LECTURE #9: The Age of Jackson

(1829-1844)

Presented byDerrick J. Johnson, MPA, JD

Advanced Placement United States History

School for Advanced Studies

President Andrew Jackson Born: March 15, 1767 Died: June 8, 1845 Term in Office: (1829-1837) Political Party: Democratic

The Andrew Jackson Presidency

The Andrew Jackson Presidency

The Jackson CabinetOffice Name Term

President Andrew Jackson 1829–1837

Vice PresidentJohn C. Calhoun 1829–1832None 1832–1833Martin Van Buren 1833–1837

Secretary of State

Martin Van Buren 1829–1831Edward Livingston 1831–1833Louis McLane 1833–1834John Forsyth 1834–1837

Secretary of Treasury

Samuel D. Ingham 1829–1831Louis McLane 1831–1833William J. Duane 1833Roger B. Taney 1833–1834Levi Woodbury 1834–1837

Secretary of WarJohn H. Eaton 1829–1831Lewis Cass 1831–1836

Attorney GeneralJohn M. Berrien 1829–1831Roger B. Taney 1831–1833Benjamin F. Butler 1833–1837

Postmaster GeneralWilliam T. Barry 1829–1835Amos Kendall 1835–1837

Secretary of the NavyJohn Branch 1829–1831Levi Woodbury 1831–1834Mahlon Dickerson 1834–1837

The Andrew Jackson Presidency

Supreme Court Appointments by President Jackson

John McLean – 1830Henry Baldwin – 1830

James Moore Wayne – 1835Roger Brooke Taney (Chief Justice) – 1836

Philip Pendleton Barbour – 1836John Catron – 1837

States Admitted to the UnionArkansas – June 15, 1836

Michigan – January 26, 1837

Andrew Jackson was raised in a log cabin, but by the time he became president, he was a wealth slaveholder and planter.

He was the first President from the West and the first to earn his fame by fighting Indians.

Jackson’s prior political experience included being a congressman and a senator from Tennessee and the Territorial Governor of Florida.

The Andrew Jackson Presidency

Jackson was a very popular figure amongst the common people.

Jackson became a great proponent of the spoils system, in which he gave federal jobs to his political supporters. He would meet with his appointed cabinet infrequently and meet with his “kitchen cabinet’ on a regular basis.

Jackson opposed excessive government involvement in economic affairs, because he believed that such involvement benefited the wealthy more so than the common man.

Jackson also believed in having a smaller government and he used his veto to stop what he saw as excessive.

Towards the end of his presidency, Jackson would appoint Roger Taney, as Chief Justice, who would lead the U.S. Supreme Court in following Jackson’s ideals of state rights.

Despite his popularity, Jackson was seen as a power eager tyrant to his opponents. The powers of the presidency would expand greatly under his watch and he would use his powers in a questionable manner on many occasions, thus earning the nickname of “King Andrew I.”

The Nullification Crisis In 1828, Congress passed a bill authorizing new tariffs on

imported manufactured cloth and iron. The cost of the goods rose dramatically and legislators in South Carolina began to revisit the doctrine of nullification.

Vice President John C. Calhoun came out as a strong proponent of nullification, as a means to protect the states from potential tyranny of the federal government.

Jackson was a believer in state rights, but he strongly opposed nullification.

A debate between Senators Robert Hayne and Daniel Webster, concerning nullification, occurred on the floor of the Senate. Webster foreshadowed that a civil war would occur if Hayne and his supporters were allowed to advanced the notion of nullification.

New tariffs were introduced in 1832, and a special convention in South Carolina convened to vote to nullify the laws.

Jackson sent troops and federal marshals to South Carolina to enforce the law and collect tariff payments.

Vice President Calhoun resigned in protest, becoming the first Vice President to leave office prior to the expiration of his term.

Congress later passed a bill lowering the tariffs and South Carolina dropped its nullification efforts.

The Peggy Eaton Affair

Peggy Eaton was the wife of Jackson’s secretary of war, and she was the target of malicious gossip by other cabinet wives.

She was suspected of being an adulteress, and she was not invited to any of the social events.

When Jackson tried to intervene on her behalf, most of the cabinet resigned.

In addition to the nullification crisis, this affair was also cited as a reason why Vice President John C. Calhoun’s resigned.

