The Age of Jackson I. Jacksonian Democracy A. Was Andrew Jackson a "democrat" at all? 1. Popular myth, fed by Frederick Jackson Turner: Jackson was

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1 The Age of Jackson I. Jacksonian Democracy A. Was Andrew Jackson a "democrat" at all? 1. Popular myth, fed by Frederick Jackson Turner: Jackson was the embodiment of the "contentious, vehement, personal west'; his life pattern the very pattern of frontier evolution. 2. Modern studies reveal: a. He was a"hard-money" man, opposing paper money, unlike most Western settlers. b. Frontier lawyering meant he collected debts on behalf of speculators from small farmers--not the prototypical democrat (provided, of course, that one defines the category "democrat" along Marxist lines) c. Set himself up as a gentleman, not as a common farmer. He aspired to become, and did in fact become, a Southern planter. d. He was an inveterate speculator, who was at least once badly burned, and hated and distrusted banks ever afterward (He was careful to pay every cent back that he owed rather than declare bankruptcy) e. He was by no means intellectual, but also by no means stupid. His career as a judge featured robust common sense rather than profound legal scholarship (which is not, I think, so bad in a judge) f. Violent tempered (1) But he was notably in control of his emotions as President; normally courteous and gracious in the planter tradition; he was coldly aware of his reputation as a barbarian, and put on some memorable displays of temper when it suited him--these were deliberate. g. He was fiercely combative with an instinct for the jugular vein. No other American President matches Jackson for this sheer personal aggressiveness. If threatened, his instinct was instant and deadly attack. h. He was a devout nationalist! In American history, only Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln can be ranked as his rivals in national devotion. i. He believed in limited federal, but that power must be supreme!!!! (1) The Maysville Road veto, based upon the fact that the Maysville road was entirely intra-state (Kentucky) rather than inter-state (which would, in Jackson's view, qualify it for federal authority) is a good example. j. Jackson is thought of as a Westerner--the first Westerner to occupy the White House, the first man not born to wealth and privilege to occupy the White House. But he drew support from each section and all social classes: western farmers, Southern planters, urban workers, bankers, merchants, etc.

2 The Age of Jackson Page 2 k. Do not look for consistency in Andrew Jackson: it isn't there. Jackson is still very controversial; debate over his life, career, and his era is still sharp and heated; his image is still evolving. (1) One of my problems in teaching him is that my view of Jackson reflects this inconsistency. I do not feel entirely secure myself in describing him. (2) Increasingly, I tend to see Jackson as a useful symbol for an era. He is easily the dominant figure in an era of giants; he is certainly a catalyst for some of the events most closely associated with Jacksonian democracy; however, other trends began before Jackson's presidency, and had little to do with him one way or the other. (3) He is neither a figurehead nor a puppet. He is a complex and on the whole, in my opinion, an admirable man. He may be used to symbolize a period of profound economic, political, and social change trending toward a broader definition and practice of democracy. II. The Elections of 1824 and 1828 A. The Election of 1824 forms the backdrop for Jackson's terms. B. In 1824, the Republicans fielded 5 candidates 1. William Crawford of Georgia, who was nominated by the party caucus. Crawford was a formidable opponent, but suffered a paralytic stroke during the campaign which put an abrupt end to his political career. 2. John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, son of John Adams, negotiator of the Treaty of Ghent, one of our most distinguished Secretaries of State, with the Adams-Onis Treaty and the Monroe Doctrine to his credit. 3. Henry Clay of Kentucky, enormously talented and ambitious, the sponsor of the American System, which aimed at a Western-Northern coalition by tariffs and internal improvements to build a balanced economy where the sections would be mutually supportive. 4. John C. Calhoun, who quickly decided that he had no chance for President and settles for Vice President in the expectation that it would be a stepping stone to the White House. 5. Andrew Jackson, who ran as the Hero of New Orleans. 6. The results were: a. Jackson: 99 electoral votes b. Adams: 84 electoral votes c. Crawford: 41 electoral votes d. Clay: 37 electoral votes 7. The election now is forced into the House of Representatives. a. Clay threw his support to Adams (1) Adams is a fellow nationalist

3 The Age of Jackson Page 3 (2) Jackson is a Western rival (3) as a former Federalist, Clay thought (correctly) that Adams would support the American System b. Clay's support wins the election for John Quincy Adams. 8. When Adams then named Henry Clay as Secretary of State (an office that often led to the White House), Jackson accuses Adams and Clay of a "a corrupt bargain." a. Jackson believed that he, as the leading vote-getter, should have been elected. He believed that Clay had cut a deal with Adams. That is not true. Clay was not, after all, an illogical choice. b. Jackson went home and began preparing for the election of C. The Election of This is the dirtiest campaign in U.S. history. 2. The candidates were Adams vs. Jackson. 3. The Jacksonians accused John Quincy Adams of: a. The "Corrupt Bargain" b. Gross waste and extravagance (he approved building a government observatory) c. Using public funds to purchase gambling devices (a chess set and a billiard table for the White House). d. Of attempting, while Ambassador to St. Petersburg, to procure a beautiful American virgin to sate the sinful lusts of the Czar. Considering Adams' Puritanical personality, a more ludicrous accusation would be difficult to imagine. 4. Andrew Jackson was accused of: a. Murder (a rather substantial accusation to level against a candidate) in the execution of deserters in 1814 and of British traders in Florida in This accusation produced the famous Coffin Handbill. (1) The first accusation is patently false. Jackson's discipline was harsh, but the men were in fact deserters in time of war. When Jackson threatened to hang deserters, he meant what he said. (2) The second has more merit, since Jackson had no authority to try and execute the subjects of a another country on territory of another. You would never convince Jackson nor most Westerners of that however. Jackson believed the men were inciting the Seminoles to raid Americans, and he dealt with them quite directly. b. Adultery. This was unfair, and cruel. It was also a ghastly political mistake for Henry Clay, whose creatures were behind the campaign. (1) When you read about the Cult of Domesticity, note that women were regarded as the guardians and arbiters of morality and virtue. This attack hoped to identify Jackson

