Democratic Evolution in America: 1824-1840

1. 11 The Growth of Democracy 1824–1840

2. Chapter Focus Questions • How did suffrage expand between 1800 and 1840? • In what ways did Andrew Jackson’s presidency affirm new democratic policies? • How did the major political struggles of the Jackson years strengthen the executive branch of government?

3. Chapter Focus Questions (cont’d) • How did the basic two-party pattern of American political democracy take shape? • How was a distinctive American cultural identity shaped by writers and artists?

4. The New Democratic Politics in North America

5. Stump Speaking

6. Struggles over Popular Rights: Mexico, the Caribbean, Canada • 1821 • Mexico independence • Haiti • Independence ended slavery / destroyed sugar industry • British Caribbean • Numerous revolts / abolition of slavery / decline of the sugar industry

7. Struggles over Popular Rights: Mexico, the Caribbean, Canada • 1837 • Revolt by Upper and Lower Canada led to the union of the two regions to make the French-speaking population a minority.

8. MAP 11.1 Population Trends: Westward Expansion, 1830

9. The Expansion and Limits of Suffrage While the population of the United States more than doubled between 1800 and 1830, the trans-Appalachian population grew tenfold.

10. The Expansion and Limits of Suffrage • 1800: White, male, property owners could vote in most states. • New western states in Union, suffrage expanded • 1820: Most of older states had dropped property qualifications • 1840: 90 percent of adult white males could vote

11. The Expansion and Limits of Suffrage (cont'd) • Women and African Americans were barred from voting. • Unstable politics challenged democracy and threatened mob rule.

12. FIGURE 11.1 Race Exclusions for Suffrage, 1790–1855

13. MAP 11.2 The Election of 1824

14. The Election of 1824 • The 1824 election marked an end to the political truce of the Era of Good Feelings. Five candidates ran for the presidency. • Though Andrew Jackson had the most popular votes, John Quincy Adams won as a result of the so-called “corrupt bargain.” • Hostile relations with Congress blocked many of Adams’s initiatives.

15. FIGURE 11.2 The Burgeoning of Newspapers

16. The New Popular Democratic Culture • A more popular form of politics was emerging. • Mass rallies, parades and rowdy election days marked mass politics. • New state organizations increased political participation and helped elect Andrew Jackson president. • New techniques of mass campaigning encouraged increases in participation.

17. MAP 11.3 The Election of 1828

18. The Election of 1828 • In the 1828 election, Jackson triumphed as his supporters portrayed the contest as a struggle between democracy and aristocracy. • His victory showed the strength of the new popular democratic culture and system of national parties made up of a coalition of the North, South, and West.

19. This anti-Jackson “coffin bill” from the election of 1828accuses Jackson of murder because he ordered threemen executed for desertion during the War of 1812.

20. MAP 11.3 The Election of 1828

21. FIGURE 11.3 Pre–Civil War Voter Turnout

22. The Jackson Presidency

23. President’s Levee, or all Creation Going to the White House

24. A Popular President • Jackson symbolized the personal advancement that the frontier offered. • Although elites questioned his qualifications, his victory at New Orleans in 1815 made Jackson a popular hero • His inauguration brought out a mob of well-wishers who had unruly behavior. • His popular appeal marked a new, democratic style of politics.

25. A Strong Executive • Jackson was a strong executive who consulted with the “Kitchen Cabinet,” largely ignoring his cabinet. • Clay, Webster and Calhoun were excluded from Jackson’s inner circle. • The Peggy Eaton affair underlined Jackson’s new approach to politics and brought women’s unofficial influence to an abrupt end.

26. A Strong Executive (cont'd) • Jackson strengthened the presidency by using the veto more frequently than had all of his predecessors combined.

27. The Nation’s Leader VersusSectional Spokesmen • Jackson’s Democrats created a national coalition that transcended sectional identity. • Regional spokespeople included: • Daniel Webster for the North; • John C. Calhoun for the South; and • Henry Clay for the West.

