Bellwork

• “Rotation in office” is a concept that says that public figures (people in office) be replaced every few years so that they do not become complacent in their job. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?

American History

Section 9, Unit 3 Jacksonian Democracy

Objectives

• • • • Describe the changing policies towards slavery, primarily in regards to the Missouri Compromise The effect of the election of 1824 and 1828 Identify the how Jacksonian democracy changed the political system. Identify the effect of the Panic of 1819 on American politics

Economic Matters

Question: What was the Panic of 1819?

• • It was a chain reaction of banks failures, falling land prices, and foreclosures of businesses and homes. It was caused primarily to a failure of people being able to repay their loans and banks being unable to repay people the gold and silver their bank notes were worth.

Economic Matters

• • • The United States faced more than economic problems by 1819.

The nation was also plagued by political conflict caused by westward expansion. In that year, the Missouri Territory, which included about 10,000 enslaved African Americans, applied for statehood.

Issues with Missouri

• Because the nation was equally divided between free and slave states, Missouri’s admission as a slave state would have tipped the congressional balance in favor of the southern states. – The North was concerned at this possibility.

Issues with Missouri

• • To attempt to fix this problem, Congressman James Tallmadge of New York attempted to amend the Missouri statehood bill to include a gradual elimination of slavery in Missouri. He argued that Congress had the right to ban slavery in territories, primarily when it passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. – Recall: the Ordinance created the Northwest Territory, which had no slavery.

South’s Reaction

• • However, Tallmadge’s proposal was viewed by slaveholders as a threat to their right to have slaves.

They argued that such a proposal could be extended to already existing slave states.

Missouri Compromise

• • • To end the debate, Henry Clay led Congress to work out the Missouri Compromise.

The agreement admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, thus maintaining the balance. As well, slavery was banned in the rest of Louisiana, north of latitude 36°30’.

Missouri Compromise

Missouri Compromise

• • The Missouri Compromise calmed the sectional crisis– the fear that the South would secede from the rest of the States. However, many American’s still worried that the issue regarding slavery would reemerge.

Election of 1824

• • Westward expansion also affected the election of 1824. By 1820, voting laws were becoming more democratic, particularly in the frontier states, where most white adult males could vote. – This democratization of the voting process was mostly due to the previous system of having electors chosen (and president’s nominated) by state legislatures and congressional caucus’.

Election of 1824

• • Because of this new form of nominating a president, state nominating conventions played a major role in deciding a list of candidates. The result was a crowded field of regional favorites.

Election of 1824

• Five candidates (all Republican), ended up competing: William Crawford of Georgia, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, and Henry Clay of Kentucky.

Election of 1824

• • Crawford was a early favorite, however a serious illness marred his candidacy. Calhoun, while favored in the Deep South, was never able to build a nation-wide following.

– He eventually withdrew and instead became the vice-presidential partner of both Adams and Jackson.

Election of 1824

• • • Adams, an economic nationalist with anti slavery views, was popular in the Northeast.

Jackson, due to his military experience, was popular in the Southern frontier. Clay, who was the architect of the Missouri Compromise and the American System, was widely supported in the Middle West.

Election of 1824

• • Andrew Jackson received the most popular votes.

However, no candidate won the majority of electoral votes.

Election of 1824

Electoral Votes

Election of 1824

• • In these circumstances, the Twelfth Amendment directs the House of Representatives to choose a president from the top three candidates. Having finished fourth, Clay was out of the running. – However, he was in a position to recommend to his supporters to support a particular candidate.

Election of 1824

• • Clay, who considered Jackson to be unfit for presidency, supported Adams. Adams became president and made Clay his secretary of state. – When Jackson discovered this, he accused the two men of a “corrupt bargain”, a claim both Adams and Clay denied.

President John Quincy Adams

Because he was the son of 2 nd President John Adams, he is referred to as John Quincy Adams. • • Adams supported a wide range of government projects.

Adams was able to complete a few projects, including: – Solving diplomatic issues – Building new infrastructure, such as roads and canals – Keeping the peace with Native groups in the west

President John Quincy Adams

• • However, because he wanted to avoid “playing politics”, and his unwillingness to compromise with Congress, he was unable to accomplish much during his term. Aside from these issues, Congress– many of whom still continued to support Andrew Jackson– stymied Adams policies.

Election of 1828

• • Jackson, a sharp critic throughout Adams presidency, resigned from the Senate in 1825 to campaign for the 1828 election.

Opponents of the Adams administration rallied around Jackson.

Election of 1828

• • Jackson sold himself on the fact that he was the victor at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812 and a ruthless “Indian fighter”. He did all he could do to portray himself as a “man of the people.”

Election of 1828

• • Jackson’s image as a “common man” won the support of farmers, laborers, and frontier settlers. His supporters, having no official name at first, became known as the Democratic Party.

– The origin of today’s party.

• •

Election of 1828

Like many modern political campaigns, the 1828 race focused much on personalities than on issues.

Each side uses personal attacks to win.

– For example, Jackson argued that Adams’ purchase of a chess set and billiard table for the White House was an example of Adams’ squandering money on “gambling devices”. – Supporters of Adams labeled Jackson as an adulterer because of his marriage to an already married woman (him and his wife both believed she was divorced, but it actually took two years to finalize).

Jackson’s Victory

• • In the end, Jackson swept the popular and electoral vote. In his own words of victory: – “The virtuous portion of the people have well sustained me, I am filled with gratitude.”

Jackson’s Victory

Jackson’s Reforms

• • Once in office, Jackson showed his appreciation by giving some of his supporters government jobs.

– This practice became known as the spoils system.

Jackson also took steps to reform the government.

Jackson’s Reforms

• • Jackson took a step to replace all public servants he judged as “unfaithful or incompetent.” He believed that people who stayed in office too long often forgot that they were servants to the people

Rotation System

• • • Jackson favored what he called the “rotation in office”– the periodic replacement of officeholders.

However, his replacement fell far short of complete rotation.

During his presidency, he replaced only about 1/10 to 1/3 of the bureaucracy.

Economy and Jackson’s Election

• • • Jackson’s popularity reflected change in American society caused by the market revolution. The old social order– aristocracy– gave way to the belief that one could be successful through hard work and economic success, rather than birth.

Jackson’s image of a “self-made” man embodied this new sense of economic opportunity.

Jacksonian Democracy

• • Because of Jackson’s image as a “common man”, during his time as president, a political movement emerged under him.

This movement pushed forth the belief that democracy for the common man should prevail over the older systems of American government. – During the Jackson era, voting rights began to change.

Jacksonian Democracy

• • By 1828, instead of state legislatures, voters began to choose presidential electors and most public officials in almost every state. – Suffrage rights also expanded in several states– states began to stop requiring property requirements for voting.

These changes in voting rights would pave the way for Jackson’s reelection in 1832, which we will see in the next lesson.

Question

• If you have any questions, please ask now.

Next lesson

• In the next lesson, we are going to discuss the effect of Andrew Jackson’s presidency on America.

Review

1. Why did Missouri’s petition for statehood lead to a battle in Congress?

2. How did Henry Clay successfully solve the issue of Missouri’s statehood? Describe the solution.

3. Why was John Quincy Adams unable to accomplish much during his term?

4. What began to happen to voting laws during the 1820’s under Andrew Jackson? 5. Why might someone like Jackson, who sees himself as the “common man”, support the idea of “rotation in office”? 6. How did the market revolution affect the old social order of America?

7. Describe two ways Andrew Jackson persuaded people to vote for him in the election of 1828?