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| | == Jacksonian Democracy == | | == Jacksonian Democracy == |
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| − | Jackson’s win of the presidency in 1828 was a defining moment in our history. His inauguration was the triumph of the “common man,” who proceeded to trash the White House in a huge party opened to the public. Jackson vetoed renewal of the national bank. He continued to treat the Indians very harshly. Jackson also created the “spoils system,” whereby “to the victor goes the spoils” (giving jobs to supporters). Jackson vetoed road projects because he was a strict constitutionalist: if the power is not expressly in the Constitution, then it did not exist, under this view.
| + | The Democrat Andrew Jackson was the first president to have been born in a log cabin, and he cultivated his image to represent the "common man." His landslide victory in the presidential election of 1828 was a triumph of democracy -- now called "Jacksonian Democracy" -- because the middle and lower class voters loved Jackson as much as the upper class disliked him. During his inauguration Jackson welcomed the public into the White House, and the common folk trashed it, with farmers and frontiersmen wearing muddy boots standing on antique White House furniture that once graced figures like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. |
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| − | But conflict over preservation of the Union despite the North-South division continued. At an April 13, 1830 party, Jackson’s toast: “Our Union: It must be preserved.” Calhoun’s toast: “The Union, next to our liberty, most dear.”
| + | There was never a dull moment in the eight years of the Jackson Administration, as he fought with anyone who disagreed with him. His political opponents began to characterize him as a king or a tyrant, but most voters felt that Jackson was looking out the public against the self-serving government types. Jackson was a firm supporter of the "spoils system," which means that "to the victor goes the spoils": the winner gets to fire all the government workers and replace them with his friends and supporters, no matter how competent. |
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| − | Dispute boiled over in late 1832. South Carolina legislature passed the Ordinance of Nullification prohibiting the collection of federal duties and declaring that the use of force by the federal government would be justification for S.C. to secede from the Union. Jackson issued a proclamation that “disunion by armed force is treason.” S.C. remained defiant. Jackson replaced Calhoun with Martin Van Buren as his Vice President.
| + | Jackson particularly disliked banks, supposedly because a banker refused to give him a loan as a young man. Jackson vetoed renewal of the national bank, despite the insistence of wealthy bankers (similar to the insistence by Wall Street types today or the $700 billion bailour). |
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| | + | Jackson vetoed federal road projects because he was a strict constitutionalist: if the power is not expressly in the Constitution, then it did not exist, under this view. Jackson's most famous veto of a road construction project was his Maysville Road Veto in 1830, which would have sent money to Kentucky, the state of the influential Senator Henry Clay (known as the "Great Compromiser"). Jackson said there was no ''national'' benefit to justify federal funding for the project. All the of the national roads we see today, and their predecessors, which connect the states were built long after Jackson was president. |
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| | + | Jackson disliked others in addition to bankers. He also hated the Indians, and treated them very harshly. In 1830, Jackson forcibly evicted Indian tribes as part of the "Indian Removal," which increased Jackson's popularity in the Western frontier states having the most conflicts with Indians. |
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| | + | Jackson did not care much for Southerns who talked about nullifying federal law or seceding (leaving) the United States. Jackson, like President Abraham Lincoln 30 years later, was determined to hold the United States together. |
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| | + | A serious conflict between the North and South began before Jackson was even inaugurated. In 1828, Congress passed the "Tariff of Abominations," which raised tariffs despite a bitter protest by South Carolina, which was an exporter dependent on the good will of foreign countries in accepting its products. Raising tariffs on imports often caused other countries to retaliate, and also made it more expensive for businesses in the United States to buy the goods it needed. The North favored tariffs to reduce competition from foreign goods; the South opposed tariffs and wanted the competition to reduce its costs in producing cotton. When the North raised the tariffs in 1828, John Calhoun of South Carolina secretly wrote the "South Carolina Exposition and Protest" in 1828, which stated that the:<ref>http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/articles/ArticleView.cfm?AID=23</ref> |
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| | + | :"whole system of legislation imposing duties on imports,--not for revenue, but the protection of one branch of industry at the expense of others,--is unconstitutional, unequal, and oppressive, and calculated to corrupt the public virtue and destroy the liberty of the Country...." |
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| | + | This Exposition and Protest embraced the concept of nullification, such that a state, if it decided that a federal law was unconstitutional, could nullify the law and not enforce it within the state. This Exposition and Protest was then adopted by South Carolina legislature as a formal protest against the federal law, and bringing South Carolina a step closer to seceding from the United States altogether. |
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| | + | Calhoun was Jackson's Vice President beginning in 1829, and Jackson was furious at this defiance by a state against federal authority. At a big political dinner in 1830, Jackson stared down Calhoun with the following toast: "Our Federal Union: It must be Preserved!"<ref name="Toast">http://www.ushistory.org/us/24e.asp</ref> Calhoun then rose and offered his different view as a toast: "The Union — next to our liberty, the most dear!"<ref name="Toast"/> Jackson was irritated by this, and by 1832 Jackson would take the unusual step of dropping Calhoun from his ticket and replacing him with a new Vice President when Jackson ran for reelection. |
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| | + | Tom Thumb 1830: first efficient steam locomotive (train) in U.S., built by Peter Cooper. Lost race to horse-drawn train |
| | + | Peggy Eaton Affair 1831: gossip about this wife of Sec'y of War caused Jackson to defend her, redo Cabinet, split w/ Calhoun |
| | + | Antimasonic Party 1832: 1st powerful 3d party held nominating convention, opposed Masons, later absorbed into Whigs |
| | + | S.C. Ordinance of Nullification 1832: stated tariff of 1828 was null and non-binding on state, SC threatened to secede if collected |
| | + | Compromise Tariff 1833: federal response to SC's nullification was to appease South by gradually lowering tariff rates |
| | + | Force Bill 1833: authorized Jackson to use fed troops to enforce laws like tariff in South, prevent SC from seceding |
| | + | Whig Party 1834: founded by Henry Clay against Jackson, elected Harrison, Taylor as Pres; later split by slavery |
| | + | Whig supporters Clay, Webster, Calhoun (less so); Nat'l Republicans; persons pro-nat'l bank or states rights, Anti-Masons |
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| | + | The North-South conflict boiled over in late 1832. South Carolina legislature passed the Ordinance of Nullification prohibiting the collection of federal duties and declaring that the use of force by the federal government would be justification for S.C. to secede from the Union. Jackson issued a proclamation that “disunion by armed force is treason.” S.C. remained defiant. Jackson replaced Calhoun with Martin Van Buren as his Vice President. |
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| | Jackson in early 1833 asked for the Force Bill to use federal troops to enforce the revenue laws, but also lowered the tariff. S.C. suspended its ordinance of nullification and the conflict was diffused. | | Jackson in early 1833 asked for the Force Bill to use federal troops to enforce the revenue laws, but also lowered the tariff. S.C. suspended its ordinance of nullification and the conflict was diffused. |