THE AMERICAN JOURNEY A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES Brief Sixth Edition Chapter 10 The Jacksonian Era 1824-1845
The Jacksonian Era 1824-1845 The Egalitarian Impulse Jackson s Presidency Van Buren and Hard Times The Rise of the Whig Party The Whigs in Power Conclusion
This early nineteenth-century painting of a polling place in Philadelphia illustrates the growing involvement of ordinary Americans in politics.
Learning Objectives What factors contributed to the democratization of American politics and religion in the early nineteenth century? How did the Jacksonian Democrats capitalize on the new mass politics? What challenges did Van Buren face during his presidency? What was the basis of Whig popularity?
Learning Objectives (cont'd) What did they claim to stand for? Why was William Henry Harrison s death such a blow to the Whig agenda?
The Egalitarian Impulse
The Extension of White Male Democracy Individual states decided who could vote and many newly admitted states eliminated property qualifications as did older eastern states. Only Rhode Island, Virginia, and Louisiana did not have universal white male suffrage by the end of the 1820s.
The Extension of White Male Democracy (cont'd) Suffrage reform was part of a general democratization of state government structures and procedures. The growing demand that all white men be treated equally helped stimulate the democratic reforms. Expansion of white male political opportunities was paralleled by the curbing of rights for free black and women.
MAP 10 1 Methods of Electing Presidential Electors, 1800 and 1824
The Popular Religious Revolt Between 1800 and 1840, the Second Great Awakening transformed the religious landscape of America. Baptists and Methodists led the religious revival that promoted evangelical religion that supported democracy by encouraging organizational forms that provided a voice to popular culture.
The Popular Religious Revolt (cont d) Evangelical Christianity appealed strongly to women and African Americans but race and gender limited access to positions of power. Second Great Awakening - Series of religious revivals in the first half of the nineteenth century characterized by great emotionalism in large public meetings.
The Second Great Awakening originated on the frontier.
The Rise of the Jacksonians The new Democratic Party formed between 1824 and 1828 had the perfect candidate in Andrew Jackson. Jackson s rise to prominence from poor origins made him a good symbol of the democratic ideas of the 1820s. Jackson was the antielitist people s champion while John Quincy Adams seemed largely out of step with the times.
The Rise of the Jacksonians (cont'd) Martin Van Buren was a new breed of politician who developed strong political organizations based on discipline and strict adherence to party policies. Jackson won a landslide victory in the 1828 presidential election.
The Rise of the Jacksonians (cont'd) Democratic Party - Political party formed in the 1820s under the leadership of Andrew Jackson; favored states rights and a limited role for the federal government, especially in economic affairs. Albany Regency - Popular name after 1820 for the state political machine in New York headed by Martin Van Buren.
MAP 10 2 The Election of 1828
This bust portrait of Jackson in uniform, issued as print during the 1832 presidential race, invokes his military image and especially his victory at New Orleans in 1815.
This bust portrait of Jackson in uniform, issued as print during the 1832 presidential race, invokes his military image and especially his victory at New Orleans in 1815.
Jackson s Presidency
Jackson s Appeal Ordinary Americans identified with Jackson and he convinced them that he was using his office to enforce their will. Jackson attacked special privilege by reforming the federal bureaucracy. These reforms had more style than substance and opened the way for the spoils system.
Jackson s Appeal (cont'd) Jackson opposed Henry Clay s American system, vetoing the Maysville Road Bill. Spoils system - The awarding of government jobs to party loyalists.
This cartoon depicts the infighting among Jackson s informal circle of advisers known as the Kitchen Cabinet.
Indian Removal Native Americans held land east of the Mississippi River that white men wanted, especially in the South where the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaws, and Seminoles controlled large areas. In 1828, the Georgia state legislature placed the Cherokee under state jurisdiction, denying the Native American legal rights.
Indian Removal (cont'd) Congress passed the Indian Removal Act on Jackson s recommendation that opened a legal battle that culminated in Jackson ignoring a Supreme Court decision and the removal of Native Americans east of the Mississippi River.
Indian Removal (cont'd) Indian Removal Act - Legislation passed by Congress in 1830 that provided funds for removing and resettling eastern Indians in the West. It granted the president the authority to use force if necessary. Trail of Tears - The forced march in 1838 of the Cherokee Indians from their homelands in Georgia to the Indian Territory in the West; thousands of Cherokees died along the way.
Indian Removal (cont'd) Black Hawk s War - Short 1832 war in which federal troops and Illinois militia units defeated the Sauk and Fox Indians led by Black Hawk.
MAP 10 3 Indian Removals
Sequoyah, a Cherokee scholar, developed a written table of syllables for the Cherokee language that enabled his people to publish a tribal newspaper in both Cherokee and English.
The Trail of Tears stretched 1,200 miles
The Nullification Crisis The tariff issue precipitated the nullification crisis, the most serious sectional dispute since the Missouri Compromise. Southerners denounced the protective measures in the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832. The most strident protests came from South Carolina lowcountry planters who called themselves nullifiers. John Calhoun was their leader.
The Nullification Crisis (cont'd) An 1832 South Carolina convention nullified the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 leading Jackson to push the Force Bill through Congress that authorized military force against nullifiers.
The Nullification Crisis (cont'd) The compromise Tariff of 1833 eased tensions. Nullification crisis - Sectional crisis in the early 1830s in which a states rights party in South Carolina attempted to nullify federal law.