4 The Age of Jackson Page 4 with barbarism by demonstrating his contempt for the central institution of civilization: marriage. (2) The issue was unfair. (a) (b) (c) (d) As a young man, Jackson met the pretty and vivacious Rachel Donelson Robards, who was caught in a disastrous marriage to Lewis Robards. Rachel was living with her father at the time, if memory serves me correctly. They fell in love. There is some interesting by-play to this. Robards had few if any virtues, and Jackson was enraged at his treatment of her, threatening him with bodily harm (involving a knife, as I recall). Robards accused him of adultery, which was certainly not true. Jackson and Rachel were correct in their relationship. Rachel sought a divorce, which had to be granted by the Virginia House of Burgesses, since she was married in Virginia although she now lived in Tennessee. Word reached them that the bill of divorce had been granted, and so Jackson and Rachel were married. Unfortunately, the situation was murkier. The House of Burgesses only granted an enabling bill, allowing Robards to sue for divorce in the courts. Robards, probably out of malice, took two years to sue for divorce; when he did, he sued on the grounds of Rachel's adultery, since she was living with Jackson. When news of this reached Jackson, he and Rachel quickly re-married. The scandal altered Rachel Jackson's personality. She became painfully shy, gained weight, and suffered poor health. Andrew Jackson loved Rachel Jackson very intensely and devotedly. He was always very protective of her, and especially, of her reputation. i) He fought a duel with a noted pistol shot, John Dickenson, over slurs against Rachel's good name. While wearing a loose coat, he coldly allowed the Dickenson to shoot first; he apparently missed, cried out, "My God, have I missed?" Jackson then killed Dickenson with a carefully aimed shot, rode home, and collapsed with a bullet in the lung. Truly, Jackson was a man of almost demonic willpower; a killer. Although technically guilty of adultery, Jackson and

5 The Age of Jackson Page 5 Rachel were morally not guilty, having acted in good faith. (e) Rachel Jackson was widely loved throughout the Cumberland Valley for her own sake. A sad and sometimes pathetic figure, she was known for kindness, charity, and generosity. She offended no one. The great tragedy of their marriage is that they had no children; Rachel tended to adopt her many nieces and nephews and raise them at The Hermitage. (3) It was a mistake. (a) The tactic enraged Jackson to the point where he had to be forcibly restrained from violence. His handlers argued that that was what his enemies wanted. (b) The custom of the day avoided mentioning women individually in the papers. This is a sharp break with usage. Instead of branding Rachel an adulteress, most Americans saw her as a martyr. The whole thing backfired. (c) Jackson never, never forgave Henry Clay. I don't blame him. (4) It was cruel. (a) The smear campaign was truly vicious. "Ought a convicted adulteress and her paramour husband be placed in the highest offices of this free and Christian land?" (b) The attacks made Rachel the issue, which I have always regarded as invalid; attack the candidate if you will, but leave his family alone. (c) The attacks opened old wounds in Rachel's psyche. The real sufferer was this kind and inoffensive woman who nothing more than to live in peace with her husband. 5. Jackson won a smashing victory. 6. There is a tragic note to end the tale. a. After the election but before the inauguration, Rachel showed signs of serious distress at the prospect of living in the White House as First Lady. Also, although Jackson had tried to shield her from the slanders, it appears that she was more aware than Jackson thought. She became noticeably depressed. b. On December 17, 1828, Rachel suffered a major heart attack. Jackson sat at her bedside continuously. On Dec. 22, she showed signs of greater strength, and Jackson was induced to lie down in a separate room. Rachel asked to me moved to her favorite rocking

6 The Age of Jackson Page 6 III. chair; there she suffered another heart attack and died. c. Jackson was emotionally devastated. He very nearly chose not be inaugurated (only an appeal to his fighting instincts induced him go to Washington). He and most others believed that Rachel had died of a broken heart over the slanders. Certainly, the election and the prospect of facing Washington society with her past were important contributors to her death. d. Rachel Jackson was buried on Dec. 24; 10,000 persons attended, or twice the population of Nashville. (James 172) e. Jackson grieved for her for the rest of his life. f. Jackson blamed Clay for his wife's death, and his hatred for Clay was implacable. "In the presence of this dear saint," he said at her funeral, "I can and do forgive all my enemies. But those vile wretches who have slandered her must look to God for mercy!" (James 174) Rise of the Common Man A. Jacksonians believed in equality of opportunity and they distrusted special privileges of all kinds.. 1. Robert Remini argues that Jacksonians equated privilege with aristocracy and tended to define Democracy as the removal of every political and economic barrier blocking progress of all citizens in their individual quest for personal freedom and happiness. B. Contrast with Jefferson: 1. Jefferson expected education to lift the masses 2. Jacksonians made mediocrity into a virtue 3. the Founding Fathers assumed that the "superior man" would always lead 4. The inexorable logic of democracy eliminated property qualifications for voting (led by Western states) make more offices elective. a. The Electoral College altered by being elected by the people instead f selected by the legislature by 1828(except for South Carolina and Delaware) b. This time period saw the final disestablilshment of the churches c. Free school movement and the beginning of adult education. d. Great increase in number of newspapers and a decrease in price e. Office holders begin to stress that they are representatives rather than leaders. f. There is a sharp increase in the percentage of the population voting. 5. Party politics heated up a. The election of 1828 stimulated them by forcing local leaders to make a national choice b. Parties develop bureaucracies c. Parties reward workers: "To the victor belong the spoils" William L. Marcy, New York Jacksonian.

