson vetoed the bill it would be unpopular in the U.S., and Clay would have a better chance to win the presidential election. However, after Jackson vetoed the bill many Americans agreed with the President, and Jackson was reelected in 1832.
Removal of Deposits: After the election Jackson decided to remove government deposits from the Bank. He ordered federal money to be deposited in certain state banks (pet banks). They used this money for land speculation and issued paper money without regard to backing it up with specie (gold and silver coin). At the end of Jackson's term as President he wrote the "Specie Circular," which stated that only people who settled the land could pay for it with paper money. Everyone else had to pay for public lands with gold or silver. This slowed down land speculation.

Jackson and the Indians

Government and the Indians

Jackson's policy regarding the Indian people was he encouraged removal of Indians to lands west of the Mississippi.
Under President Jackson, most Indians living east of the Mississippi River were forced to move to the Great Plains.
In 1830, with President Jackson's encouragement, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act.

Indian Removals

Indian peoples forced to move from their lands include: the Chippewa, Menominee, Iowa, Sioux, Ottawa, Winnebago, Sac, Fox, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee.
The Cherokee: The Cherokee appealed their case to the Supreme Court to prevent their removal from Georgia. The Supreme Court's decision in the case involving the Cherokee stated that Georgia had no authority over the Cherokees. The Cherokee were finally forced to move west because Jackson did not enforce the Supreme Court decision.
The Seminole: In Florida, many Seminole Indians refused to leave their homeland. Led by Osceola, and with the help of escaped slaves, they fought against federal troops into the 1840s. The remaining Seminole were finally pushed back into the Everglades, and in an 1842 treaty were allowed to stay.
During the years of Indian resettlement, more than 100,000 people were forced west across the Mississippi River. Again, the government promised that the Indians could remain on their new lands forever. However, this promise was never kept.

Impact of Jackson's Policies

Election of 1836

The Whig party was a new political party formed in 1834. Most of the National-Republicans, as well as others who did not like Andrew Jackson, formed the Whig party.
Panic of 1837
Events in 1837 that had their roots in the Jackson years were the financial panic and depression.
In 1836, the "Specie Circular," pushed by Jackson, had terrible effects on the economy. Few people had gold or silver to pay for land, and the prices dropped. Banks began calling in loans, and many people could not pay up. The banks faced a panic, and many failed.
The Whigs blamed President Van Buren and the Democrats of following the policies of Jackson and doing nothing to end the depression.

Election of 1840

The Whig candidates in the election of 1840 were William Henry Harrison for President and John Tyler for Vice-President.
The Whigs were successful in their campaign, and were able to place the blame of the financial panic and depression on the Democrats. Harrison became the new President of the United States.

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