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JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY
1820-1845
MONROE DOCTRINE
The Monroe Doctrine was announced by President Monroe
in 1823 and developed by John Quincy Adams
Latin American countries began to announce their independence
from their European controllers in the early 1800’s
 The United States believed that their was a chance European powers would come back to
the western hemisphere to reassert their control over the region.
The Monroe Doctrine Stated that the counties in the Western
Hemisphere were now off limits to European control and the
United States would “police” the region.
POLICY TOWARDS NATIVE AMERICANS
1824: Monroe announced that all Native Americans be moved west of the Mississippi
River.
 These Tribes had signed legal treaties for land, but settlers constantly encroached on Native American
territory
 Monroe claimed that settlers would not bother Native Americans if the settled west
 The state of Georgia put major pressure the Cherokee to sell the land they held in that state.
 Cherokees believed they had a legal treaty for that land and took the case to the federal court.
1831 CHEROKEE NATION V. GEORGIA
 Chief Justice John Marshall stated that the Native Americans had no real
standing in court, since they were not a state or a foreign country, but the
Cherokee’s did have a right to the land that they possessed.
 With Andrew Jackson now as president he claims “John Marshall has made his decision: Let him
enforce it.”
 Jackson was a strong proponent of Indian Removal, announcing this in his inaugural speech
 War of 1812 Jackson fought and took 60% of the Creek tribes land
 Signed the Removal act of 1830 which authorized the removal of all tribes east of the Mississippi.
 1831Tribes were forced to move at gun point
 1838 The Cherokees were marched west in what was called the Trail of Tears.
 1/3 of the tribe died due to disease, exhaustion, and hunger
 Indian Resistance continued in Florida until 1841 called the Seminole Wars.
RISE OF DEMOCRATIZATION
Prior to 1820 the voters were widely white, and male.
 State Legislatures lowered or eliminated the property eligibility to vote.
 This allowed for the common man to vote.
 Blacks, and women were still excluded from the political process.
 By 1824 electors for the electoral college in 18 of the 24 states were chosen by popular vote.
 Campaigning became common place as banners, posters, buttons, and hats were being mass produced
by 1828.
 All of this created an egalitarian democracy.
ELECTION OF 1824
Four Republicans ran for presidency.
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Secretary of Treasury William Crawford
Speaker of the House Henry Clay
Secretary of State John Quincy Adams
Tennessee Militia Leader Andrew Jackson.
Jackson won the plurality of popular vote but only 38% of the electoral vote
 The election was turned over to the House of Representatives.
 In a back room deal Speaker of the House Henry Clay gave Adams his support for presidency for the position of Sec. of State in
his Administration.
 This would overshadow John Quincy Adams presidency for the next four years as Jacksonian
supporters saw this as the “corrupt bargain” and did everything to sabotage his presidency.
1828 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
The presidential campaign was the first time that both campaigns utilized Campaign
Rallies.
 Jackson Supporters:
 The 1824 election was stolen away from them, and that Adams gave too many “fancy dinners” to the political establishment.
 Claimed that when Adams was on envoy to Russia he helped procure American prostitutes for the Russian Tsar.
 Adams Supporters:
 Jackson was a murderer and an adulterer
 Jackson’s wife was an adulteress
Jackson won the election which finally created for the first time the Democratic Party
that we know today.
JACKSON AS PRESIDENT
Jackson did come from very humble beginnings, and was very popular with the
“common man”, though he was an elite plantation owning slaveholding western
farmer.
 Jackson was experienced.
 Served as a Congressman and Senator from Tennessee
 Was the Territorial Governor of Florida.
 When president Jackson rarely took advice from his presidential cabinet, and instead on his “Kitchen
Cabinet” which was the inner circle of his political supporters.
 Also utilized the spoils system to give other political supporters jobs in the government.
JACKSONIAN AGENDA
Jackson wanted to revert back to the Jeffersonian ideal of
independent yeoman farmers being the predominate
occupation in America.
 Jackson supported deregulation of the economy and smaller
government to help protect the common person.
Jackson used the Presidential veto to stop any government
programs that he felt were excessive.
 Jackson appointed Roger B. Taney as Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court.
 Taney would validate almost all of Jackson’s States Rights
incentives.
Many of Jackson’s opponents felt Jackson was a hypocrite.
 He spoke of limiting government, but increased the
Presidential power
 Called him King Andrew I
 Jackson was a slave owner, and supported the system of
slavery.
NULLIFICATION CONTROVERSY
In 1828 Congress passed a new tariff on imported manufactured cloth and iron.
 The cost of goods rose dramatically
 South Carolina began to revisit the doctrine of nullification that mentioned in the Kentucky and Virginia
Resolution in 1798
 Nullification is the idea that states have the right to rule whether federal legislation is constitutional.
 John C. Calhoun (Jackson’s VP) said that the practice of nullification was essential to protect states from
the potential tyrannical federal government.
1830: WEBSTER-HAYNE DEBATE
U.S. Senate Debate over western land sales.
Robert Hayne of South Carolina believed that South Carolina had
the right to nullify the US decision to stop surveying land until after
they have sold the land they had to sell.
 Daniel Webster of Massachusetts believed that nullification were to proceed,
that results would be “states disserved, discordant, belligerent; on a land
rent with civil feuds, or drenched … in fraternal blood!”
Jackson was strongly for states rights, but was also strongly against
nullification.
SOUTH CAROLINA NULLIFICATION
1834: New tariffs were passed in congress on imported goods.
 November 1832, South Carolina held a convention to nullify the law
imposing the tariffs.
 Jackson moved troops and federal marshals to South Carolina to collect the
tariff payments there.
Congress authorized these decisions when it passed the Force Act.
 John C. Calhoun resigned from Vice President
 Congress also passed legislation to lower the taxes to an acceptable level
for South Carolina.
BANK CRISIS
Second National Bank of the United States was chartered in 1816
 This was apart of Henry Clays American System.
 Jackson did not like the idea of the National government controlling the National Economy.
 This included the National Bank
Henry Clay began to start a run for the Presidency in 1832 and wanted to campaign
for the re-chartering of the national bank.
 Henry believed that the support for the national bank would help in in the campaign.
 Jackson vetoed the re-chartering proposal because it would only serve special interests.
 This made Jackson the clear favorite for reelection
Jackson in 1833 tried to destroy the national bank.
 Money was to be removed from the National Bank and moved to state and local banks
 The director of the National Bank Nicholas Biddle called in loans that had been made to state banks.
 It resulted in this Bank War that would lead to the panic of 1837 and a depression that would last into the 1840’s
WHIG PARTY
1830’s the Whig Party emerged as a
major opposition party the the
Democrats.
 Democrats’ Platform:
 Saw urbanization and industrialization as necessary evils
 They still favored a Jeffersonian America
 Whigs’ Platform:
 Favored more government involvement in economic activity
 Proponent of National Bank
 Controlled settlement out west
 Supported reformist legislation
 The Northern businessmen, and Southern
Planter’s supported the Whig party.