7 The Age of Jackson Page 7 IV. Issues associated with Jacksonian Democracy A. Political Issues 1. Property requirements to vote are dropped a. Universal white manhood suffrage 2. Electoral college elected by the people rather than by the state legislatures. 3. Adoption of state nominating conventions in place of party caucuses 4. Demands for the secret ballot, reduction of the poll tax, and Sunset Laws, which would keep polls open long enough for the average worker to vote. 5. Spoils system (cf below) B. Social Issues 1. Disestablishment of the churches 2. Commonwealth v. Hunt: a Supreme Court case in Massachusetts, which declared the legitimacy of labor unions. Prior to this, labor unions had consistently been defined as a "conspiracy in restraint of trade" under English Common Law. The Justice who handed the decision down, Lemuel Shaw, war ironically a Federalist. But he ruled that "a combination could not be criminal unless the actual object of that combination were criminal. He then noted that 'We cannot perceive, that it is criminal for men to agree together to the exercise of their own acknowledged rights [freedom of association] in such a manner as best to subserve their own interests." (Schlesinger 340) 3. Agitation begins for a 10 hour wage law. 4. A process began by which legal scholars codified the common law. This is unspectacular, but by eliminating inconsistencies, it made the law more democratic by making it more equally applicable to everyone. C. Economic Issues 1. Introduction of general incorporation laws. These made it possible for anyone to establish a corporation simply by fulfilling some routine legal procedures instead of the traditional requirement of a special act of the legislature. Prior to this, creation of a corporation meant a special privilege granted to limited individuals; now, the advantages of the corporation are available to anyone. The first is passed in 1837 in Connecticut. New York was aggressive in promoting this reform. 2. The Charles River Bridge: This is a step toward laissez faire. The substantive issue involved a dispute between the Charles River Bridge, a toll bridge, among whose investors were Harvard College, and Warren Bridge, a free bridge. The case was argued in 1831 without a decision, and again in 1837, with Daniel Webster arguing for the Charles River Bridge Company. Marshall's death in 1835 interrupted the proceedings and probably the decision as well. This was the first major decision handed down by new Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. a. "The question was whether the legislature of Massachusetts, by authorizing the construction of a free bridge over the Charles River at a point where it would interfere with the profits of a privately

8 The Age of Jackson Page 8 owned toll bridge, had impaired the contract of the toll-bridge corporation" (Schlesinger 324) b. There can be little doubt that John Marshall would have ruled in favor of the toll bridge, following the precedent of Dartmouth College v. Woodward. Marshall consistently upheld the sanctity of contracts as one of the pillars of Federalist jurisprudence. But Marshall died before a decision could be handed down. The case was reargued. c. Taney ruled in favor of the community, as represented by the Warren Bridge. When the interests of the community clashed with the interests of a corporation, the corporation must yield. "[A]n act of incorporation--particularly in the case of corporations which perform essential public service, such as constructing roads and bridges--could 'never be considered as having been granted for the exclusive benefit of the corporators. Certain privileges are given them, in order to obtain a public convenience; and the interest of the public must, I presume, always be regarded as the main object of every charter for a toll-bridge or a turnpike road." (Schlesinger 325) d. To Jackson, he wrote, "It would be against the spirit of our free institutions, by which equal rights are intended to be secured to all, to grant peculiar franchises and privileges to a body of individuals merely for the purpose of enabling them more conveniently and effectually to advance their own private interests." (Schlesinger 325) e. The case advances laissez faire because the Charles River company had received a special charter, and were attempting to maintain their monopoly. Taney's decision enhanced competition. The community's best interest was served by increased competition. f. "Charters of incorporation... could not be construed inferentially against the community. 'The object and end of all government' Taney declared in words central to an understanding of Jacksonian democracy, 'is to promote the happiness and prosperity of the community by which it is established, and it can never be assumed, that the government intended to diminish its power of accomplishing the end for which it was created.'.... But what of the rights of property? 'While the rights of private property are sacredly guarded,' rejoined Taney, 'we must not forget that the community also have rights." (Schlesinger 325-6) D. New York Variations 1. New York politics produced the radical Locofocos, named for the newly invented self-striking match. They held a rally at Tammany Hall in 1835, but the party machine tried to drive them out by cutting off the gas lamps. The Locofocos came prepared with candles and locofoco matches. The Locofocos called for a. The suppression of paper money

