Age of Jackson

Was he the

Champion of the “Common

Man”?OR

King Andrew I?

Jackson’s Background

•Posthumous Child (born 1767)•Born in SC or NC? (Waxhaws)•2 brothers and mother died in the Revolution•Whacked by a Brit officer•Teacher and lawyer in Salisbury, NC

Jackson’s Background•War Hero (War of 1812 – Battle of New Orleans)• First Seminole War (1818 – Florida)•Moved to Frontier (Nashville, TN)•Married Rachel Robards (divorcee)• Found out later divorce hadn’t been finalized• She dies after election but before inauguration• Jackson blamed political opponents

Patronage or “The Spoils System”• “To the victors go the spoils”• The “Spoils System”• Appoint loyal supporters• Strengthened Democratic party•New appointees with new administrations

• Any problems with the spoils system?

The New “Jackson Coalition”

• Planter Elite in South

• Frontier Farmers

• Immigrant workers in Eastern cities

• State Politicians – spoils system

• Jackson supporters trash the White House

Jackson’s Administration•Ordinary cabinet – designed for sectional balance•Unofficial advisors: the Kitchen Cabinet•Rivalry between Martin Van Buren (Secretary of State) and John C. Calhoun (Vice-President)

The National Bank DebateNicholas Biddle Andrew Jackson

Jackson’s Use of Federal Power•Wants to stop American Plan of Adams and Clay•Vetoes bill to extend National Road through Kentucky

2nd Bank of the U.S.•Chartered in 1816•Expires in 1836•Federal government owned 20% of bank stock•State banks issued paper currency•Bank of the U.S. backed currency with gold •Nicholas Biddle: bank kept the money supply stable•Many lower & middle class distrustful

Opposition to the 2nd B.U.S.

• state bankers: banks couldn’t issue notes

• Want rapid economic growth & speculation

• coin = only safecurrency

• didn’t like bank issued notes

• suspicious of expansion & speculation

“Soft” money (paper)

“Hard” money (specie)

“Friends” of the 2nd BUSDaniel Webster

Henry Clay

Opposition to the 2nd B.U.S.• Clay and

Webster want to make Jackson look bad

• They convince Biddle to ask for an early renewal

• Jackson vetoes bill

• first President to veto a bill on non-Constitutional grounds

• Why is Jackson opposed?

• Created monopoly

• Wealthy benefitted

Election of 1832• Andrew Jackson (Democrats)• veto of Bank• 55% of the pop. vote• 219 electoral votes (77%)

•Henry Clay (National Republicans)• Bank and American System• 25% of the pop. vote• 49 electoral votes (17%)

Jackson Declares War . . . On the Bank

• Political mandate = authority to act

• Appoints Roger B. Taney Secretary of Treasury

• Orders withdrawal of all government funds

• Went to state banks

• Critics called them “pet banks”

• Senate (led by Henry Clay) censures Jackson

• Does it anyway

Jackson Declares War . . . On the Bank

• Results?

• Biddle restricts loans

• Recession in 1834

• Second B.U.S. becomes Pennsylvania state bank

• Taney appointed Chief Justice of Supreme Court

The Downfall of “Mother Bank”

The Nullification IssueJohn C. Calhoun

Andrew Jackson

The Nullification Issue•What does “nullify” mean?•Begins with Webster-Hayne debates (1830)

The Nullification IssueSen. Daniel Webster (Mass.) Sen. Robert Hayne (S.C.)

“Liberty and Union, now and forever,

one and inseparable”

West the South should join

forces against Northeast

Jefferson’s Birthday 1830• Jackson:Our Federal Union—it must be preserved.•Calhoun:The Union, next to our liberty, most dear. . . it can only be respected by respecting the rights of states. . .

Nullification Issue• Calhoun = Jackson’s Vice-President• Anonymously authored The South

Carolina Exposition and Protest• Attacked Jackson on majority rule• Majority can be as tyrannical as single

leader• If state decides federal law is

unconstitutional, law is “null and void” within state

• Does the Constitution address this issue? Where have we heard this before?

Nullification Issue

• Calhoun admits authorship (1831)• Argument• Sovereignty through states• If states don’t like federal law,

states can secede – states rights!• Jackson drops Calhoun in 1832 and

chooses Martin Van Buren for V.P.

Nullification Issue• Southern perspective

• Tariffs favor North

• Northern majority in Congress = threat to South

• Tariff of Abominations (1828)• New Tariff (1832)• South Carolina: both “null

and void”• As of February 1, 1833,

South Carolina would not collect tariffs• If federal government

attempts force, South Carolina will secede

Nullification Issue• Jackson’s

perspective• “Disunion by

armed force is treason”• Threatened force• Sent warships to

Charleston

Nullification Issue•Henry Clay’s compromise•Gradual reduction of tariff•By 1842 back to 1816 levels

•Passed by Congress•Problem solved, or just put off until later?

Jackson and Native Americans

•Whites want land between Appalachians and Mississippi•Some Natives had assimilated• Indian removal becomes policy

Jackson and Native Americans

• Black Hawk War• Troops sent to Illinois to

remove Black Hawk (Chief of Sauk and Fox)

• Tried to surrender• Army pursued him• 150 of 1,000 warriors

survived• Black Hawk killed

• End of Indian resistance in Northwest

Jackson and Native Americans

• South: “Five Civilized Tribes”• Cherokee• Creek• Chickasaw• Choctaw• Seminole

Jackson and Native Americans

• 1828• Georgia: no nationhood

for Cherokee• “state owned” land• Land in cotton belt

• 1830• Indian Removal Act• Indians get land west of

Mississippi in exchange for land east of Mississippi

• Supreme Court Rulings• Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia• Indians: domestic dependent nations

•Worcester vs. Georgia• Indians were political communities, have territorial boundaries, exclusive authority

•Up to Jackson to enforce; he refuses

Jackson and Native Americans• Treaty (1835) gave 1838 as removal

date• Cherokee refused• President Van Buren sent army• Of 15,000 who left only 11,000 made

it (present day Oklahoma)• Trail of Tears• Seminole tribe fought guerilla war until

1840’s

Trail of Tears (1838-1839)

What to do about Texas?• NE province of Spanish Mexico• Rich cotton lands• Spain: no Americans• Mexico independence (1821)• wants Americans

• Stephen F. Austin led Americans to Texas in 1820’s

What to do about Texas?• Americans want cotton• need slaves

• Slavery illegal

• 1830: Mexico outlawed American immigration• Two groups formed• Peace Party – Texas self-government

under Mexico

• War Party – independence from Mexico

• Mexican leader, General Santa Anna, imposed military rule

War between Texas and Mexico•Battle at the Alamo•Executed prisoners; “American mercenaries”•Americans support Texans

War between Texas and Mexico•Texans rout Santa Anna at Battle of San Jacinto (General Sam Houston)•Texas: independent republic•Mexico: refused independence

What should Jackson do?• Annex Texas?• Jackson and Van Buren: no•Might provoke war with Mexico• Additional slave state into union (had free/slave balance)

Champion of the

“Common Man”?WAS ANDREW JACKSON

King Andrew the First?

King Andrew I

Mythology of the Age of Common Man

•Jackson (and most supporters) were uncommon men•Jackson (and political culture in general) railed against “artificial distinctions,” especially those created by governmental policy•Credo of “self-made man”