The Indian Removal Act

Like most whites of the time, Jackson sympathized with land hungry citizens who were impatient to take over lands previously held by Native Americas.

Jackson thought that the most human thing to do was compel the Native Americans to leave their traditional homelands and resettle west of the Mississippi River.

In, 1830, Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act, which forced the re-settlement of many thousands of Native Americans. By 1835, most eastern tribes had reluctantly complied and moved west.

Following Jackson’s lead, Georgia and other states passed laws requiring the Cherokees to migrate west.

The Indian Removal Act When the Cherokees challenged Georgia in the

courts, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) that Cherokees were not a foreign nation with the right to sue in federal court.

However, in 1832, the Court, in Worcester v. Georgia, ruled that the laws of Georgia had no force within the boundaries of Cherokee territory.

Jackson defiantly sided with Georgia against the Court’s decision and he said “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”

It was not until 1838, after Jackson left office, that the U.S. Army forced 15,000 Cherokees to leave Georgia on the trail of tears, where 4,000 Cherokees died on their tragic westward trek.

The Bank Crisis The Second Bank of America, chartered in 1816, issued

national currency, regulated loan rates, and controlled state banks.

Nicholas Biddle ran the bank since 1823 as a private owned entity.

Henry Clay was going to run for president in the 1832 election and he wanted to use the bank as a campaign issue.

Clay started to push to have the bank re-chartered even though it wasn’t up for renewal until 1836. Clay was convinced that national support of the bank would swing supporters his way.

Jackson saw the re-chartering proposal as serving special interest and he vetoed it.

This move by Jackson increased his popularity and helped his re-election effort.

Jackson wanted to destroy the National Bank, and in 1833, he ordered that money be removed from it and placed in state or local banks. These banks became known as pet banks.

The Election of 1832

The Election of 1832 saw bitter rivals pitted against each other. Democrat Andrew Jackson ran for re-election against his nemesis, National Republican, Henry Clay. A third candidate, William Wirt ran as the Anti-Mason Party candidate. Jackson replaced John C. Calhoun on his ticket with Martin Van Buren as Vice-President.

Clay’s hoped that the bank issue would have cemented his position to defeat Jackson. However, Jackson’s veto of the bank increased his popularity and helped his re-election effort.

The Election of 1832

Jackson defeated Clay and Wirt with 219 electoral votes (701,780 popular votes) to Clay’s 49 electoral votes (484,205 popular votes) and Wirt’s 7 electoral votes (100,715 popular votes).

Rise of the Whigs In the 1830s the Whig Party emerged as the

major opposition party to the Democrats. Jackson had crafted the Democrats into a party

that was conservative and fearful of unlimited government.

The Whigs favored more government involvement in commercial activities. They opposed the rapid and uncontrolled growth of the West.

Businessmen from the North East and Southern planters supported the party.

The Election of 1836

Following the two term tradition set by his predecessors, Jackson decided not to seek a third term. To make sure his policies were carried out even in his retirement, Jackson persuaded the Democratic Party to nominate his loyal vice president, Martin Van Buren, as his successor.

Fearing defeat, the Whig Party adopted an unusual strategy of nominating three candidates from three different regions (former Senator William Henry Harrison of Ohio, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and Hugh Lawson of Tennessee). In doing so, the Whigs hoped to throw the election into the House of Representatives, where each state had one vote for president.

The Election of 1836

The strategy failed and Van Buren won the Presidency with 170 electoral votes (764,176 popular votes) to Harrison’s 73 electoral votes (550,816popular votes) and Lawson’s 26 electoral votes (146,107 popular votes).

President Martin Van Buren Born: December 5, 1782 Died: July 24, 1862 Term in Office: (1837-1841) Political Party: Democratic

The Martin Van Buren Presidency

The Martin Van Buren Presidency

The Van Buren CabinetOffice Name Term

President Martin Van Buren 1837–1841

Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson 1837–1841

Secretary of State John Forsyth 1837–1841

Secretary of Treasury Levi Woodbury 1837–1841

Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett 1837–1841

Attorney GeneralBenjamin F. Butler 1837–1838Felix Grundy 1838–1840Henry D. Gilpin 1840–1841

Postmaster GeneralAmos Kendall 1837–1840John M. Niles 1840–1841

Secretary of the NavyMahlon Dickerson 1837–1838James K. Paulding 1838–1841

The Martin Van Buren Presidency

Supreme Court Appointments by President Van Buren

John McKinley – 1838Peter Vivian Daniel – 1841

Just as Van Buren took office, the country suffered a financial panic as one bank after another failed. Jackson’s opposition to the re-chartering of the Bank of the United States was only one of the many causes of the panic.