9 The Age of Jackson Page 9 b. Curtailment of banking privileges c. Protection of labor unions. 2. A later variation was the Barnburners, formed in the 1840s under the leadership of Martin van Buren. They were named after the Dutch farmer who resolved to rid his barn of rats by burning it down. They: a. Opposed a further expansion of canals b. A limitation on state debt (those two are tightly related) c. A direct state tax d. Favored the Wilmot Proviso. The Barnburners united with the Free Soilers in 1848 over this issue. V. Spoils System A. This is one of the most noticeable characteristics of Jacksonian Democracy, and one with which Jackson himself is deeply involved. B. Jackson intended to clean house in offices. 1. His policy seemed more dramatic because there had not been a recent shift. 2. John Quincy Adams had refused to use patronage. 3. Jackson's removals were not unjustified! Some were lazy, some were thieves. 4. "No mn has any more intrinsic right to official station than another. [Those who hold government jobs for a long time] are apt to acquire a habit of looking with indifference upon the public interests....." 5. Rotating offices eliminated the danger of entrenched bureaucracy. 6. "The duties of all public offices are... so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance." a. Jackson's view was largely true in the simpler world of 1828, especially when one looks at the types of federal jobs which Jackson filled. b. There is a contempt for expert knowledge that enters the US mainstream until the Progressive era. c. There is a belief that the Common Man can do anything that also lasts until the Progressive era. C. Jackson's Actual Practice 1. He left "middle management" alone. Most appointees were low level jobs 2. Did not disrupt the War and Navy Departments, which involved specialization. 3. Not only did he generally fire men who were lazy, incompetent, or thieves, but he appointed men who were generally capable. 4. In the first 18 months of his terms, he actually replaced only 919 of a total of federal jobs. 5. Over both terms, he dismissed just 10% of all federal officeholders. VI. Jackson as President for All the People A. He was a very strong national leader.

10 The Age of Jackson Page 10 VII. 1. He had the good common sense to make government workers dependent upon him. 2. Some historians have tried to portray Jackson as a kind of puppet for his key supporters, rather as some historians try to picture Washington as the puppet of Alexander Hamilton. Both are false. The lines of power ran through Jackson's office. No one made important decisions without Jackson's tacit approval. B. Kitchen Cabinet 1. This is a group of informal advisers, whom Jackson allegedly brought in through the kitchen entrance. His opponents hated them because they had no control over who advised the President. 2. Unless and until the member received a federal appointment, their activities were limited to giving advice. 3. The Kitchen Cabinet included: a. Martin Van Buren, originally the Secretary of State. b. Roger B. Taney, originally the Attorney General, later Secretary of the Treasury, and finally Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. c. Amos Kendall, a newspaperman, perhaps the most talented and feared of them all. Brilliant secretive, he was eventually appointed head of the Patent Office, where he saw Samuel F. B. Morse's patent application for the telegraph. After he left office, he invested heavily in setting up Morse's Western Union telegraph company. He ended up a very wealthy man indeed, and was attacked--to his shock and astonishment--as a monopolist. d. William B. Laws an associate from Tennessee. e. Isaac Hill, a newspaperman. f. Frances Blair a newspaperman from Maryland. Members of his family became extremely influential in Missouri. The Blair's were staunch Jacksonians to the bitter end, and then staunch supporters of the Union during the Civil War. g. Notice the importance of media figures in his Kitchen Cabinet. Jacksonians understood better than their opponents how to mobilize public opinion, an obviously critical function in a democracy. C. Jackson regarded himself as the direct representative of all of the people--the modern conception of the Presidency. 1. As a result, he was the first President to veto a bill that he thought was inexpedient rather than unconstitutional. His use of the veto power helps to transform the office. 2. Jackson also first employed the pocket veto. 3. His success is due primarily to his dominant personality. Major Issues of the Jackson Presidency

11 The Age of Jackson Page 11 VIII. A. There are three great issues while Jackson is President. 1. Indian Removal 2. Nullification Crisis 3. The Bank War Indian Removal A. Indian removal is receiving a great deal of attention from historians now, and has been a frequent feature of the AP examination: the only document ever duplicated on two different DBQs was a painting on the Trail of Tears. The reason for this is that it is a "politically correct" subject, focussing as it does on the cruel mistreatment of indigenous Americans--a non-white minority group--by dead white Americans. Politically, it is a "hot" topic. 1. Of the three issues of Jackson's Presidency, this is the least important to contemporaries, and the least important of the three in the general sweep of American history. 2. The tragedy of Indian Removal was not discovered recently, although some historians seem to think so. 3. Indian Removal seems, at first glance, to run counter to the general democratic trend of the era. Actually, it is representative of that democracy. Jackson's policies were fully supported by the overwhelming bulk of the American people. 4. Indian Removal tells us much about the weaknesses of mass democracy as well as its strengths. It tells us something about cultural prejudice and racism. As an element in U.S. history, racism has by no means been limited to prejudice against African Americans. It is more or less accurate to say that it has been leveled by Americans of Northern European Protestant stock against nearly everyone who isn't Northern European. The Age of Jackson will see the emergence of racist sentiments towards Latin Americans as well as African Americans and Indians. 5. Indian Removal was a tragedy, was cruel, was illegal, and was unjust. a. Indian Removal was not an aberration, nor the culmination of Indian policies. It is one chapter in a terrible history. For me, the most significant element is that the policy was, in fact, popular. b. "it is interesting to note that until political democracy was achieved in America--the creation of a mass electorate, the rise of the common man, the respect for the popular will, the notion that political leaders must serve as representatives of the people and the rest--not until then did the country get rid of its Indians." (Remini The Revolutionary Age of Andrew Jackson 106) B. Precursors 1. For most Americans, the myth of the Noble Savage was a fantasy. The only policies were "theft and... homicide." (107) 2. The Founding Father's attitude was "that Indians were not inferior to white men. In their view, these 'noble savages' simply existed on a lower stage of

