Andrew Jackson

Jackson’s Life

• 1767 - Born in backwoods of South Carolina

• Little education, self taught lawyer

• Youth - considered brash/violent

• Killed man in duel w/ bullet lodged in his chest

• Slave owner• Hero of Battle of New

Orleans (1815)

Jackson in Florida

• 1817 - led campaign in Florida against Seminole and Creek Indians

• Monroe ordered him to keep Florida from becoming safe haven for runaway slaves

• Invaded Florida, overthrew Spanish governor, and executed two British citizens who had been supplying the natives

• Defended actions based on Manifest Destiny

• Led to Adams-Onis Treaty

Election of 1824

• Election w/out political parties

• 4 candidates were Republicans

• John Q. Adams – Secretary of State

• Henry Clay – Speaker of the House

• Andrew Jackson – military hero, former governor

• William Crawford – Secretary of the Treasury

Election of 1824

Election of 1824

• Election decided by House of Representatives as no candidate had a majority of electoral votes

• Clay hated Jackson• “How murdering 2500

Englishmen qualifies him to be President”

• Clay threw support behind Adams

“Corrupt Bargain”

• Adams wins on first ballot w/ 13 states, Jackson w/ 7 and Crawford w/ 3

• Clay immediately named Adams Secretary of State

• Jackson outraged – had won plurality of electoral votes/popular vote

• Calls it “corrupt bargain”

Election of 1828

• Adams VP John C. Calhoun sided w/Jackson

• Outraged at “corrupt bargain” b/w Clay and Adams, Jackson organized coalition of followers

• With help of VP Calhoun and N.Y. politician Martin Van Buren revives old Republican party

• Renames it Democratic Party

“Jackass”

• Opponents called him a “jackass” for his populist views and slogan – “Let the people rule”

• Adopted jackass in his campaign posters

• Represents his stubbornness

• Adopted as symbol for Democrats in 1870s

Election of 1828

The Whig Party

• Formed in opposition to policies of Jackson

• Supported supremacy of Congress over Executive Branch

• Henry Clay – first leader and rallied around his “American System”

• Modern, industrial economy where education/commerce would equal physical labor or land ownership as means of productive wealth

Election of 1832

Victory

• Jackson’s victory marked a break w/ politics of past

• “people’s president”• Held massive victory

celebration – 20 000 strong at White House

Jacksonian Democracy

• Second Party System (1824-54)

• Respect and power for common man

• Vote extended to white male adult citizens, rather than only white land owners

• Promoted strength in Presidency over Congress

• Favoured elected judges• Avoided issue of slavery

The Spoils System

• Jackson systematically rewarded his own supporters

• Believed popular election gave victor mandate to select public officers from own ranks

• “To the victor goes the spoils”

• Believed it would prevent development of corrupt party system

The National Bank

• Second National Bank - 20 year charter by Monroe in 1816

• Jackson worked hard to abolish it – why?

• Concentrated nation’s financial strength in one institution

• Exposed government to control by foreign interests

• Served to make rich richer• Exercised too much control

over members of Congress• Favored Northeast over South

and West

Jackson to Van Buren

“The bank is trying to kill me, but I will kill it.”

Jackson and the Bank

• Like Jefferson, Jackson supported an “agricultural Republic”

• Saw Bank as improving fortunes of commercial and industrial elite at expense of farmers

• Destroyed Bank by vetoing its 1832 charter and withdrawing all U.S. funds from Bank in 1833

• Series of state and local banks spring up• Jackson invested money in pet banks, cotton

production, canal building and land sales• Economy and manufacturing boomed

Panic of 1837

• Paper money issued by local banks was not backed by gold or silver

• Result = massive inflation• Specie Circular (1836)

Jackson executive order – required payment for all government land in either gold/silver

• Led to a run on gold and silver

• 343 of 850 banks went bankrupt

• Led to 5 year depression

Tariff of 1828 – Nullification Crisis

• Signed into law by Adams• Called “Tariff of

Abomination” by Southern opponents

• Goal was to protect Northern industry from competition by ↑ price of European products

• South expected Jackson to reduce tariff – his running mate was John C. Calhoun

• Jackson refused• South Carolina threatened

to make tariff null and void in state

Nullification Crisis

• Jackson: “Our Federal Union! It must be preserved.”

• Calhoun: “The Union, next to our liberty, most dear!”

• Split b/w Jackson and Calhoun • S.C. passed Ordinance of Nullification –

tariff declared null and void• Jackson issues “Proclamation to the

People of South Carolina”

Nullification Crisis

• Jackson believed S.C. actions was treasonous

• December 1832 - sent warships to Charleston, S.C.

• Senator Henry Clay strikes compromise to reduce tariffs and keep federal troops out of S.C.

The Effects of Nullification Crisis

• Influenced southern political thought about states rights

• Helped clear way for secession during Civil War

• Rise of states' rights theory in South was made strong due to rise on importance of cotton in South's economy during the early 1800s

Jackson and Indian Removal

“This emigration should be voluntary, for it would be as cruel as unjust to compel the aborigines to abandon the graves of their fathers and seek a home in a distant land. But they should be distinctly informed that if they remain within the limits of the States they must be subject to their laws. In return for their obedience as individuals they will without doubt be protected in the enjoyment of those possessions which they have improved by their industry.”

Jackson and Indian Removal

• Leading advocate of policy

• Signed Indian Removal Act of 1830

• Authorized Jackson to purchase tribal lands in east in exchange for lands further west, outside of existing U.S. state borders

• Gold found on Cherokee land in Georgia

• Worcester v. Georgia (1832)

Worchester v. Georgia

• 1831 – Supreme Court ruled Indian nations were “domestic dependent nations” w/ neither freedom of a foreign country or rights of U.S. citizen

• Were subject to federal law, but Indians could not sue

• Samuel Worchester – Indian ally – disobeyed order to leave Seminole land - arrested

• Appealed to Supreme Court – argued Georgia had no power over Indian lands

Jackson and Indian Removal

• Marshall ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws on Cherokee

• “Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” – Jackson

• Jackson negotiated treaty w/ small group of Cherokee

• Van Buren left to enforce it• Ordered 7 000 armed troops to forcibly

remove Natives

“Trail of Tears”

“Trail of Tears”

• Jackson promised “as long as grass grows and water runs the land will be yours forever”

• 45 000 Natives relocated to Indian territory in what is now Oklahoma

• Few went peacefully

• Led to 2nd Seminole War (1835-1842) – killed 3000 Seminoles

“Trail of Tears”

• 800 mile journey• Thousands died from

starvation and exposure in detention camps and on journey West

• One of saddest chapters in U.S. history

Legacy

What do you think is Andrew Jackson's legacy?

Jackson

• 7th President (1829-1837)• “Old Hickory” – as tough as

strong hardwood• Influential in politics until

his death in 1845 • Although slave owner, he

believed in a strong federal union