The Bank War The Bank War broke out in 1832 when Jackson vetoed an early rechartering of the Bank of the United States. Like most westerners, Jackson mistrusted banks because of their unreliability. The business community and eastern elites attacked the bank veto. The Bank became an issue in the 1832 election which Jackson won handily over Clay.
The Bank War (cont'd) Jackson moved to destroy the bank by removing federal deposits. During Jackson s second term, land speculation reached a frenzy and when the bubble burst, Democrats were criticized for their economic policies. Bank War - The political struggle between President Andrew Jackson and the supporters of the Second Bank of the United States.
This Democratic cartoon portrays Jackson defending the people against the Bank of the United States.
In hard times bankers are often the target of the public s anger.
Van Buren and Hard Times
Van Buren and Hard Times Facing a sharp economic downturn, Van Buren appeared indecisive and unwilling to advance a bold program. He also awkwardly straddled the divisive issue of slavery and failed to offer a compelling vision of his presidency. Abolitionist movement - A radical antislavery crusade committed to the immediate end of slavery that emerged in the three decades before the Civil War.
The Panic of 1837 Martin Van Buren s presidency opened with a financial panic that helped send the economy into a dive that eventually became a severe depression. Numerous bankruptcies, the drying up of investment capital, stagnating business, and unemployment rocked the nation.
FIGURE 10 1 Cotton Prices and the Value of Federal Land Sales in Five Southern States, 1825 1845
This Whig cartoon blaming Jackson for the Panic of 1837 introduced the donkey as the symbol of the Democratic Party.
The Independent Treasury The Whig party was emerging in the late 1830s. They criticized Jackson s policies, including the Specie Circular of 1836. To curb government intrusion in banking, the Independent Treasury System was established in 1840 but was largely a political move.
The Independent Treasury (cont d) Whig Party - Political party, formed in the mid-1830s in opposition to the Jacksonian Democrats, that favored a strong role for the national government in promoting economic growth. Specie Circular - Proclamation issued by President Andrew Jackson in 1836 stipulating that only gold or silver could be used as payment for public land.
The Independent Treasury (cont d) Independent Treasury System - Fiscal arrangement first instituted by President Martin Van Buren in which the federal government kept its money in regional vaults ( pet banks ) and transacted its business entirely in hard money.
Uproar over Slavery Led by William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionists stepped up their attacks on slavery. Beginning in 1835, hundreds of antislavery petitions flooded Congress, most calling for the abolition of slavery in Washington, D.C.
Uproar over Slavery (cont d) Southerners pushed through the gag rule to eliminate debate on slavery. Gag rule - Procedural rule passed in the House of Representatives that prevented discussion of antislavery petitions from 1836 to 1844.
The Rise of the Whig Party
The Rise of the Whig Party By 1834, the anti-jacksonians started calling themselves Whigs, a name associated with 18th century American and British opposition to tyranny. By 1840, the Whigs had mastered techniques of political organization and mobilization and swept to electoral victory.
The Party Taking Shape Congressional reaction to Jackson s actions against the Bank led to the founding of the Whig Party. Local and state coalition of the Whigs elected a majority to the House of Representatives in 1835.
The Party Taking Shape (cont d) Lacking an effective national organization, the Whigs fielded three regional presidential candidates in 1836 but Van Buren won the election. Anti-Masons - Third party formed in 1827 in opposition to the presumed power and influence of the Masonic order.
Whig Persuasion Whigs viewed government as a force to promote economic development. The Whigs were the party of bankers, manufacturers, small-town entrepreneurs, commercial farmers, and skilled workers. Whigs tended to be native-born Protestants who supported evangelical religion.
Whig Persuasion (cont'd) The Whigs supported reform efforts, especially ones directed at non-english and Catholic immigrants.
The Second Party System
The Election of 1840 Beating the Democrats at their own game, the Whigs ran William Henry Harrison for president in 1840, stressing his military background and supposed log cabin origins.
The Election of 1840 (cont'd) The Whig campaign featured a lively mix of slogans, parades, and pageants that imparted a carnival atmosphere to politics. Harrison won the presidency and the Whigs gained control of Congress.
MAP 10 4 The Election of 1840
FIGURE 10 2 Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections, 1824 1840
The Whigs in Power
Harrison and Tyler Harrison s death brought former Democrat John Tyler to the presidency. Tyler espoused a states rights, agrarian philosophy that clashed with Whig policies.
The Texas Issue Tyler s secretary of state, Daniel Webster, negotiated the Webster-Ashburton Treaty establishing the Canadian border. Tyler wanted to annex Texas but the Senate rejected annexation. Antislavery advocates saw the Texas annexation as a slaveholders conspiracy.
The Texas Issue (cont d) Webster Ashburton Treaty - Treaty signed by the United States and Britain in 1842 that settled a boundary dispute between Maine and Canada and provided for closer cooperation in suppressing the African slave trade.
The Election of 1844 In the election of 1844, both Clay, the Whig candidate, and Van Buren, the strong Democratic candidate, opposed the annexation of Texas. Van Buren s anti-texas stance cost him the Democratic nomination, which went to a dark horse, James K. Polk of Tennessee.
The Election of 1844 (cont d) The Democrat platform supported American expansionism, seeking to annex Oregon and Texas. Polk won the election and Texas was annexed in 1845.
Conclusion
Conclusion The Jacksonian era stimulated a revolution in American politics, leading to the rise of disciplined parties that appealed to a mass electorate. Voter participation skyrocketed. The national issues argued by the Democrats and Whigs until 1844 were largely economic.