12 The Age of Jackson Page 12 development and one day would catch up to modern society--provided the white man's civilization was brought to them. In exchange for land the Indians would receive the blessings of Western civilization. What could be fairer than that?" (107) 3. Washington's policy was to encourage the Indians to adopt the white man's sedentary life. 4. Jefferson did not change that policy. " 'Let me entreat you on the lands now given you to begin every man a farm, let him enclose it, cultivate it, build a warm house on it, and when he dies let it belong to his wife and children after him.' " he told Indians. (107) He ignored Indian agriculture. "If the Indians would adopt the white men's ways, Jefferson said to them, then 'you will unite yourselves with us, and we shall all be Americans. You will mix with us by marriage. Your blood will run in our veins and will spread with us over this great island.' But if the Indians refused to accept civilization, what then? Why then they were doomed: 'We shall be obliged to drive them,' said Jefferson, 'with the beasts of the forest into the Stony [Rocky] Mountains.' " (108) 5. By the administration of John Quincy Adams, the ideal of assimilation had largely been abandoned, and no one included Indians within the idea of equality. Henry Clay, who significantly is also a Westerner, wrote " 'it was impossible to civilize Indians. It was not in their nature. They were essentially inferior to the Anglo-Saxon race... and their disappearance from the human family will be no great loss to the world.' " (108) C. Jackson's Attitudes 1. Jackson's relationship to Indians has undergone quite a lot of scrutiny. It is not a simple one. 2. Jackson certainly took a paternalistic attitude toward Indians. Michael Robin wrote a psychohistorical biography elucidating this subject in Freudian- Jungian terms, producing a lot of psychodrivel in the process. He fails to understand that Jackson was equally paternalistic toward his soldiers, his family, and his political associates. (Remini The Legacy of Andrew Jackson 46) Robin also does not understand the nuances of Indian metaphor, applying Freudian significance to the language patterns of peoples who mercifully had not read Freud. The assumption that Indians used terms such as "Father" "brothers" or "women" in the same way that Europeans would has been subjected to scathing criticism by Francis Jennings in The Ambiguous Iroquois Empire Jackson did not intend genocide, whatever the effect of his policies may have been (and "genocide" is a term that is too loosely thrown around in any case). He was not intentionally cruel. a. It should be remembered that, after the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, when he broke the power of the Creek Indians, he picked up an Indian baby, whose mother had been killed, adopted the child and raised

13 The Age of Jackson Page 13 him. This is not the act of a man filled with racial hatred. 4. Jackson had extensive experience with Indians as an Indian fighter (the Indians called him Sharp Knife) and negotiator. Those contacts colored his views, for better or worse. 5. Jackson is a nationalist, and he was determined in the 1810s and 1820s that the Southwestern frontier be cleared of all enemies, active or potential--his campaign in the War of 1812 and in Florida attest to that. This meant that the Five Civilized Tribes, the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole, must be curbed or removed. 6. In 1817, he wrote President Monroe, " 'I have long viewed treaties with the Indians an absurdity.... Indians are the subjects of the United States, inhabiting its territory and acknowledging its sovereignty, then is it not absurd for the sovereign to negotiate by the treaty with the subject.... I would therefore contend that the Legislature of the Union have the right to prescribe their bounds at pleasure, and provide for their wants and whenever the safety, interest or defense of the country should render it necessary for the Government of the United States to occupy and possess any part of the Territory, used by them for hunting, that they have the right to take it and dispose of it.' (48) 7. By the time he became President, Jackson had become obsessed with the need to remove the Indians from the vicinity of white settlements. He had convinced himself that only such removal would preserve the Indians as distinct nations. Removal was to the benefit of the U.S., the whites, and the Indians themselves. D. Other Incidents 1. Black Hawk War 1832 a. An attempt by the starving Sac and Fox Indians to recross to the east bank of the Mississippi to put in a corn crop is thwarted by the militia of several states. The Indians are harried mercilessly. E. The Cherokee 1. The Cherokee demonstrate without question that Clay's attitude was wrong. They had assimilated to a very high degree. 2. The Cherokee had learned much from the Europeans, as a tour through the living village in Cherokee, NC will show. The evolution of Cherokee architecture alone shows how the Cherokee adapted their homes to European techniques. By 1830, home of the average Cherokee was indistinguishable from that of a white settler. 3. The Cherokee Sequoyah invented an alphabet for the difficult Cherokee language. By the 1830s, many Cherokee were literate in their own language. a. The Cherokee had their own newspaper, had a written constitution, and had even taken the extraordinary step of changing their internal tribal structure from septs (clans) to contiguous regions. b. Cherokee engaged in all of the activities one would expect from

