The American Nation Chapter 12 The Jacksonian Era 1824–1840 Copyright © 2003 by Pearson...

The American NationThe American Nation

Chapter 12The Jacksonian Era

1824–1840

Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

The American NationThe American Nation

Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. All rights reserved.

Section 1: A New Era in Politics

Section 2: Jackson in the White House

Section 3: A New Crisis

Chapter 12: The Jacksonian Era 1824–1840

Chapter 12, Section 1

A New Era in PoliticsA New Era in Politics

• How did the growing spirit of equality change voting rights in the 1820s?

• Why was there a dispute over the election of 1824?

• Why was John Quincy Adams an unpopular President?

• What new political parties developed?


The Growing Spirit of Equality Affected Voting RightsThe Growing Spirit of Equality Affected Voting Rights

• The United States was growing rapidly.• Many new states were in the west, between the

Appalachians and the Mississippi.• Frontier life encouraged a democratic spirit.• This democratic spirit was reflected in the voting

laws.• More people gained suffrage, or the right to vote. In

western states, any white man over age 21 could vote.• In eastern states, reformers worked to expand

suffrage. By the 1830s, most eastern states had dropped the requirement that voters own land.


The Growing Spirit of Equality Affected Voting RightsThe Growing Spirit of Equality Affected Voting Rights

Growing Spirit of Equality

Suffrage Expands Political Parties Change The “Common Man” Rises

• More white men are eligible to vote

• Property qualifications for voters end

• Voter turnout is nearly 80 percent in 1840 election

• The caucus system ends

• Nominating conventions are held to choose presidential candidates

• The spoils system lets ordinary citizens participate in government

• Ideas about social classes change


The Dispute Over the Election of 1824The Dispute Over the Election of 1824

The Candidates • John Quincy Adams, with support in New England• Henry Clay, with support in the West• Andrew Jackson, with support in the West• William Crawford, with support in the South

The Election • William Crawford became too ill to campaign.• Andrew Jackson won the popular vote.• No candidate won a majority, or more than half, of the

electoral vote. The election went to the House of Representatives.

• The House named John Quincy Adams President.

Hard feelings In the electoral vote, Henry Clay had finished last, so he was out of the running when the election went to the House. He was Speaker of the House. He urged House members to vote for Adams. Later, Adams named Clay his Secretary of State. Jackson and his supporters said that Adams and Clay had worked together to steal the election.


John Quincy Adams Was an Unpopular PresidentJohn Quincy Adams Was an Unpopular President

Adam’s Plan How Most Americans Reacted

• The federal government should promote economic growth. It should pay for roads and canals to help farmers transport goods to market.

• The government should promote the arts and sciences by building a national university and an observatory.

• These programs cost too much money.• These programs would make the federal

government too powerful.

What Jackson Supporters Said What Adams Supporters Said

• Adams had made a “corrupt bargain” in the 1824 election.

• Adams was a member of the upper class, not a common person like farmers of the South and West.

• Jackson was a dangerous “military chieftain.”

• If Jackson won the election, he could become a dictator like Napoleon.


John Quincy Adams Was an Unpopular PresidentJohn Quincy Adams Was an Unpopular President


New Political PartiesNew Political Parties

National Republicans, known as Whigs

• People who supported Adams and his programs for national growth became known as Whigs.

• Wanted the federal government to spur the economy.

• Supporters included eastern business people, some southern planters, and former Federalists.

Democrats • Jackson and his supporters called themselves Democrats.

• Supporters included the common people—frontier farmers and eastern factory workers.

The two new political parties developed more democratic ways for choosing candidates for President.

• They got rid of the caucus, or private meeting, for choosing candidates. • Instead, each party began to hold a nominating convention, where

delegates from the states chose the party’s candidate.


Section 1 AssessmentSection 1 Assessment

Voting laws in the western states reflected the new democratic spirit. They gave suffrage to

a) any white man who owned property.b) all free men except Native Americans.c) any white man over age 21.d) white men, African American men, and Native American men.

