Class Powerpoint

1. THE AGE OF JACKSON
Essential Question: How did Andrew Jackson’s
presidency influence the spread of American
democracy?

2. THE “CORRUPT BARGAIN”
• Election of 1824- Andrew Jackson won far more
popular votes than his opponents (Henry Clay,
John Q. Adams, and William Crawford)
• No candidate won a majority of electoral votes
• The House of Representatives would decide the
presidency
• Clay and Crawford would be eliminated, leaving
the race down to Jackson and Adams
• Henry Clay (Speaker of the House) urged his
followers to support Adams. This gave Adams
enough to win.
• Jackson and his followers called this a “corrupt
bargain.”
• Many thought that Clay and Adams had an
agreement to allow Clay to become Secretary
of State.

3. NEW PARTIES EMERGE
• After the election of 1824, the old
Democratic-Republicans split
• Adams/Clay supporters called
themselves National
Republicans (business owners,
Southern planters, and former
Federalists)
• Jackson’s supporters formed a
new version of the Democratic-
Republicans and their name was
shortened to the Democratic
party.
• Today’s Democratic Party traces
its roots to the time of Jackson

4. ELECTION OF 1824-
REVIEW
• Why did the House of Representatives have to choose
a winner between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy
Adams?
• After the House chose Adams, why did Jackson and his
followers call this a “corrupt bargain?”
• After the election, the Democratic-Republicans split.
Which modern party traces its roots to the followers of
Jackson?

5. ELECTION OF 1828- THE
BIRTH OF MODERN
POLITICS• Re-match between Jackson and Adams
• Jackson and the Democrats favored states’
rights and distrusted a strong central
government
• National Republicans favored a strong
government and supported building roads and
a national bank for help economic growth
• Mudslinging, slogans, rallies, and buttons
became more common with this election
• Jackson received most of the votes from the
frontier and the South, where states’ rights
was supported
• John C. Calhoun, Adams’ former VP,
switched parties to run with Jackson
• Jackson won easily and officially formed the
Democratic Party

6. ELECTION OF 1828-
REVIEW• Which party favored states’ rights and distrusted a strong
central government?
• Which party favored a strong government and a national
bank?
• What were some of the characteristics of this particular
election?
• Who switched parties to run with Jackson?
• Which groups favored Jackson the most?
• Who won the election?

7. JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY
• Americans admired Jackson- patriot, self-
made man, war hero
• Ordinary people came to the inauguration
• Jackson promised “equal protection and equal
benefits” (for white men, of course)
• Prior to Jackson, only land-owning, tax-paying,
white men could vote
• Jackson and the Democrats were disturbed
that the government had become a
bureaucracy- a system where non-elected
officials carried out the laws
• Jackson believed that Congress represented
the interests of the wealthy, so he increased
the power of the presidency
• Jackson viewed himself as a leader for the
“common man.”

8. JACKSONIAN
DEMOCRACY-REVIEW
• Why did Americans admire Jackson?
• How did Jackson change voting rights?
• Jackson wanted to stop the government
bureaucracy. What does this term mean?
• Why did Jackson increase the power of the
presidency?

9. THE SPOILS SYSTEM
• When Jackson took office, he
fired many government
workers and replaced them
with his supporters
• Fired workers accused him of
acting like a tyrant
• Supporters said “to the victor
belong the spoils”
• The practice of replacing
government workers became
known as the spoils system.

10. THE SPOILS SYSTEM-
REVIEW
• Describe the “spoils system.”

11. JACKSON’S BATTLE WITH
THE BANK
• Jackson hated the bank because
he felt it catered to the wealthy
• Jackson’s opponents (Henry
Clay and Daniel Webster) tried
to use the bank to defeat him in
the 1832 election
• Opponents believed that if
Jackson vetoed the renewal of
the Bank’s charter, he would
lose the support of the people.
They were wrong.
• Jackson vetoed the Bank’s
renewal, killing the Bank.