14 The Age of Jackson Page 14 frontier Georgia or North Carolina communities. Some Cherokee lived in fine mansions, planting cotton and holding African slaves. 4. In 1827, before Jackson became President, the Cherokee attempted to establish themselves as a state within a state--an action sure to bring down the wrath of Georgia legislatures (joined by Alabama and Mississippi in trying to seize control over Indian lands within their states). 5. The discovery of gold on Cherokee land intensified white pressure dramatically. a. It turned out that there never was much gold, but by then it was too late for the Cherokee. b. Farther west, the Indians inhabited prime cotton land, and the states wanted it badly. 6. In 1828, the state of Georgia declared all Cherokee laws to be void. 7. In Jackson's First Inaugural Address, he made it clear that he would never intervene against the states on the issue--he agreed that the state's had authority on the issue. He warned the Indians that they must either submit to the state or remove to the west. 8. The Indian Removal Act was passed on May 28, It provided for the replacement of lands east of the Misssippi with land west of the Mississippi. a. The bill promised that the Indians would not be removed against their will. No one paid any attention to that. b. Compensation was more or less a farce. 100 million acres of Indian land was exchanged for 32 million acres and $68 million in federal costs. (66-7) c. The treaty promised "perpetual title" to the new land. The phrase was "as long as the grass shall grow and the rivers flow." We did not mean that either. 9. The Choctaw were pressured to leave in three waves in 1831, 1832, and "Unfortunately, the actual removal was delayed until late fall and produced avoidable horrors that resulted in many Choctaw deaths. The entire operation was marked by inefficiency, confusion, stupidity, and criminal disregard of the rights of the Indians." (67) 10. The Cherokee and Creek nations, foolishly believing that they had assimilated enough to actually sue in court for their rights, went to court. a. Jackson was very angry by this action. b. Cherokee Nation v. Georgia 1831: John Marshall rejected the Cherokee's argument that they were a sovereign nation and also Jackson's argument that they were subject to state law. The Indians were "dependent domestic nations" subject to the federal government, not the states. (This is why bingo is legal on the Miccosukee reservation; also why casinos there will be legal, despite the opinion of Gov. Chiles) (69) 11. The Cherokee now refuse to submit to Georgia law. Georgia, in turn, bans

15 The Age of Jackson Page 15 white men from entering Indian land without a license from the state. The target was a missionary, Samuel A. Worcester, who encouraged the Indians to stand up for their rights. Eleven missionaries were arrested, two, including Worcester, were sentenced to 4 years in prison. a. Worcester v. Georgia, Marshall's last important decision, in 1832, ruled that all laws passed by Georgia regarding the Cherokee were unconstitutional. Unfortunately, the Court simply invalidated the state law, and did not make any orders that required federal implementation. They did not summon the state officials for contempt or issue an order of habeas corpus. (70) b. Andrew Jackson is alleged by Horace Greeley to have said, "John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it!" Actually, he may not have said that at all, since there was nothing specifically to enforce, and Jackson certainly did not go out of his way to push the issue. c. Remini notes two relevant items: (1) Jackson could probably have induced the Georgia legislature to change its position, had he wished. (2) The time period during which this controversy developed coincided with the Nullification Crisis, which certainly occupied his chief attention. Jackson certainly acted with caution to prevent Georgia from joining South Carolina. 12. Jackson now moves to secure a treaty with the Cherokee. He successfully splits the tribe into the Treaty Party (a definite minority) and the majority, led by Chief John Ross. Jackson refused to deal with Ross, instead dealing with the Treaty Party (who had no authority to speak for the tribe.) He secures the Treaty of New Echota, for removal of the Cherokee from North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama in late The vast majority of the tribe boycotted the meeting at New Echota. Tribal ratification at New Echota was a transparent fraud. a. Chief John Ross now tried to block the treaty by appealing to Jackson's opponents in the Senate. (Senate opposition was hypocritical, as the fact that Henry Clay led the attack will demonstrate; Whig Indian policies are no different; the Whig President, William Henry Harrison, became famous for Tippecanoe and his policies as governor of Ohio was aggressively expansionist). The treaty is ratified in May 1836 by a vote of (Remini Legacy 77) 13. Ross refused to accept the vote: "'We will not recognize the forgery palmed off upon the world as a treaty by a knot of unauthorized individuals, nor stir one step with reference to that false paper.' The treaty gave the Cherokees two years to prepare themselves to leave their homeland." (78) 14. When the deadline came, the federal government rounded the Cherokee up

16 The Age of Jackson Page 16 IX. and moved them. Homes were looted and burned. Meaningful preparations for travel were not made nor allowed. Little provision was made to see to it that the Indians had shelter or food on their 800 mile trek. The trip was made in mid-winter. a. 15,000 Cherokee were moved; 4,000 died on the Trail of Tears. b. Overall, 60,000 Indians were removed, and 15,000 died--a mortality rate of 25%. (Remini Revolutionary Age 119) F. Other Removals 1. The Creek War of 1836 resulted in the movement of 1,600 Creek, many in chains, without even the pretense of a treaty. 2. The Second Seminole War 1835 to a. It cost the lives of 1,500 soldiers of 10,000 and cost $10 million. Resistance was led by Osceola. The Seminoles were allied with maroon societies, who provided a large portion of the force that wiped out Maj. Francis Dade. One of the motivations for the war was to deny runaway slaves the haven of the Florida wilderness. Typically, Osceola was captured by treachery under a flag of truce. The bulk of the Seminoles were eventually suppressed, with a portion retreating further into the wilderness. As far as I know, the Seminoles have never actually signed a peace treaty. The Nullification Crisis A. For me, personally, since the Civil War (causes and course) is the center of my interest in U.S. history, the Nullification Crisis has always tended to be the most important issue Jackson faced. For his contemporaries, that is probably not the case, and I most likely over rate the issue in the course of the events leading to the Civil War. B. A complete discussion of the Nullification Crisis has tangled threads, beginning with the Tariff of Abominations with a digression into Washington social life on the way to confrontation. As a statesman, the Nullification Crisis showed Jackson at his best. C. The Tariff of Abominations (1828) 1. Woolen manufacturers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island complained of British dumping and asked for relief. 2. Western interests (led by Clay) amended the bill with high rates for flax, hemp, lead, molasses and raw wool (which hurt the wool manufacturers, but they accepted it in order to get the higher rates) 3. The South botched their political maneuvering to block the tariff, and the bill passes. They voted against the amendments, thinking that the North would then reject the entire bill since the tariff on raw wool would have hurt the manufacturers. They were wrong. 4. There was a strong element of politics in this. The Jacksonians hoped to put J.Q. Adams in a position where he would lose votes whether he signed it or not. John Randolph acidly noted that the bill pertained to "manufactures of