Andrew Jackson’s election represented the spread of democracy because his support came from

a) eastern business people.b) frontier farmers and eastern factory workers.c) southern planters.d) military officers.

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Jackson in the White HouseJackson in the White House

• What qualities helped Andrew Jackson succeed?

• What was the spoils system?• Why did President Jackson fight the Bank

of the United States?

Photos of JacksonPhotos of Jackson

First known painting of Jackson

Photo of Jackson 1 year before he died.

Political Cartoon


Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson

• Strong-willed• Tough• Studied law and set up a successful law practice• Became wealthy buying and selling land• While still in his twenties, was elected to Congress• Won national fame for his achievements in the War of 1812 • Complex• Quick temper• Ability to inspire and lead others• A man of his word• A champion of the common people


The Spoils SystemThe Spoils System

• When he took office, Jackson fired many government employees and replaced them with his supporters.

• Critics accused Jackson of rewarding Democrats for helping to elect him instead of choosing men who were qualified.

• Jackson said he was serving democracy by letting more citizens take part in government. He felt that ordinary Americans were capable of doing government jobs.

• A Jackson supporter explained, “To the victor belong the spoils.” • The practice of rewarding supporters with government jobs

became known as the spoils system.• Jackson rewarded a number of supporters with Cabinet jobs. Few

of them were qualified, however. So Jackson relied on unofficial advisers. He met with them in the White House kitchen. The group became known as the “kitchen cabinet.”


President Jackson vs. the Bank of the United StatesPresident Jackson vs. the Bank of the United States

• The Bank of the United States had great power because it controlled the loans made by state banks. President Jackson thought the Bank was undemocratic. He felt that Bank president Nicholas Biddle used the Bank to benefit the rich.

• Whigs persuaded Biddle to try to renew the Bank’s charter before the 1832 election. They thought that if Jackson vetoed the bill to renew the charter, he would anger voters and lose the election.

• When the bill to renew the Bank’s charter reached the President, he vetoed it. First, he said the Bank was unconstitutional. Second, he felt that the Bank helped aristocrats at the expense of the common people.

• The Whigs brought up the Bank issue in the election of 1832, but Jackson won a stunning election victory anyway.

• Jackson ordered the Secretary of the Treasury to stop putting federal money in the Bank of the United States. The bank closed.



Which statement best describes President Jackson’s attitude toward filling government jobs?

a) Ordinary Americans are capable of filling government jobs.b) Wealthy people are used to running things, so it is best to choose them

for government jobs.c) People who have been to law school are best suited for government

jobs.d) Frontier farmers have good common sense, so they should have all the

government jobs.

Jackson worked to end the Bank of the United States because he thoughta) the Bank was too weak.b) the voters had voted against it.c) the Bank benefited only the rich.d) most Americans supported the Bank.




A New CrisisA New Crisis

• How did the tariff crisis lead to the Nullification Act?

• Why were Native Americans forced off their land?

• What economic problems did Martin Van Buren face?

• How did the Whigs and the Democrats campaign in 1840?

The Tariff Crisis and the Nullification ActThe Tariff Crisis and the Nullification Act

In 1828, Congress passed the highest tariff in the history of the nation. Southerners called it the Tariff of Abominations.• Northern manufacturers favored the tariff, which protected them

from foreign competition.• Southern planters were against the tariff. It raised the cost of the

manufactured goods they bought from Europe.

Vice President John C. Calhoun fought against the tariff by introducing the idea of nullification. • Calhoun claimed that a state had the right to nullify, or cancel, a

federal law that it considered unconstitutional. • Daniel Webster attacked the idea of nullification. He said that the

Constitution united the American people, not just the states. If the states could nullify federal laws, the nation would fall apart.