12. NULLIFICATION CRISIS
• Review- tariff was making
European goods expensive,
which encouraged people to buy
American goods.
• Southerners disliked the tariff
because they enjoyed selling
cotton to Europe
• After Congress passed a high
tariff law in 1828, John C.
Calhoun (VP) stated that
Southern states had the right to
nullify any federal law not in their
best interest
• Jackson disagreed and believed
nullification would destroy the
Union

13. NULLIFICATION CRISIS
(CONT.)
• Jackson and Calhoun argued at a dinner
• Jackson said “The Union must be
preserved!”
• Calhoun said “It can only be preserved
by respecting the rights of the states!”
• Congress passed the Maysville Road Bill
which gave money to build a road in
Kentucky
• Jackson vetoed the bill because the road
would be completely inside of KY. He
believed it was a state issue and state
money should pay for it.
• Jackson believed the federal government
should only support projects that
benefited the entire nation.

14. NULLIFICATION CRISIS
(CONT.)
• In 1832, Congress passed a lower tariff but
South Carolina responded by passing the
Nullification Act
• SC declared it would not pay “illegal
tariffs”
• SC threatened to secede (break away
from the Union) if the federal
government interfered
• In an attempt to keep the Union strong,
Jackson signed the Force Bill allowing the
government to use the military to enforce
federal law.
• SC would eventually accept the new
tariff but nullify the Force Bill
• This was the first time a sectional conflict
was debated out in the open

15. NULLIFICATION CRISIS-
REVIEW
• What did John C. Calhoun believe about the tariff?
• How did Jackson feel about nullification?
• Why did Jackson veto the Maysville Road Bill?
• South Carolina passed the Nullification Act. What did this act
say?
• What was the Force Bill?
• Why did Jackson sign the Force Bill?

16. INDIAN REMOVAL
• Many Native American tribes were
successful, especially in the east
• The Seminole, Cherokee, Creek,
Chickasaw, and Choctaw were
called the “Five Civilized Tribes”
• Americans wanted to land wanted
to relocate these tribes to west of
the MS River
• Jackson had fought the Seminole
and Creek prior to becoming
president
• Jackson wanted to move ALL
Native Americans to the Great
Plains

17. INDIAN REMOVAL (CONT.)• Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act-
allowed the government to pay Native
Americans to move west
• Jackson sent officials to make treaties with
Native Americans in the Southeast
• Congress set up the Indian Territory in
modern-day Oklahoma- this would be their
destination
• The Cherokee refused to sell because they
had been given status as a separate nation in
the 1790s
• Georgia refused to recognize the Cherokee
Nation and began enforcing state laws on the
Cherokee
• Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Marshall
ruled in favor of the Cherokee with Worcester
v. Georgia but Jackson ignored his ruling
• No one wanted to challenge the president’s
power

18. INDIAN REMOVAL- THE
TREATY OF NEW ECHOTA
• The Cherokee were divided about
what to do
• By 1835, around 500 Cherokee
signed the Treaty of New Echota,
surrendering all land by 1838
• Cherokee leader John Ross
protested and argued that the Treaty
Party (the 500) did NOT represent
the views of the entire nation of
17,000
• Some American officials like Henry
Clay and Daniel Webster opposed
the treaty
• In 1836, the Treaty of New Echota
passed in the Senate by a single vote

19. INDIAN REMOVAL- “THE
TRAIL OF TEARS”
• By 1838, only 2,000
Cherokee had left so
Jackson’s successor, Martin
Van Buren, ordered the
military to remove the rest
• The remaining 15,000 were
unprepared, illness broke
out at the very beginning
and 2,000 died
• Once on the trail, another
2,000 died from hunger and
the weather

20. INDIAN REMOVAL-REVIEW
• Why did the American government want to relocate the Five Civilized
Tribes to the area west of the Mississippi River?
• What were the details of the Indian Removal Act?
• Where was the government created “Indian Territory” located?
• Which Supreme Court case ruled in favor of the Cherokee?
• Why wasn’t this ruling enforced?
• Why did Cherokee leader, John Ross, oppose the Treaty of New
Echota?
• Why was Indian Removal referred to as the “Trail of Tears?