17 The Age of Jackson Page 17 no sort or kind but the manufacture of a president of the United States." 5. John C. Calhoun had allied with Jackson, in the expectation that he would eventually become President, but he warned that the Tariff would impoverish the South. a. South Carolina was in economic crisis between 1819 and Its soil was less fertile than it had been and was less profitable than cotton lands farther west. Its population was stagnating. High tariffs certainly raised the costs to the planters (or any other farmer) and certainly transferred part of the cost of industrialization to the farmer for the benefit of the Northern manufacturer. In this respect, Calhoun is correct, and this is a theme we will return to during the 1870s to the 1890s. 6. Calhoun is facing the great crisis of his intellectual life. Up to now, he had been a nationalist. Now, he decides that his first loyalty is to his beloved South, and its institutions, including slavery. He emerges as the dominant spokesman for the South. a. Calhoun anonymously publishes his South Carolina Exposition and Protest, in which he enunciates the doctrine of nullification latent in Madison and Jefferson's Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. Elaborating on the doctrine of the Constitution as a compact of sovereign states, he argued that the Supreme Court was not a judge of federal powers, using the same argument Jefferson did. He adds a fixed procedure: the people of a state could nullify--that is, declare null and void--a federal law in its operation within that state by special state convention. If 3/4s of the states ratified an amendment specifically giving the federal government the power in question, then the nullifying state must either submit, or secede from the Union. The path to Ft. Sumter has been set. (1) Calhoun always wished to preserve the Union, but only on his terms. He always saw nullification as a means to prevent the operation of a policy short of secession. By his death, Calhoun had become one of the moderate Southern spokesmen, which is quite a commentary on radicalization. b. He does not press the issue yet, because he believes that Jackson, when he becomes President, will be sympathetic, since Jackson is a Southern (born in South Carolina), a planter, and a large slave holder. It will be a terrible shock for him to discover that Jackson was a nationalist first and a slaveholder second. D. The Peggy Eaton Affair 1. Personal relations between Jackson and Calhoun deteriorated for two reasons. Since history is sometimes made because men dislike each other, or history is sometimes influenced for those reasons, it is worth mentioning the causes. 2. The first issue is trivial, but became a cause celebre. It also reveals

18 The Age of Jackson Page 18 something of Jackson's character. That is the scandal involving Peggy O'Neale Timberlake Eaton. 3. Peggy O'Neale was the daughter of a well-known Washington tavern keeper. She was petite, vivacious, intelligent, charming, and voluptuous--"the kind of woman whom men admire and women dislike." (Current 292) By the age of 15, she had an impressive string of romantic attachments (one duel, one suicide, one attempted elopement, one planned elopement, and one distracted elderly general. (James 69) The next year, in 1816, she married John Timberlake, a purser in the Navy, on leave owing to discrepancies in his books. Peggy's father sank about $15,000 into a business for Timberlake, all of which was lost. Timberlake must have been a handsome brute, but crooked, stupid, lazy or some combination thereof. 4. Enter Sen. John Henry Eaton of Tennessee, a very close personal friend of Jackson's. Eaton was 28, a recent widower, and wealthy. As was the custom in Washington DC, he boarded when Congress was in session. (The story of these "messes" as the groups of Senators, Congressmen, officials who boarded together is one of the unheralded factors in U.S. politics. Talk about opportunities for cutting deals! Washington DC is a very small society, and the climate was so unhealthy that a wise man would not bring his wife and children to the city. 5. Eaton helped O'Neale out financially, and also arranged for the inconvenient Timberlake to get a spell of sea duty. He then paid quite notable attentions to Mrs. Timberlake--so much so that Mrs. Monroe, the First Lady, pointedly excluded Peggy from Washington gatherings, including those to which she was entitled to go. 6. At some point in the next few years, O'Neale's business failed from Timberlake's losses. Eaton bought his tavern, re-sold it, and established O'Neale in a smaller tavern. Timberlake returned from sea duty, unfortunately, his books still had discrepancies, and his future prospects in the Navy were dim. Eaton posted a $10,000 bond to secure him a post on the USS Constitution for a 4 year cruise. This would have been about late 1823 or early Jackson first met Peggy in late 1823, when he arrived in Washington and boarded with Eaton and a young Congressman and protege. Peggy charmed Jackson. a. Lest anyone have evil thoughts, forget them. Recall Jackson's intense love and devotion to his wife Rachel, (you won't understand his reaction to the affair if you forget Rachel) and his love of young people. Jackson was lonely and ill, and Peggy was like a breath of fresh air. We will see that he adopted a decidedly paternal attitude. b. Sometime during this season, according to Marquis James (my source for this detail), the Congressman, encouraged by loose talk among members of Congress regarding Peggy, attempted to ascertain their

