Mr. Clay what do you think?

 

  1. Politics
    1. Every State gives all of their male citizens the right to vote – you no longer need to own property to vote
    2. Jackson believes in the common man – “Never for a moment believe that the great body of the citizens . . . can deliberately intend to do wrong.”
    3. Each State developed a two party system

                                                               i.      Newspapers supporting each side were printed

                                                             ii.      Spoils system develops – winning party is able to appoint patronage jobs

                                                            iii.      Few elections were decided based on the issues – more were decided on loyalty and popularity issues (sound like today?).

    1. Election of 1824 – 4 Republican candidates

                                                               i.      John Quincy Adams – Secretary of State and John Adams son

                                                             ii.      William Crawford – Virginian who held early lead in election then suffered a stroke

                                                            iii.      Henry Clay – Speaker of the House

                                                           iv.      Andrew Jackson – popular war hero and States rights advocate

    1. Results

                                                               i.      Adams – 84 electoral votes, 108, 740 popular votes

                                                             ii.      Jackson – 99 electoral votes, 153,844 popular votes

                                                            iii.      Crawford – 41 electoral votes, 46,618 popular votes

                                                           iv.      Clay – 37 electoral votes, 47,136 popular votes

    1. Election is thrown into the House as no one has a majority of electoral votes.  Clay is eliminated (12th Amendment limits the number of candidates that are considered by the House to the top 3 electoral college vote getters).
    2. Clay controls the House as the Speaker and throws his support behind Adams
    3. Adams names Clay Secretary of State causing Jackson’s supporters to claim that a deal had been made beforehand nullifying the will of the people (Jackson had the most popular votes).
  1. Adam’s presidency
    1. He expanded the American system – he wanted to expand the national road system, support the arts with federal money, build a national university, and pay for it all by selling western land.
    2. Was attacked by Republicans (including Jefferson) of wanting to reestablish Federalism
    3. He would not cheat the Creek Indians to the irritation of the south and the west
    4. Election of 1828

                                                               i.      Jackson’s support had grown – he now called himself a Democrat

                                                             ii.      Adam’s was only supported in the NE and refused to campaign publicly

                                                            iii.      Jackson’s supporters portrayed him as a man of the people and reminded voters of the alleged deal made with Clay in 1824

                                                           iv.      Jackson wins fairly easily (p. 235)

  1. Jackson’s Presidency
    1. Jackson had been supported by Westerners, Southerners, Immigrants, and small business owners – they all expected Jackson to look out for their interests – many were contradictory.
    2. Jackson opposed those members of Congress that he said only looked out for special interests.
    3. He opposed Marshall – said that the Supreme Court did not have the power that Marshall had claimed for it.
    4. Was in favor of States rights principles and the will of the people
    5. He named advisors from all parts of the country (Kitchen Cabinet) and consulted it often
    6. He favored “laissez-faire” policies – a reduced role of the federal gov’t
    7. He claimed he was returning to the simplicity of Jefferson – but irresponsible business owners took advantage of gov’t inactivity
    8. He vetoed federal funding of the Maysville road

                                                               i.      This was a pet project of Henry Clay

                                                             ii.      Jackson publicly stated the federal gov’t should not fund a project that would only help a couple of States

                                                            iii.      Privately he was paying Clay back for the election of 1824

                                                           iv.      This alienated many of Jackson’s western supporters

    1. Jackson tried to fill western land by selling it cheaply – this alienated businesses in the east as it depleted the labor supply
    2. Jackson was a slave owner – he refused to let abolitionists use the mail to send literature – this alienated religious groups in the north and the black vote (small but now anti-democrat).
    3. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee Indians who Jackson had forced off of their land – he simply ignored the ruling and forced all Indian tribes west of the Mississippi (winning a small war against Chief Black Hawk along the way).
  1. The Nullification Crisis
    1. Jackson wanted to eliminate the federal debt
    2. Debate over the use of tariffs to remove debt

                                                               i.      North supported use of tariffs – gave merchants protection against imports

                                                             ii.      South opposed tariffs – they pay higher prices for imported equipment, and lose sales when other countries apply tariffs to exported crops.

