a white man’s country

A White Man’s Country

The Contradictions of Jacksonian Era

• Example: The Dorr War (1841)• Most states remove property qualifications– Meaning most white men can vote– Not Rhode Island– Site of growing factory production

• Many propertyless workers

– Reformers call a “People’s Convention”• Gives all white men right to vote• Takes away right from black men

– They elect lawyer Thomas Dorr governor

– Pres. John Tyler crushes rebellion– Dorr goes to jail for treason– Legislature removes property qualifications for

black and white

Conundrum of Jacksonian Democracy

– Expanding democracy– Expanding slavery in the cotton kingdom– Racist Andrew Jackson icon of the era– By 1840, 90% of white men could vote

Big Picture

• Jefferson succeeded by Madison and Monroe– Still from the revolutionary generation– Decolonization in South America• Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, etc. get independence

Monroe Doctrine (1823)

Big Picture

• Bank of United States acts as government’s financial arm– Semi-private institution– Akin to Federal Reserve today– Prints, lends money

Problems with the Bank

– Constitutional doubts– Helps fuel boom/bust, lending to fund western

expansion– Panic of 1819• Debtors over-extended• Want relief • Some states help debtors at expense of creditos

– Raises suspicion of banks

Problems with Expansion

– Missouri fiasco splits North and South– Problem of dividing up Louisiana Purchase– Slave or free?– Already slaves there

The Missouri Compromise

– Compromise:• Maine admitted as free state• Missouri as slave• Slavery prohibited in all territory north of 36°30′

latitude– Guys like Jefferson and John Quincy Adams knew

it was a danger to the Union

Enter “Old Hickory”

Andrew Jackson

• Hero of New Orleans/War of 1812• Ran for president in 1824• Won popular vote but failed to win majority in

Electoral College

• Lost to John Quincy Adams– Son of 2nd president– aristocratic New Englander– intellectual– not a very good politician– wanted the govt to do a lot

Jackson Strikes Back

• 1828 victory revolutionizes politics– Well-organized political parties– Founding of Democratic Party– Most white men can vote– Patronage

Jackson’s Ideas

– Limited government– Popular participation in govt for white men– Opportunity for whites, but definitely not Indians

and blacks

Democrats Worry about Inequality

– Industrialization, growing commerce– Suspicion toward bankers, merchants, speculators– Supported by small farmers, aspiring

businessmen, urban workers

New Opposition: the Whig Party

– Believed in progress– Tariff to protect industries– Active federal govt– Tended to be supported by rich planters, already-

successful merchants and bankers, Northerners

Battles of the Jackson Era

• Southerners didn’t like tariff, threaten “nullification”

Indian Removal

– Expansion of cotton production– Pushes into Indian lands in the South– Cherokees, Choctaws and other “civilized tribes”

screwed– Georgia expels them

The Trail of Tears

– Supreme Court (1832): removal violates treaties with federal govt

– “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it” – Jackson

– 18,000 Cherokees forced to move in 1838-9– 1/4 die on the way to Oklahoma

Seminoles in FL Keep Fighting

– Second Seminole War (1835-1842)– Indians, escaped slaves join forces– 1,500 US soldiers die– Similar # of Seminoles– Most forced to leave

The Bank War

– Bank of US helped finance expansion

– People suspicious of its power and authority

– Led by a big snob from Philly named Nicholas Biddle

– Bank charter to expire in 1836– Jackson vetoed bill to extend it– Saw it as tool of the “rich and powerful”

– Jackson puts $$$ into state banks w/ political connections

– They start printing money recklessly, causing speculation and inflation

– Economic crash in England causes Panic of 1837– Followed by deep depression

– First Whig president elected in 1840– Another military hero: William Henry Harrison– Dies in office after thirty days– Total fiasco– His successor disagrees with Whigs on everything

Recap: What the Hell Happened?

• Democratization mostly benefits white men• Economic growth, westward expansion on the

backs of Indians and slaves