19 The Age of Jackson Page 19 truth or falsity in person. Peggy turned him away with a fire shovel, and took the issue up with Jackson, who tongue lashed the miscreant. (James 69-71) c. By this point, it is worth noting that Peggy O'Neale Timberlake was widely regarded in Washington as a woman of easy virtue who was Sen. John Eaton's mistress. There is no political significance to this yet. 8. John Timberlake died on shipboard in 1828, officially of pulmonary disease, rumored among shipmates from drink, and in Washington of suicide that his wife was living in sin with Eaton. (James 202) (If he committed suicide, I suspect his books were off again). 9. Eaton went to Jackson and told him that he was afraid for Peggy's reputation (a little late for that) and asked for advice. Jackson bluntly told him to marry Peggy and stop the gossip. Eaton seems to have tried to delay the wedding until after the inauguration, but Jackson wrote from the Hermitage to peremptorily demand the marriage or Eaton should change his lodgings. On Jan , John Eaton married Peggy O'Neale Timberlake. It did not stop the gossip. 10. Andrew Jackson, newly arrived in Washington and still grieving deeply from the death of his wife (he never recovered emotionally), wanted one close personal friend in the Cabinet and named Eaton Secretary of War. 11. The Dictionary of American History regards the ensuring flap as primarily political rather than moral. (183) That judgement is endorsed by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (55) Certainly it developed pretty strong political aspects as Calhoun and Van Buren duelled for power. Schlesinger is not to be dismissed lightly. However, I am inclined to disagree, and ascribe better motives (at least fundamentally) to Calhoun. Wyatt-Brown and Catherine Clinton both have described in detail the sexual mores of respectable Southern women, and the sanctions applied against women who lost their virtue. Peggy Eaton got off easily. The fact is that the issue was driven from this point on not by the men, but by the Cabinet wives, particularly Floride Calhoun. Mrs. Calhoun's behavior however was fully in accord with the social standards to which she had been raised, supported by Mrs. Monroe's previous exclusion of Peggy, buttressed by a wealth of popular literature such as William Paley's Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy, supported by most of the wives of Washington society (this includes by the way, Mrs. Emily Donelson, Rachel's niece, and cousin and wife to Andrew Jackson Donelson, Rachel's nephew whom Jackson raised as a son. Emily was Jackson's First Lady, and certainly loved him very much; furthermore, she had the same motives to reject base slander against Peggy that Jackson had). John Eaton had sinned by flaunting his mistress; he had tried to introduce her into polite society. Western values were looser (most Westerners would not have cared so long as he had married her), but even they could be strained

20 The Age of Jackson Page 20 (another Tennessean, Richard Johnson, a future Vice President, offended society when he tried to introduce his daughters by his mulatto mistress (or common law wife, depending upon one's point of view, since he lived with her on a farm he had established her at) into society. Calhoun could not have changed Floride's mind, and in any event, he believed unquestioningly that women were the final "arbiters of social respectability" (Peterson 183) (which is one side of the coin of the Cult of Domesticity). 12. The wive of most of the Cabinet refused to receive Peggy Eaton, or associate with her at all. 13. Peggy was stung and hurt. Jackson went out of his way to express support. Calhoun felt obliged to stand by his wife. Most of the Cabinet wives stood adamant. Martin Van Buren, who was widowed and without daughters, paid marked attention to Peggy Eaton (his son was also paying court to Emily's young cousin, who was living in the White House; hmmmm. The plot thickens.) A friend, Rev. Ezra Stiles, warned Jackson with stories of Peggy's easy virtue. Jackson brushed them aside, demanding documentary proof. He finally called a Cabinet meeting to discuss the issue (!!!) and concluded that "she is as chaste as a virgin." Jackson believed (as does Robert V. Remini) that Calhoun was trying to achieve a Cabinet reorganization that would eliminate Van Buren supporters and strengthen his own supporters. Finally, in 1831, Jackson did reorganize his cabinet completely. It was really a triumph for Van Buren. Van Buren in fact suggested that he resign from the cabinet in order to provoke aa general reorganization that would eliminate Calhoun's friends. He received the Ambassadorship to Great Britain, gained a great deal of influence, and positioned himself to become Jackson's heir. (Calhoun struck back; when Jackson submitted Van Buren's name for confirmation, Calhoun contrived for the vote in the Senate to end in a tie, thus enabling him to cast the decisive vote against him. " 'It will kill him, sir, kill him dead,' the Vice President exulted. 'He will never kick, sir, never kick.' " (Schlesinger 55) But now Van Buren could return to the U.S. in order to be on hand to become Vice President in 1832) Eaton was appointed to Madrid, where Spanish society did not care about Peggy's past. a. Why did Jackson act the way he did? He certainly accepted the same sexual mores that Calhoun did. The answer is the vicious attacks on Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson. To Jackson, the gossip about Peggy was exactly the same thing that had happened to Rachel.--and Jackson with justice blamed those attacks for her death after the election. He came to Washington a deeply grieving man. There is no hypocrisy in his defense of her. He had never seen evidence himself of impropriety, and he flatly refused to believe the gossip (he heard a lot of it). For Jackson, a woman who was being defamed must be defended. E. The Webster-Hayne Debates introduce the substantive issue that divided Jackson