    1. Jackson angered both sides – he advocated a revenue raising tariff for the near term to pay off the debt, but he told the northern merchants not to expect the continued use of a tariff in the future
    2. Southerners (especially South Carolina) said that the federal gov’t had no right to institute a tariff over the wishes of so many states.  They feared if the gov’t could rule on tariffs an anti-slavery President could make slavery illegal.
    3. Vice President John Calhoun (from South Carolina) anonymously publishes a document that states that a States could nullify a federal law.

                                                               i.      States have power over the Constitutionality of laws – not the Supreme Court. 

                                                             ii.      If one state ruled that a law was unconstitutional, Congress must repeal that law.

                                                            iii.      The federal gov’t would have to amend the Constitution (with ¾ of the states approval) to put the law back in force.

    1. Nullification is debated in the Senate (where Calhoun is the presiding officer)

                                                               i.      Webster from Massachusetts equates nullification with treason

                                                             ii.      Hayne from S. Carolina explained the idea and asked the west and the NE to join

                                                            iii.      Jackson and most of Congress speak out against nullification – Jackson suspected Calhoun of the power play to gain support for a Presidential bid.  He replaces Calhoun’s friends in the Cabinet.

                                                           iv.      Congress passes the tariff of 1832 over the protest of the south

                                                             v.      Calhoun speaks out openly against the tariff and resigns his office

                                                           vi.      Hayne resigns to become governor of SC and names Calhoun as the new Senator from SC

                                                          vii.      Jackson sends warships to the Charleston harbor and threatens to hang Calhoun for treason

                                                        viii.      S.C. calls a state convention and declares the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 invalid, and they would not be enforced after Feb.1, 1833.

                                                           ix.      Congress introduces a “force bill” to authorize the use of force to uphold the law

                                                             x.      Henry Clay (Jackson’s enemy) offers a compromise – tariffs would be reduced over a period of 9 years – both sides were looking for a way out.  SC never states that they cannot nullify a future law.

  1. Jackson and the Bank war
    1. Jackson opposed a national bank – he thought it put too much power in the hands of two few people
    2. Henry Clay and Nicholas Biddle (pres of 2nd National Bank) tried to get its charter renewed – Jackson vetoes renewal
    3. The election of 1832 is seen as a referendum on the National Bank
    4. Jackson wins the election easily (Martin Van Buren is the new VP) over Clay who runs as a Whig (National Republican Party), and William Wirt who represented the Anti-Masonic Party.
    5. Jackson removes all money from the National Bank which in effect ends the bank
  2. Elections of 1836 and 1840
    1. 1836 – Whigs run 3 regional candidates – they hope to throw the election into the House
    2. Jackson names Van Buren as the Democratic Party candidate
    3. Van Buren wins easily
    4. Jackson’s economic policies cause the economy to collapse – State banks could not provide enough credit to hold off a recession.  Van Buren then tightens the money supply and makes matters worse. 

                                                               i.      The States had spent the money that Jackson had sent to the State banks

                                                             ii.      England suffered from a recession – bought less cotton at the same time that western expansion had increased the supply of cotton.

                                                            iii.      Jackson imposed the “Specie circular” all federal land must be paid for in gold or silver – paper money would not be accepted

                                                           iv.      State banks did not have enough hard money to make loans

                                                             v.      Result was a severe depression

    1. Election of 1840 – Whigs win the election

                                                               i.      William Henry Harrison is elected – he chose Tyler as his VP because he was liked by the Democrats – he is more like a Democrat than a Whig

                                                             ii.      The court system was predominately Democratic due to 12 years of Democratic rule

                                                            iii.      Harrison dies from pneumonia one month after being elected (he wouldn’t wear a hat at his inauguration – this is why you should always listen to your mother).

                                                           iv.      Tyler takes over as President, and the Democrats are back in power.