the jackson presidency (1829-1837) 1© 2009 pearson education, inc

The Jackson Presidency(1829-1837)

1© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.

A Popular President

• Jackson symbolized the personal advancement that the frontier offered.

• His inauguration brought out a mob of well-wishers who had unruly behavior.


© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. 3

Seeing History “President’s Levee, or all Creation Going to the White House.”SOURCE: Robert Cruikshank, President’s Levee, or all Creation Going to the White House, illustrated in The Playfair Papers (London: Saunders and Otley, 1841).

A Strong Executive

• Jackson was a strong executive who consulted with the “Kitchen Cabinet,” largely ignoring his cabinet.

• Jackson used social distance to separate himself from other politicians.

• Jackson strengthened the presidency by using the veto more frequently than had all of his predecessors combined.


The Nation’s Leader versus Sectional 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.

• Jackson overrode sectional interests and had national appeal.



Three Great Sectional Leaders. The years of Jackson’s presidency were also notable for the prominence of regional spokesmen, among them John C. Calhoun (top left), who spoke for the South and slavery, Henry Clay (top right) who spoke for the West, and Daniel Webster (bottom left), who represented northern business. Clay’s personal charm is captured in this 1824 portrait, contrasting with Calhoun’s dour expression and Webster’s stern image.

SOURCE: (Top right) Matthew H. Joulett (1788-1827), “Henry Clay,” c. 1824. Oil on panel. (attr. To Joulett) © Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, USA.

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.

• 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.

• Henry Clay engineered a compromise tariff that ended the threat of civil war.


Indian Removal

• Jackson embraced the policy of Indian cession of their lands and removal west of the Mississippi River (Indian Removal Act).

• 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. • Jackson defied the Supreme Court ruling in favor of the

Cherokee (Cherokee Nation v. Georgia).• The Cherokee removal was called the“Trail of Tears.”• The removal was strongly opposed by northerners.


MAP 11.4 Southern Indian Cessions and Removals, 1830s Pressure on the five major southern Indian peoples—the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles—that began during the War of 1812 culminated with their removal in the 1830s. Some groups from every tribe ceded their southern homelands peacefully and moved to the newly established Indian Territory west of Arkansas and Missouri. Some, like the Seminoles, resisted by force. Others, like the Cherokees, resisted in the courts, but finally lost when President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce a Supreme Court decision in their favor. The Cherokees, the last to move, were forcibly removed by the U.S. Army along the “Trail of Tears” in 1838.9© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.

Internal Improvements

• Jackson argued that federal funding for infrastructure was unconstitutional.

• Without federal funding the initiatives passed to private developers who then passed it to the states.

• States at this time provided more funding for roads, canals and railroads than the federal government.


The Bank War

• Chartered in 1816, the Second Bank of the United States was a quasi-private institution.

• The Second Bank acted as a currency stabilizer by:– encouraging the growth of strong and stable financial

interest; and – curbing less stable and irresponsible ones.

• Eastern merchants found the bank a useful institution. • Western farmers and speculators feared the Bank

represented a moneyed elite. • Jackson vetoed the bill for the Bank to be re-chartered

when Clay and Webster pushed for early re-chartering.


In this political cartoon, Jackson destroys the Second Bank of the United States by withdrawing government deposits. As the Bank crashes, it crushes the director Nicholas Biddle (depicted as the Devil), wealthy investors (with moneybags), and the newspaper editors (surrounded by paper) who opposed Jackson on this issue. 13© 2009 Pearson Education, Inc.

Jackson’s Reelection in 1832

• 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.


This figurehead of Andrew Jackson, carved in 1834 for the navy frigate Constitution, captures the unmovable resolve that made Jackson so popular early in his presidency and so reviled during the Bank War.

SOURCE: Museum of the City of New York (M52.11).


Whigs, Van Buren, and the Election of 1836

• Jackson’s opponents founded an opposition party—the Whigs.

• The Whigs lost the 1836 election to Martin Van Buren (of the Democrats).


The Panic of 1837

• The death of the Bank led to feverish speculation and the Panic of 1837.

• The depression that resulted led to great hardship giving the newly formed Whig Party its opportunity.


This contemporary cartoon bitterly depicts the terrible effects of the Panic of 1837 on ordinary people—bank failures, unemployment, drunkenness, and destitution—which the artist links to the insistence of the rich on payment in specie (as Jackson had required in the Species Circular of 1836). Over the scene waves the American flag, accompanied by the ironic message, “61st Anniversary of our Independence.”


Part Six

The Second American Party System


Whigs and Democrats

• 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


Whigs and Democrats

• 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


The Campaign of 1840

• Map: The Election of 1840• In the election of 1840 Whigs portrayed

their candidate, William Henry Harrison, as a humble man.

• The Whigs won a sweeping electoral victory in a campaign with 80 percent voter turnout.


MAP 11.5 The Election of 1840 The Whigs triumphed in the election of 1840 by beating the Democrats at their own game. Whigs could expect to do well in the commercializing areas of New England and the Old Northwest, but their adopted strategy of popular campaigning worked well in the largely rural South and West as well, contributing to Harrison’s victory. The Whigs’ choice of John Tyler as vice presidential candidate, another strategy designed to appeal to southern voters, backfired when Harrison died and Tyler, who did not share Whig principles, became America’s first vice president to succeed to the presidency.


The Whig Victory Turns to Loss:The Tyler Presidency

• The Whig triumph was short-lived as Harrison died a month after his inauguration. Vice-President John Tyler assumed office.

• A former Democrat, Tyler vetoed a series of bills calling for a new Bank of the United States, tariffs, and internal improvements.

• The Whigs were only able to win one more election in 1848.


Part Seven

American Arts and Letters


Popular Cultures and the Spread of the Written Word

• The print revolution had far reaching effects beyond politics.

• Newspapers and almanacs fostered popular culture.


A Regular Row in the Backwoods. The 1841 issue of the Crockett Almanac, named after the Tennessee backwoodsman made famous by his self-serving tall tales, portrayed a rough rural “sport.” Inexpensive comic almanacs combined illustrated jokes on topical subjects with astrological and weather predictions.


Creating a National American Culture

• An intellectual movement was stimulated by eastern societies and journals.

• Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and especially Ralph Waldo Emerson created a distinctly American culture.


The Boston Athenaeum was one of Boston’s leading cultural institutions. The library, shown in this engraving, was probably the finest in the country in the early nineteenth century.


Artists and Builders

• Artists such as Albert Bierstedt and George Caleb Bingham drew upon dramatic themes from the American landscape and lifestyles.

• Neoclassical remained the architectural style for public buildings.

• Balloon frame construction enabled Americans to build homes at a rapid clip.


Part Eight

Conclusion


the jackson presidency (1829-1837) 1© 2009 pearson education, inc

Documents