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Chapter Eleven
The Growth of Democracy,
1824—1840
Part One
Introduction
Focus Questions
What was the role of Andrew Jackson’s
presidency in affirming and solidifying the new
democratic politics?
What part did the transportation revolution play in
unifying the nation?
How was the basic two-party pattern of American
political democracy established?
How did writers and artists and their audiences
create a distinctive American cultural identity?
Part Two
Martin Van Buren Forges a
New Kind of Political
Community
Martin Van Buren Forges a New
Kind of Political Community
Martin Van Buren Forges a New
Kind of Political Community
Son of a tavern keeper
Van Buren lacked
aristocratic connections
Van Buren built strong party
Part Three
The New Democratic
Politics in North America
Continental Struggles over Popular
Rights
In 1821, Mexican independence.
Santa Anna strongest early president
In Haiti, independence destroyed the sugar industry.
British Caribbean islands, numerous revolts lead to
abolition
Upper and Lower Canada union
The Expansion and Limits of
Suffrage
United States more than doubled between
1800 and 1830
Trans-Appalachian population grew tenfold.
MAP 11.1 Population Trends:
Westward Expansion, 1830
Westward population
movement, a trickle in 1800,
had become a flood by 1830.
Between 1800 and 1830, the
U.S. white and African American
population more than doubled
(from 5.3 million to 12.9 million),
but the trans-Appalachian
population grew tenfold (from
370,000 to 3.7 million). By
1830, more than a third of the
nation’s inhabitants lived west
of the original thirteen states.
The Expansion and Limits of
Suffrage
1800, only white, male, property owners could vote
in most states.
As western states entered Union, suffrage expanded.
1820 most older states dropped property
qualifications.
By 1840, 90 % of adult white males could vote.
Women and African Americans were barred from
voting.
MAP 11.2a The Growth of Universal White Male Suffrage Kentucky was the first western state to
enact white male suffrage without tax or property qualifications. Other western states followed, and
by 1820, most of the older states had dropped their suffrage restrictions as well. By 1840, more
than 90 percent of the nation’s white males could vote. But although voting was democratized for
white men, restrictions on free African American male voters grew tighter, and women were
excluded completely.
MAP 11.2b The Growth of Universal White Male Suffrage
FIGURE 11.1 Race Exclusions for Suffrage: 1790–1855 This graph shows clearly that as
more states entered the Union, laws excluding African American men from voting increased.
SOURCE:Alexander Keyssar,The Right to Vote (New York:Basic Books,2000)p.56.
The Election of 1824
1824 election marked end to Era of Good Feelings
Four candidates ran for the presidency.
Jackson won popular vote.
John Quincy Adams won due to so-called
“corrupt bargain.”
Adams’s initiatives blocked by Congress.
MAP 11.3 The Election of 1824
The presidential vote of 1824
was clearly sectional. John
Quincy Adams carried his native
New England and little else,
Henry Clay carried only his own
state of Kentucky and two
adjoining states, and Crawford’s
appeal was limited to Virginia
and Georgia. Only Andrew
Jackson moved beyond the
regional support of the Old
Southwest to wider appeal and
the greatest number of electoral
votes. Because no candidate had
a majority, however, the election
was thrown into the House of
Representatives, which chose
Adams.
The New Popular Democratic
Culture
More popular form of politics was
emerging.
Increased political participation and helped
elect Jackson president
Mass campaigning increases participation.
The New Popular Democratic
Culture: The Print Revolution
The print revolution most evident newspaper
growth.
Politics democratized by political pageantry.
Tightly-organized, broad-based political groups
emerged.
Party loyalty stressed.
FIGURE 11.2 The Burgeoning of Newspapers Newspapers have a long history in the
United States. Even before the American Revolution, the colonies boasted 37 newspapers
(see Chapter 6), and within little more than a decade, that number had nearly tripled. Toward
the end of the century, however, the number of newspapers expanded rapidly, by 1835
numbering more than 30 times that of 1775.
The Election of 1828
Jackson triumphed in 1828
Contest portrayed as struggle between democracy
and aristocracy.
His victory showed the strength of new parties.
MAP 11.4 The Election of 1828 Andrew Jackson’s victory in 1828 was the first success of
the new national party system. The coalition of state parties that elected him was national,
not regional. Although his support was strongest in the South and West, his ability to carry
Pennsylvania and parts of New York demonstrated his national appeal.
FIGURE 11.3 Pre–Civil War Voter Turnout The turnout of voters in presidential elections
more than doubled from 1824 to 1828, the year Andrew Jackson was first elected.Turnout
surged to 80 percent in 1840, the year the Whigs triumphed.The extension of suffrage to all
white men, and heated competition between two political parties with nationwide
membership, turned presidential election campaigns into events with great popular appeal.
Part Four
The Jackson Presidency
A Popular Figure
Jackson symbolized the frontier.
Unruly well-wishers led to “King Mob”
fears
A Strong Executive
Jackson’s Democrats created a national coalition.
Jackson was strong executive; consulted “Kitchen
Cabinet”.
Jackson strengthened presidency by using veto.
Most famous veto was defeat for rival Henry Clay.