As the country fell into a deep depression, the Whigs were quick to blame the Democrats for their laissez-faire policies, which allowed for very little federal regulation of the economy.

The Election of 1840

In the Election of 1840, the Whigs were in a strong position to defeat Van Buren and the Democrats. Voters were unhappy with the bad state of the economy.

Nevertheless, Van Buren was re-nominated as the Democratic candidate for president. The Whigs nominated a war hero, William Henry “Tippecanoe” Harrison for president and a former state’s rights Democrat, John Tyler for vice-president .

The Whigs had a better organized political machine than the Democrats. They passed out hats, buttons and hard cider to voters. They also put log cabins on wheels and paraded them down the streets to symbolize Harrison’s humble background. At the same time, they threw mud at President Van Buren by calling him “Martin Van Ruin.”

Harrison defeated Van Buren with 234 to 60 electoral votes and 1,275,390 to 1,128,854 of the popular vote.

The Election of 1840

Harrison defeated Van Buren with 234 to 60 electoral votes and 1,275,390 to 1,128,854 of the popular vote.

President William Henry Harrison Born: February 9, 1773 Died: April 4, 1841 Term in Office: (1841) Political Party: Whig

The William Henry Harrison Presidency

The William Henry Harrison Presidency

The Harrison CabinetOffice Name Term

President William Henry Harrison 1841

Vice President John Tyler 1841

Secretary of State Daniel Webster 1841

Secretary of Treasury Thomas Ewing 1841

Secretary of War John Bell 1841

Attorney General John J. Crittenden 1841

Postmaster General Francis Granger 1841

Secretary of the Navy George E. Badger 1841

The William Henry Harrison Presidency

William Henry Harrison is inaugurated on March 4, 1841. He gives the longest presidential inauguration speech in history. As he gives his speech, it begins to rain and Harrison contracts pneumonia.

Less than a month later, Harrison becomes the first president to died in office and John Tyler would become the first sitting vice-president to assume the presidency.

Many decades later, Harrison’s grandson, Benjamin Harrison, would become president, making them the only grandfather and grandson to achieve the presidency.

President John Tyler Born: March 29, 1790 Died: January 18, 1862 Term in Office: (1841-1845) Political Party: Whig

The John Tyler Presidency

The John Tyler PresidencyThe Tyler Cabinet

Office Name Term

President John Tyler 1841–1845Vice President None 1841–1845

Secretary of State Daniel Webster (W) 1841–1843Abel P. Upshur (W) 1843–1844John C. Calhoun (D) 1844–1845

Secretary of Treasury Thomas Ewing, Sr. (W) 1841Walter Forward (W) 1841–1843John C. Spencer (W) 1843–1844George M. Bibb (D) 1844–1845

Secretary of War John Bell (W) 1841John C. Spencer (W) 1841–1843James M. Porter (W) 1843–1844William Wilkins (D) 1844–1845

Attorney General John J. Crittenden (W) 1841Hugh S. Legaré (D) 1841–1843John Nelson (W) 1843–1845

Postmaster General Francis Granger (W) 1841Charles A. Wickliffe (W) 1841–1845

Secretary of the Navy George E. Badger (W) 1841Abel P. Upshur (W) 1841–1843David Henshaw (D) 1843–1844Thomas W. Gilmer (D) 1844John Y. Mason (D) 1844–1845

The John Tyler PresidencySupreme Court Appointments by President Tyler

Samuel Nelson – 1845

States Admitted to the UnionFlorida – March 3, 1845

President Tyler proved to be not much of a Whig. He vetoed the Whig’s national bank bills and other legislation, and he favored southern expansionist Democrats during the balance of term.

The Jacksonian Era was in its last stage, and came to an end with the Mexican War and increased focus on the issue of slavery

THE END OF LECTURE #9