The Jacksonian Era

1. The Jacksonian Era The New Democratic Politics in North America

2. The Expansion and Limits of Suffrage • Before 1800, voting was restricted to… • “Nine new states west of the Appalachians entered the Union between 1800 and 1840. Most of the new western states extended the right to vote to all white males over the age of twenty-one.” (OM, p. 351) • Kentucky (1792), Tennessee (1796), Ohio (1803) • “By 1820, most of the older states had followed suit.” WHY???

3. The Expansion and Limits of Suffrage • Although not comprehensive, by 1840 more than 90 percent of adult white males in the nation could vote. • Free black males could vote in ME, NH, VT, MA, RI before 1865. Everywhere else (in the North) voting was restricted, or was banned (in the West -- like Ohio -- and the South). • Women were denied the right to vote regardless of race.

4. The Expansion and Limits of Suffrage • What accounted for this nearly universal denial of voting rights? • Racism? • Backlash against abolitionism? • Enfranchisement might spur (unwanted) migration? • Party politics (the Democrats were most closely aligned with the slave South, so if blacks could vote…)? • Tradition?

5. The Expansion and Limits of Suffrage • “Thus, in a period famous for democratization and ‘the rise of the common man,’ the exclusion of important groups -- African American men, and women of all races -- marked the limits of liberalization.” (OM, p. 353) • “It is also true that nowhere else in the world was the right to vote as widespread as it was in the United States.”

6. The New Popular Democratic Culture • “A print revolution had helped to democratize politics -- ending the dominance of political elites -- by spreading word far beyond the nation’s cities about the parades, protests, and celebrations that became a basic part of popular democracy.” (OM, p. 355) • The first steam-powered printing press (1826) • 300,000 Bibles and 6 million religious tracts • Newspapers spread (from 376/1810 to 1200/1835)

7. The New Popular Democratic Culture • In 1834, French visitor Michel Chevalier, after witnessing a mile-long parade in support of Andrew Jackson, in which portraits of GW, TJ, and AJ were carried by an enthusiastic crowd, wrote: • “These scenes belong to history. They are the episodes of a wondrous epic which will bequeath a lasting memory to posterity, that of the coming of democracy.” • http://www.georgecalebbingham.org/bio.htm • http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma02/harris/utc/lesson1_politics.html

8. Election of 1824 • A reality which would be tested in 1824! • Remember the Era of Good Feelings? • The Panic of 1819 • The Missouri Compromise/Crisis • Thus, four candidates -- all of them members of the Republican Party -- ran for president!

9. http://www.270towin.com/1824_Election/

10. Election of 1828 • “The election of 1828 was the first to demonstrate the power and effectiveness of the new popular democratic culture and party system.” (OM, p. 356) • Voter turnout in 1828 was more than twice that of 1824! • Name changes: • Democratic Republicans to Democrats • Jeffersonian Republicans to National Republicans

11. http://www.270towin.com/1828_Election/

12. The Jackson Presidency • Common man? • Born in NC “without wealth or family support.” • Moved west (to TN), becoming a lawyer and wealthy slave-owning planter. • “Ruthless toward Indians” • National hero after Battle of New Orleans (1815) • “The fact that he had little political experience, which would have made his nomination impossible under the traditional system of politics, was not a hindrance in the new age of popular politics.” (OM, p. 358)

13. A Strong Executive • AJ mostly ignored the other department heads that made up his cabinet; instead, he consulted with an informal group -- aka the “Kitchen Cabinet” -- made up of MVB and old western friends. • “Negative activism” -- AJ used his veto power more than all previous presidents combined (12-9). • Generally, he restricted federal activity.

14. Nation’s Leader v. Sectional Spokesmen • However, Jackson was protective of the power of president, and by extension the importance of national unity. “The first principle of our system [is that] the majority is to govern.” • AJ’s attitude stood in contrast to the three other key political leaders of the day: John C. Calhoun (SC), Daniel Webster (MA), and Henry Clay (KY). • Think about AJ’s background and leadership qualities as we talk about the major challenges that faced his administration!

15. The Nullification Crisis • The question that will be raised (and answered by AJ): “What was the correct balance between local interests -- the rights of the states -- and the powers of the central government?” (OM, p. 360) • “The political issue that came to symbolize the divergent sectional interests of North and South…was the protective tariff.” • Why would people support or oppose a tariff?

16. The Nullification Crisis • The tariff -- a brief history: • 1816 (part of the “American System”) • 1824 • 1828 (aka “Tariff of Abominations”) • Passed by Jackson supporters in an election year; • Especially high tariffs on imported textiles and iron (a third to a half of the total value); • Southerners insisted the tariff was sectional -- that it targeted them -- thus they claimed it was unconstitutional! • Calhoun writes Exposition and Protest. • http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=683&chapter=107117&layout=html&Itemid=27

17. The Nullification Crisis • And then Congress renewed the tariff in 1832! • In response, SC passed an “Ordinance of Nullification,” in which it rejected the tariff and refused to collect the taxes it required. They also called for a volunteer militia and threatened to secede if Jackson used force. • Jackson: “Disunion by armed force is treason.” • Congress passed the Force Bill (1833), authorizing collection of the tariff at gunpoint! • Tariff Bill of 1833

18. From The American Past: A Survey of American History, by Joseph R. Conklin • "Jackson exploded in one of his frightening rages. South Carolinians would rather rule in hell, he said, than be subordinate in heaven. They could promulgate a dozen expositions, but if 'a single drop of blood shall be shed there' in interfering with the collection of the tariff, 'I will hang the first man I can lay my hand on engaged in such treasonable conduct, upon the first tree I can find.'"

