Election of 1828

• The election of 1828 was a rematch of the top contenders of the Election of 1824

– Senator from Tennessee Andrew Jackson

– U.S. President (Massachusetts) John Q. Adams

• The election of 1828 was very bitter and personal.

– Not only did both candidates insult each other’s political parties, but they began criticizing each other’s personalities and character

– The campaigns descended into mudslinging.

• Political term for insults going back and forth

• Adams claimed that Jackson was immoral and unintelligent.

• Jackson portrayed himself as the candidate of the “common man” and depicted Adams as an aristocrat who only cared about the wealthy.

– Jackson also labeled Adams as a gambler because he purchased a pool table for the White House

• Andrew Jackson won…– 178 electoral votes– 15 states– 56% of the votes

• John Q. Adams won…– 83 Electoral Votes– 9 states– 43.6 votes of the votes

• Andrew Jackson becomes the 7th president of the United States

Andrew Jackson

• In office: 1829 - 1837

• Lived 1767 – 1845

• Born in South Carolina,

• Elected from Tennessee

• Military experience

– Led the U.S. to victory at the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812

• Nickname was “Old Hickory” Hickory is an extremely hard and tough piece of wood.

A New Era in Politics

• The election of 1828 signified a new era in American Politics. – The normal, everyday person became more

involved in politics.

Reasons for this

*Many states dropped the requirement that all voters must own property before they were allowed to register to vote.

*Overall population of the entire nation increased, which meant and increase in voters.

1824: about 335,000 people voted

1828: 1.1 million people voted

1840: more than 2.4 million people will vote

Second Party System

• This new interest in voting launched the time period known as the Second Party System.

• Second Party System: The United States political system from 1828 to 1845 which was characterized by people’s deep devotion to the political parties and their leaders of the time.

Andrew Jackson as President

• As President, Jackson aimed to continue to appeal to the “common” American.

– His actions and ideas are characterized and summed up in the term “Jacksonian Democracy”

Jacksonian Democracy

• Second Party System

• Spoils System

• National Nominating System

• Laissez-faire Economies and the termination of the National Bank

Spoils System

• Jackson believed that ordinary citizens should play a greater role in the government.

– He supported the spoils system.

• Spoils System: The practice of appointing people to government jobs on the basis of party loyalty and support.– The Spoils System is a way of rewarding

supporters with government jobs.– More common people could work for the

government.

• Jackson viewed the Spoils System as Democratic.

• He wanted to get rid of the permanent office-holding social class (wealthy)– Jackson is quoted for saying that government

jobs were “so plain and simple, they should be rotated at will and given to the supporters”.

National Nominating Convention

• Jackson was not only aimed to make Government jobs more Democratic, but he wanted to change the way that Presidential candidates were selected.

• At the time, political parties used the caucus system to select presidential candidates.

• Caucus System: Members of the party who served in Congress, would meet to choose the nominee for the president.

– Jackson believed this method restricted access to office. It was too difficult for an outsider to become nominated because congress members would be bias towards colleagues.

• Jackson replaced the caucus with the national nominating convention.

• At nominating conventions, delegates from the states gathered to decide on the party’s presidential nominee.

• Through the convention, supporters believed that political power would come from the people (voters) rather than from elite business men

• In 1832, the Democrats held a convention to re-nominate Jackson for president.

Laissez-faire Economies

• Jackson didn’t only extend voting to the more common people of the country, but he attempted to change the country’s economic system.

• Jackson believed in a Laissez-faire Economy

• Laissez-faire is a French phrase for “let do”…basically means to “leave it be”

• Laissez-faire Economics is a belief that private industries and businesses should be free from strict government regulations.– It is a hands off approach to the country’s

economy.

• Jackson’s opponents, the Whig Party, supported Government interventions in the country’s private businesses. – Government funded production of railroads,

banking, and city development

• Jackson felt that private companies should be able to pick up these projects, thus increasing income of the “common” man

• Jackson launched a campaign against the country’s National Bank.– Jackson regarded the Second National Bank as

monopoly and that it benefited only the wealthy.

• What Jackson failed to see was that the National bank actually did a good job stabilizing the country’s money supply and interest rates.

• On his 1832 campaign, Jackson’s opponents introduced a bill that would extend the national bank’s charter for another twenty years.

• Congress passed the bill, but Jackson vetoed it.

• Jackson was re-elected to a second term.

– He took his election victory as a hint from the national public

– Ending the National Bank was a major promise on his campaign, so he believed that it was what the people wanted.

• Jackson withdrew ALL of the government’s deposits from the National Bank and deposited them into banks owned by the states.– The removal of the government deposits forced

the Bank to call in its loans and stop lending.

• Critics of Jackson say that his termination of the National Bank did not have any immediate effects on the country’s economy, but eventually, it contributed to the financial troubles that plagued the country in the years ahead.

Indian Removal Act

• Jackson’s commitment to extend democracy to everyone in the country was not in fact completely true.

• His attitudes towards Native Americans reflected the views of many westerners at the time.

• In 1830, Jackson pushed the Indian Removal Act.

• The Indian Removal Act provided money for relocating Native Americans from the Western states to the Great Plains.

• Most of the Native Americans gave into the Act, and resettled in the West. – But not the Cherokee in Georgia

• The Cherokee hired lawyers and sued the state of Georgia

• In 1832, Chief Justice John Marshall ordered state officials to honor Cherokee property rights. – President Jackson intervened and refused to

support the decision.

• Though the Cherokee won the trial, Jackson still used the U.S. military to force the Cherokee out of Georgia.

• Most of the Cherokee resisted to move until 1838.

• The U.S. Army marched into the Cherokee villages and forced them out of their homes.

• The army forced the Cherokee people to march from North Georgia all the way to what is now Oklahoma.– 1,500 miles …by foot…

• About 4,000 Cherokees died from either disease or starvation during the migration.

• The forced migration became known to the Cherokee people as the Trail of Tears.

• Due to the history of militaristic conflicts with the Native Americans, most people in the country supported the Indian Removal Act.– A very small percentage of the country denounced

the harsh treatment of the Native Americans

• By 1839, the government had moved most of the Native Americans to the Great Plains. – Only the Seminole in Florida remained east of the

Mississippi River.

A New Party Emerges

• In the mid-1830’s a new political party emerged to oppose President Jackson and the ideasof Jacksonian Democracy.

• The Whigs

– Named themselves after the political party in England that worked to limit the power of the King.

The Whigs

• The Whigs wanted to expand the federal government, industrial and commercial development, and centralize (take more control if) the economy.