Major Themes

• A new spirit of mass democracy, symbolized by Jackson’s election to the Presidency, swept through American society, bringing new energy as well as conflict and corruption to public life
• The growth of the Whigs signaled the emergence of the second American political party system

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Major Question

What were the advantages and disadvantages of the politics of mass democracy?

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Pre-Reading

What were the basic tenets of “Jeffersonian democracy?”

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Outline

Intro

• Economic distress and the issue on slavery raised the political stakes in the 1820's and 1830's
• New political campaigning parties emerged and new ways of campaigning were used as politicians tried to sway the minds of the voters.
• Poeple no longer viewed political parties as corrupt but instead as a vital part of the checks and balances of the American democracy.
• 1828, the democrats came to be and faced opposition from a party in the form of the Whigs.
• People started voting, while in 1824 only 25% of the population voted, that number increased to 78% in 1840.

The "Corrupt Bargain" of 1824

• Four candidates towered above the others: John quincy adams of Massachusetts, henry Clay of Kentucky, William H crawford of Georgia, and Andrew jackson of tenessee all ran 1824
• All four rivals professed to be Republicans but Andrew Jackson had the strongest appeal especially in the West where his campaign against the forces of corruption and privilege in government resonated deeply.
• 1825 Adams was elected president and Henry clay was the new secretary of state
• Angry Jacksonian protestors complained about the corrupt bargain between Adams and Clay.

A Yankee Misfit in the White House

• It was difficult for John Adams to win support because people thought he lead with corruption. he also did not possess many arts or qualities of a politition.
• Much of the nation was turning away from post-Ghent nationalism and toward states rights and sectionalism.
• Adams urged the construction of roads and canals. He renewed george washintons proposal for a university.
• The public reaction to these proposals was prompt and unfactorable. observatories seemed like a waste of money to the American public
• Adams land policty agonized the westerners and they clamored for wide open expansion.

Going Whole Hog for Jackson in 1828

• Republicans had spit into two parties for Jackson and political mudslinging exaterated both parties. 1828 opposing parties described how Jacksons mother was a prostitute and his wife as an adultress
• Jackson also participated in the mudslinging and described how Adams was a gambler and won a slave girl in a bet.

"Old Hickory" as President

• Jackson was brought up as an early orphaned brawler who fought more than he looked to learn and read.
• Once he found to express himself in writing he moved "up west" to Tenessee.
• He became a member of the Congress, became involved in many duels and arguments because of his temper and passion.
• 1832 he was nominated as president, second president without a college education (Washington was the first)
• His election symbolized a rising of the masses and people from all over the backcountry traveled to see him inaugarated and perhaps get a political office themselves.
• He opened the White house to the public and the masses rushed in, breaking everything and some even threatening the president.
• Many shuddered for these were the opening seens for the bloody French Revolution.

The Spoils System

• Jackson designed the spoils system to reward supporters of the democratic party.
• The system gave high ranking positions in government to the people who had helped the democratic party no matter how incompetent they were.
• There hadn't been a big political overturn since the fall of the Federalist party in 1800.
• The spoils system led to corruption when many of the men in office were illiterate and incompetent and took the position is office for the spoils not the toils of the office.
• Samuel Swarthout, who was appointed as the collector of customs in the port of New York, was the first politician to steal money from the government in the sum of 1 million dollars.

"Old Hickory" Wallops Clay in 1832

• During Jackson's running for second term, Jackson recieved fierce opposition from Henry Clay.
• For the first time, a third party entered the field, the party was known as the anti-Masonic party.
  • The anti-Masons were a group that was opposed to the influence and fearsome secrecy of the of the Masonic order, condemning them as the citadels of privelege and monopoly.
  • The party attracted the support of the Protestants, looking to use political power to influence the effect of religious morals and reforms.
• Henry Clay and the National Republicans enjoyed ample funds supplied by the Bank of the United States in the sum of $50,000.
• Jackson, idol of the masses, overswept the Henry Clay in a lopsided vote of 219 to 49 in electoral votes.

Burying Biddle's Bank

• The Bank of the Unites States was due to expire in 1836.
• In 1833 Jackson decided to bury the bank for good by removing federal deposits from its vaults. By slowly siphoning off the government's funds, he would bleed the band dry and ensure its demise.
• The president's closest advisors opposed this policy. Jackson was forced to reshuffle his cabinet twice before he could find a secretary of the Treasury who would bend to his iron will.
• Surplus federal funds were placed in several dozen state institutions called "pet banks"

 

The Election of 1836

• Jackson carefully rigged the nominating convention so that Martin Van Buren would win.
• The Whigs couldn't nominate a single presidential candidate. Their strategy was to instead run several prominent "favorite sons." They hoped to scatter the vote so that no candidate would win a majority. However Van Buren still won.

Big Woes for the Little Magician

• Martin Van Buren was the 8th president and the first to be born in America. He had great experience in legislative and administrative life, which put him ahead.
• He had many enemies such as the Democrats and the ones who hated Jackson
• Canadian rebellion against Britain causing toil in the northern frontier.
• Van Buren also entered at the beginning of a depression

 

Politics for the People

• The election of 1840 demonstrated some major changes in American politics since the Era of Good Feelings. One change was the triumph of a populist democratic style.
• The common man was now moving to the center of the national political stage.

The Two-Party System