19. The Bank War and the Election of 1832 • Remember the Second Bank of the U.S. (1816)? • Held the government’s money; • Sold government bonds; • Made commercial loans; • Exercised control over state banks. • Why were western farmers, urban workers, and Andrew Jackson opposed to the Bank?

20. The Bank War and the Election of 1832 • When the director of the Bank decided to make its rechartering (wasn’t necessary until 1836) a political issue, Jackson promptly vetoed the bill, saying: • “The bank…is trying to kill me, but I will kill it.” • Also argued that the Bank was unconstitutional, harmful to states’ rights, and “dangerous to the liberties of the people.”

21. Indian Removal • The “Five Civilized Tribes” (Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws, Cherokees, Seminoles) of the Old Southwest. • Some had ceded land (and left), but some had decided to stay. Of the latter, most had chosen some form of assimilation in the hope that this would allow them to stay. • The Cherokees: businesses including farming (with slaves!), intermarried, many convert to Christianity, literate in English, written language, newspaper, Constitution…

22. Indian Removal • By the 1820s, the legislatures of GA, AL, MS had voted to invalidate federal treaties granting special self-governing status to Indian lands. • But the federal government was responsible for Indian policy…guess who the government sided with? • Indian Removal Act (1830) -- Not unanimous! • Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) • Jackson’s response: By 1838, almost all remaining tribes were removed by force, including the infamous “Trail of Tears.”

24. Indian Removal • http://ngeorgia.com/history/nghisttt.html • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567.html • http://www.trailoftears-remembrance.org/ • http://www.nps.gov/trte/ • http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/trailtea.htm • http://www.nativeamericans.com/TrailofTears2.htm • http://www.trailoftears.org/

25. http://www.270towin.com/1832_Election/

26. The Bank War after the election • Emboldened by the election result, Jackson withdrew the government’s money from the Bank and distributed it among favored state banks (“pet banks”). • Cabinet members objected, but short of impeachment, there was nothing that could be done to challenge Jackson’s actions. • “Economically, it marked the end of Clay’s American System and inaugurated the economic policy known as laissez faire.” (OM, p. 367)

27. Other Jackson-related sites! • http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/landmark_mcculloch.html • http://www.tax.org/Museum/1816-1860.htm • http://www.thehermitage.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=46&limit=1&limitstart=4

28. Whigs, Van Buren, and the Election of 1836 • Before being “killed,” the Bank of the U.S. recalled all of its commercial loans, “thereby causing a sharp panic and recession in the winter of 1833-34.” (OM, p. 367) • Business people of all kinds -- including southern planters -- were furious at Jackson for having caused an unnecessary economic collapse. They organized themselves into the Whig Party in time for the Election of 1836.

29. http://www.270towin.com/1836_Election/

30. The Panic of 1837 • Before Jackson left office, he became concerned about the “speculative” economy, including: • Many new banks were chartered: • An influx of foreign investment • The price of cotton rose rapidly • Western lands (AL & MS) were available • Jackson’s distrust of paper currency (remember, he is the face of the $20 bill!) • So in July 1836, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, which meant that government land had to be purchased with hard currency.

31. The Panic of 1837 • By 1837, just in time for MVB’s presidency: • Foreign investors withdrew their money • 800 banks suspended business • Businesses failed because they couldn’t get their money and/or loans • Unemployment jumped to at least 10% • The government’s response? • No banks were bailed out • No bank depositors were protected by insurance • No workers got unemployment payments • Soup kitchens were run by private groups, not by the government

32. So Who Is Democrat? • Thomas Jefferson and his democratic ideal! • Mostly rural farmers in the South and West. • Resent government and/or big business power (appealed to urban workers here) • Expansion and/or Indian removal should be a priority of the government! • Suffered from the economic and social changes of the period.

33. So Who Is Whig? • Former Federalists! American System! • “In fact, when it came to improvements, the Whigs wanted to improve people as well as roads.” (OM, p. 370) • Thus, many Whigs were religious reformers. • Favored government intervention to help with the economy, education, and temperance. • Strongest in New England, but did well among southern planters and western people involved with commercial agriculture

34. The Campaign of 1840 • “In 1840, the Whigs set out to beat the Democrats at their own game,” thus they nominated William Henry Harrison, a former Indian fighter who had also been a governor of the Indiana Territory. To balance the ticket, they nominated John Tyler (from Virginia) for V-P. • Catchy slogan: “Tippecanoe and Tyler too” • They were running against Martin Van “Ruin”………..GUESS WHO WON???

35. http://www.270towin.com/1840_Election/

36. And then Harrison died! • Although a milestone for the Whig Party and for American politics, WHH was sixty-eight, and died a month after inauguration. • Thus John Tyler (aka “His Accidency”) -- a former Democrat who left the party because of AJ -- became the president. • Much to the surprise of the Whigs, Tyler was opposed to most everything the Whigs stood for! He vetoed American System-like bills! The Whigs in Congress kicked Tyler out of the party! He responded by appointing former Democrats to cabinet positions!