28. Three Great Sectional Leaders.

29. The Nation’s Leader VersusSectional Spokesmen (cont’d) • Spokesmen continuing popularity showed the power of sectional interests. • Jackson overrode sectional interests and had national appeal.

30. The Nullification Crisis • Constitutional ambiguity, sectional interests, and the states’ rights issue caused political controversies. • The 1828 “Tariff of Abominations” elicited a strong reaction from South Carolina. Southerners argued that the tariff was an unconstitutional effort to enrich the North at southern expense.

31. The Nullification Crisis (cont’d) • John C. Calhoun wrote a defense of the doctrine of nullification claiming states could refuse to enforce laws they deemed unconstitutional. • South Carolina nullified the 1833 tariff and threatened to secede. • Jackson considered South Carolina’s action treason and passed the Force Bill.

32. The Nullification Crisis (cont’d) • Henry Clay engineered a compromise tariff that ended the threat of civil war.

33. Changing the Course of Government

34. MAP 11.4 Southern Indian Cessions and Removals, 1830s

35. Indian Removal • Jackson embraced the policy of Indian cession of their lands and removal west of the Mississippi River. • The five civilized tribes of the South were most affected. • Even though the Cherokee had adopted white ways and accepted white culture, Jackson pressed for their removal.

36. Indian Removal (cont'd) • Jackson defied the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Cherokee. • The Cherokee removal was called the “Trail of Tears.” • The removal was strongly opposed by northerners. • Women’s benevolent societies surprised many in Congress with their activism and petitions.

37. Internal Improvements • Jackson argued that federal funding for infrastructure was unconstitutional. • The veto of the Maysville Road Bill was a slap at Henry Clay as much as a policy statement. • Without federal funding the initiatives passed to private developers who then passed it to the states.

38. Internal Improvements (cont'd) • States provided more funding for roads, canals and railroads than the federal government.

39. Federal and State Support for Private Enterprise • The Supreme Court under Marshall fostered economic growth by: • federal power over interstate commerce; and • economic competition by denying monopolies. • State laws enabled businesses to protect themselves by granting charters of incorporation.

40. Federal and State Support for Private Enterprise (cont'd) • Greater economic certainty helped bring about the Market Revolution.

41. The Bank War • 1816: the Second Bank of the United States—quasi-private • The Second Bank acted as a currency stabilizer by: • growth of strong and stable financial interest; and • curbing less stable and irresponsible ones. • Eastern merchants found the bank a useful institution.

42. The Bank War (cont'd) • Western farmers and speculators feared the Bank represented a moneyed elite. • Jackson vetoed the bill when Clay and Webster pushed for early re-chartering.

43. Jackson’s Reelection in 1832 • With the Bank recharter as the main issue, in the election of 1832 Jackson soundly defeated Henry Clay. • After his victory, Jackson withdrew federal deposits and placed them in “pet” banks. • Jackson claimed that he was the direct representative of the people and could act regardless of Congressional opinion.

44. Whigs, Van Buren, andthe Panic of 1837 • The Bank called in commercial loans, causing a recession. • Jackson’s Specie Circular made the situation worse. • Jackson’s opponents founded an opposition party—the Whigs. • The new party lost the 1836 election to Martin Van Buren.

45. Whigs, Van Buren, andthe Panic of 1837 (cont'd) • The Panic led to depression, and a dismal term for Van Buren.

46. Terrible effects of the Panic of 1837 on ordinary people—bank failures, unemployment, drunkenness, and destitution

47. “King Andrew.”

48. The Second American Party System

49. Whigs and Democrats • Both parties were coalitions of regional interests seeking a national majority. • Democrats: • Party spoke for Jeffersonian democracy, expansion, and the freedom of the “common man” from interference of the government of financial monopolies • It’s power base lay in the rural South and West and among northern urban workers

50. Whigs and Democrats (cont’d) • Whigs: • Heirs to Federalism, they favored strong role for national government in economy and supported active social reform • It’s power base lay in the North and Old Northwest among voters who benefited from increased commercialization and among southern planters and urban merchants