The Tariff Crisis and the Nullification ActThe Tariff Crisis and the Nullification Act

Congress passed a lower tariff in 1832, but South Carolina was not satisfied. The state passed the Nullification Act, declaring the new tariff illegal.• South Carolina also threatened to secede, or

withdraw, from the Union. • Jackson asked Congress to pass the Force Bill. It

allowed the President to use the army to enforce the tariff. South Carolina reacted by repealing the Nullification Act.

The Nullification Crisis had been a quarrel over states’ rights, or the right of states to limit the power of the federal government.


Native Americans Are Forced From Their HomelandNative Americans Are Forced From Their Homeland

• The Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Seminole nations lived in the Southeast. Settlers wanted the Indian’s land for growing cotton.

• President Jackson sided with the settlers. The federal government set aside lands beyond the Mississippi and had begun to persuade or force Indians to move to land that had been set aside.

• Georgia claimed the right to make laws for the Cherokee nation. The Cherokees went to court, arguing that their treaties with the federal government protected their rights and their property. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the Court agreed that the Constitution protected the Cherokees.

• President Jackson refused to enforce the Court’s decision. In the Cherokee case, he backed states’ rights.

• Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. It forced many Native Americans to move west of the Mississippi.

• The United States Army drove more than 15,000 Cherokees westward. Thousands perished during the march. The long, sad journey west became known as the Trail of Tears.


Trail of TearsTrail of Tears

Map of Trail of TearsMap of Trail of Tears

Native Americans Are Forced From Their HomelandNative Americans Are Forced From Their Homeland

• In Florida, the Seminole Indians resisted removal. From 1817 to 1818, they fought the United States Army in a conflict known as the first Seminole War.

• The second Seminole War lasted from 1835 to 1842.

• The third Seminole War ended in 1858. The Seminoles were finally defeated. The federal government forced most Seminoles to leave Florida.


The Election of 1836The Election of 1836

Martin Van Buren and Hard TimesMartin Van Buren and Hard Times

• Martin Van Buren faced the worst economic crisis the nation had known—the Panic of 1837.

• The federal government sold off millions of acres of land in the West. Speculators borrowed money from state banks to buy up the land. To make the loans, state banks printed a lot of paper money. To slow down the wild buying, Jackson ordered that anyone buying public land had to pay with gold or silver. Buyers rushed to the banks to exchange paper money for gold and silver, but many banks did not have enough and had to close down.

• The panic became worse when cotton prices fell.• Cotton planters had borrowed money to plant crops. When prices

fell, they could not repay their loans. As a result, more banks failed.• The nation plunged into a deep economic depression, a period when

business declines and many people lose their jobs. Many people blamed Van Buren.


The Campaigns of 1840The Campaigns of 1840

The Democrats and Martin Van Buren vs. the Whigs and William Henry Harrison• Harrison traveled across the land, making speeches

and greeting voters.• Both parties held rallies, banquets, and entertainment.• Both parties engaged in mudslinging, or the use of

insults to attack an opponent’s reputation.• In the campaign, both parties used name-calling, half-

truths, and lies.Harrison won the election. However, soon after taking office, he died of pneumonia. John Tyler became President.


Election of 1840Election of 1840

Tocqueville’s Wisdom

• Alexis de Tocqueville praised most aspects of American democracy

• Warned of future disaster if white males refused to extend liberty to women, African Americans, and Indians


When Congress passed a high tariff that hurt southerners, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina said that

a) southerners would be glad to pay the tariff if it would keep the nation together.

b) a state had a right to nullify a federal law that the state considered unconstitutional.

c) the army should be called out to enforce the tariff.d) our Federal Union must be preserved.

Shortly after Martin Van Buren became President, the nation faced a severe economic depression. One cause of the depression was that

a) thousands of people had broken into warehouses to steal food.b) many banks failed when cotton prices fell and cotton planters could not

repay their bank loans.c) speculators could not get any more paper money and stopped buying land.d) Van Buren tried to set up a more stable banking system.




The American Nation Chapter 12 The Jacksonian Era 1824–1840 Copyright © 2003 by Pearson...

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