Chapter Ten

The Age of Jackson, 1824-1844

Jacksonian Democracy
 The Rise of a Democratic Society
• During the 1830’s, the United States was very
informal in their behavior and class system
• Equal opportunities among whites, and equal
oppression of blacks
• The ‘Self Made Man’ referred to someone
who rose as far as his natural talent would
take him, regardless of class
• No belief in the ‘Self Made Woman’
 Politics of the Common Man
• New suffrage laws enabled more citizens to
vote
• Changes in political parties, education, and
newspaper circulation assisted the democratic
trend
 Important Political Changes
• Universal Male Suffrage
– All white males could vote and hold office
• Party nominating conventions
– In the past, candidates were nominated by king
Caucus (A closed-door meeting)
– Nominating conventions replaced this idea
– The Anti-Masons were the first to support this
• Popular Election of the President
– A more democratic method of allowing citizens to
choose the presidential candidate was enacted
 Important Political Change
• Two Party System
– Campaigns for president were now held on a national
scale
• Rise of Third Parties
– Third parties drew attention away from other big
parties, but never had a chance of winning the
election
• More Elected Offices
– More officials were elected to office instead of being
appointed (Like through the Spoils System)
 Popular Campaigning and the Spoils
System
• Public Campaigning
– For the first time, presidential candidates made
their appeal directly to the common people
• Spoils System
– Appointing people to public office still occurred.
– Jackson believed in rotating the holding of the
office
Jackson vs. Adams
 The Election of 1824
• King Caucus had combusted
• John Adams, Henry Clay, William Crawford,
and Andrew Jackson entered the presidential
race
• Henry Clay bought off voters to get John
Adams elected, whereupon Adams gave Clay
the Secretary of State
• This was known as the Corrupt Bargain
 Policies of John Q. Adams
• Supported internal improvements,
universities, and corporate aid
• Angered Jacksonian supporters
 Revolution of 1828
Cue the mudslinging!!
• In response to the election of 1828…
• Jacksonians accused Adam’s wife of being
born out of wedlock
• Adam’s supporters accused Jackson’s wife of
adultery
The Presidency of Andrew Jackson
• Jackson won the election of 1828
• Heralded as the ‘common man’
• Role of the President
– Counted himself as a Jeffersonian
– Vetoed twelve bills
– Vetoed the Maysville Road
• Peggy Eaton Affair
– Suspected of being an adulteress
– Ostracized socially
 Indian Removal Act of 1830
• Jackson believed native Americans were sub-
human
• The Indian Removal Act was signed in 1830,
which forced thousands of Indians to move
their settlements
• The Cherokee nation sued Georgia in
Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia
– The supreme court ruled that the Cherokee Nation
did not have the right to sue in a federal court
 Nullification Crisis
• Jackson supported the states rights, but…
• Tariff of Abominations
– South Carolina declared it void
– South Carolina continued to void tariffs
– Jackson demanded military action and stated that
voiding the tariff was considered treason
 Bank Veto
• Jackson believed that the Bank was corrupt
and misused its powers
• He declared it unconstitutional, and called it a
private monopoly
• Clay’s battle failed, and Jackson was re-elected
with a ¾ majority
 Two Party System
• The Era of Good Feelings ended with a new
two-party system
• Jacksonians took the name Democrats
• Henry Clay lovers were called Whigs
– Democrats
• Based on republicans
– Whigs
• Federalists
 Jackson’s Second Term
• Banks
– Jackson vetoed the national bank, and took away all of
it’s funding.
– Preferred State Banks, which he transferred the
National Bank’s money to
• Specie Circular
– Inflation occurred because of Jackson’s policies
– All purchases were required to be in gold or silver,
rather than paper
– The Panic of 1837 threw the economy into a mini-
depression
 The Election of 1836
• Democrats
– Martin Van Buren
• Whigs
– Nominated candidates from three different
regions
– This epic-failed
• Van Buren won!
 ‘Log Cabin and Hard Cider’ Campaign
• In the election of 1840, the Whigs were more
able to defeat the Jacksonians
• Voters were dissatisfied with the way that
they had made things
• Nominated William Henry Harrison as the
‘humble’ man
• Harrison took office, was inaugurated, and
died a month later, whereupon John Tyler
succeeded him7
 Democrats Whigs
Positions Local rule, limited Favored the American
government, free trade. System, and opposed
Opposed monopolies, immorality
national bank, and high
prices
Voter Support Southerners Northern and Middle
states