The Nation’s Leader versus
Sectional Spokesmen
Regional spokespeople included:
Daniel Webster for the East;
John C. Calhoun for the South; and
Henry Clay for the West.
Jackson had national appeal.
The Nullification Crisis
Constitutional ambiguity.
Sectional interests.
States’ rights issue caused political controversies.
The Nullification Crisis
The 1828 “Tariff of Abominations”.
Calhoun defended nullification.
South Carolina nullified the 1833 tariff.
Jackson considered South Carolina’s treasonous;
Force Bill passed.
Henry Clay engineered compromise tariff.
Part Five
Changing the Course of
Government
Indian Removal
Jackson embraced Indian cession of their lands
and removal.
The five civilized southern tribes most affected.
Jackson pressed for Cherokee removal.
Indian Removal
Jackson defied the Supreme Court.
The Cherokee removal called “Trail of Tears.”
Removal Act of 1830 was strongly opposed by
northerners.
MAP 11.5 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.
Internal Improvements
1850: rivers, canals, road, and railroads
connected nation.
The transportation revolution.
States provided more funding for
infrastructure.
Legal Support for Private Enterprise
Supreme Court fostered economic growth:
asserting federal power over interstate
commerce; and
encouraging economic competition by denying
monopolies.
State laws granted charters of incorporation.
The Bank War
Second Bank of the United States (1816) quasi-private
institution.
The Second Bank acted as currency stabilizer by:
encouraging the growth of strong and stable
financial interest; and
curbing less stable and irresponsible ones.
Eastern merchants liked bank.
Western farmers and speculators feared Bank.
Jackson vetoed the re-chartering bill.
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. SOURCE:Library of Congress.
Jackson's Reelection in 1832
1832 Jackson soundly defeated Clay.
Jackson put federal money in “pet” banks.
Jackson claimed he could ignore
Congressional.
Whigs, Van Buren, and the Election
of 1836
The Bank called in commercial loans, causing a
recession.
Jackson’s opponents founded an opposition
party—the Whigs.
The new party lost 1836 election to Martin Van
Buren.
The Panic of 1837
Bank death led to Panic of 1837.
Depression gave Whigs opportunity.
Part Six
The Second American Party
System
Whigs and Democrats
Democrats:
Organized to elect Jackson
Party spoke for Jeffersonian democracy,
Power base lay in rural South, West, northern
urban workers
Whigs and Democrats
Whigs:
Organized in opposition to Jackson
Heirs to Federalism,
Power base lay in the North and Old Northwest
The Campaign of 1840
1840 Whigs portrayed Harrison as humble
man.
The Whigs won a sweeping electoral
victory.
MAP 11.6 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
JohnTyler 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.
Tyler vetoed a series of bills.
The Whigs were unable to bridge the gap between
North and South.
Part Seven
American Arts and Letters
Popular Cultures and the Spread of
the Written Word
Communications revolution.
Newspapers and almanacs fostered popular
culture.
Creating a National American
Culture
An intellectual movement.
Irving, Cooper, and Emerson created
distinctly American culture.
Artists and Builders
Artists drew American landscape and
lifestyles.
Neoclassical remained the architectural
style.
Balloon frame construction helped housing
grow.
Asher Durand, a member of the
Hudson River School of landscape
painting, produced this work,
Kindred Spirits, in 1849, as a tribute
to Thomas Cole, the school’s
leader. Cole is one of the figures
depicted standing in a romantic
wilderness. SOURCE:Courtesy of The New York Public Library.
This well-known painting by George Caleb Bingham, Stump Speaking, shows a group of men (and
boys, and dogs) of all social classes brought together by their common interest in politics.
SOURCE:George Caleb Bingham (American 1811 –79),Stump Speaking ,1853 –54 Oil on canvas,42 1 /2 x 58 in.The Saint Louis Art Museum,gift of Bank of America.Photo © The Saint Louis Art Museum..
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. SOURCE:Crockett Almanac Library of Congress.
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. SOURCE:Library of
the Athenaeum.Wood engraving,1855.Collection of the Boston Athenaeum.
Nullification Crisis
State’s rights versus
Federal laws
Indian Removal Act
Act passed by Congress to
remove 5 Southeastern
tribes.
Trail of Tears
Forced removal of Cherokee
Bank War
Jackson’s battle with the Second
Bank of the US
Specie Circular
Jackson rule that only gold or
silver could be used in land
sales.
How did suffrage expand
between 1800 and 1840?
Voting eligibility increased from
white male property owners to
white males.
What steps did Andrew
Jackson take to strengthen
the executive branch of the
federal government?
Veto, veto, veto, spoils system,
kitchen cabinet.
What led to the
Transportation Revolution?
Westward expansion
Who were Andrew
Jackson’s most important
opponents and what did
they support?
Clay, Calhoun, Webster;
transportation, nationalist, 2nd
bank, tariff, strong federal govt.
What were the main issues
of the campaign of 1840?
Whigs versus Democrats; rural
small government proponents
versus pro strong central
government and pro BUS
What role did newspapers
and pamphlets play in
American pop culture in the
first half of the 19th
century?
Scandal, headlines, up-to-date
news due to…..