Chapter 12: A Changing Nation

1. Chapter 12: A Changing Nation

2. 12.1 Politics of the PeopleThe Election of 1824 • Democratic-Republicans split into four factions: North wanted John Quincy Adams (John Adams’ son); South backed William Crawford from Georgia; Westerners supported our old friend Henry Clay (Kentucky), or Andrew Jackson (Tennessee). • The voting was very close and the House had to vote again to determine the president.

3. winner • Clay was fourth so he was out of the running. • Clay threw his support (and the votes of his followers) to Adams. • Adams later appointed Clay Secretary of State, so naturally, people figured that Adams had bribed Clay for the support. • Adams had ideas for the country, but he was thwarted at every turn because Jackson and his supporters ran Congress (some things never change).

4. JacksonianDemocracy • Jackson felt that the 1824 election had been stolen from him, and he began to work tirelessly to win the next election in 1828. • Jackson claimed to represent the “common man” and convinced people that Adams represented a group of privileged, wealthy Easterners (probably true…the original Adams was not so privileged, but this guy probably was).

5. The Democrats Get a Start • Eventually, the Democratic-Republicans split into two groups: Jackson’s group became the Democrats; Adams’ group became the National Republicans. • It was a bitter campaign (some things never change).

6. Jacksonian Democracy • Jackson crusaded against government by the wealthy (which was pretty much the case). • Jackson promised to look out for the interests of the common people and promoted the concept of majority rule (Jacksonian Democracy). • At first only the wealthy really could vote, but under Jefferson, voting rights had been given to all adult white males (Jackson capitalizes on this). • Large numbers of Western farmers as well as factory workers voted for Jackson.

7. The People’s President • Jackson was the first president not from an aristocratic Massachusetts or Virginia family. • Jackson had a hard childhood on a frontier farm in South Carolina. • He and his brother joined in the militia to fight the British in the Revolution and were taken prisoner by the British. • Jackson and his brother got smallpox while they were in a British prison and his brother died.

8. Jackson Takes Office • Shortly after Jackson won the presidency, his wife died of a heart attack. • Jackson believed that the personal attacks on her during the campaign and after the election caused the attack, and it could be true. • The crowd at his inauguration became an unruly mob in their enthusiasm for their support of him.

9. A New Political Era Begins • SPOILS SYSTEM : Jackson started reforming government by replacing many government officials with his own supporters (some things never change). • Of course, Jackson’s detractors said that this practice was corrupt, but in reality all presidents have done this almost from the beginning. • Jackson faced three major problems in his presidency: Native Americans, states’ rights, the role of the Bank of the United States.

10. Classic Cartoon Interpretation •  Satire on Andrew Jackson's campaign to destroy the Bank of the United States and its support among state banks. Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and Jack Downing struggle against a snake with heads representing the states. The largest of the heads is president of the Bank Nicholas Biddle's, which wears a top hat labeled "Penn" (i.e. Pennsylvania) and "$35,000,000." This refers to the rechartering of the Bank by the Pennsylvania legislature in defiance of the Jackson’s efforts to destroy it.