Chapter 11 Sec. 1 Jackson Era

Election of 1824 John Quincy Adams was elected President in 1824. William Crawford, Andrew Jackson , and Henry Clay were the other Republican representatives. No candidate won the majority of the electoral votes so the House of Representatives selected the President.

John Quincy Adams

Clay and Adams struck a deal, Clay agreed to use his influence as speaker of the house to defeat Jackson, hoping to gain the secretary of state post in return. When Adams won he did name Clay Secretary of State. Andrew Jackson’s followers accused the two men of making a corrupt bargain and stealing the election.

During the Adams presidency, his politics ran against popular opinion. He wanted a stronger navy, scientific expeditions supported by government funds, and direct federal involvement in economic growth. Congress turned down many of his proposals. Some members of Congress wanted more limited role for the federal; government.

Election of 1828 The election was a vicious campaign between Jackson and Adams. The party divided into two: The Democratic-Republicans nominated Jackson. The National-Republicans nominated Adams. Democratic-Republicans favored states’ rights.

New elements were introduced in the 1828 election, and many became a permanent part of election campaigns. Mudslinging, or attempts to ruin the opponent with insults. Election slogans, rallies, buttons, and campaign events. Jackson won by a landslide. He received the most votes of the new frontier states and many votes in the South. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who had served as Adam’s vice-president, switched parties to run with Jackson.

Andrew Jackson

Jackson as President Jackson was an American success story. He went from being a member of a poor farm family to being a war hero to becoming the president of the United States. Democracy broadened under Jackson. He promised “equal protection and equal benefits” for all Americans, at least for white men. Between 1824 and 1828, the percentage of white voting males in presidential elections increased from 36.9 to 57.6 percent.

The right to vote, or suffrage, continued to expand for white men The right to vote, or suffrage, continued to expand for white men. In 1840 more than 80 percent of white males voted in the presidential election. By 1828 state constitutions changed to allow people, not state legislatures, to choose presidential electors. Jackson instituted the spoils system. He replaced government employees with his supporters. The fired workers were angry and protested. Jackson felt that a new group of employees would be good for democracy.

The first national party convention for the democrats was in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1832. The convention drew delegates from each state that would nominate a candidate receiving two-thirds of the vote. Jackson was nominated.

The Tariff Debate In 1828 Congress passed a very high tariff on goods imported from Europe. This tariff made European goods more expensive. Manufacturers in the United States, especially the Northeast, were happy because they thought Americans would now be even more likely to buy American made products.

Southerners hated the tariff and protested because they traded their cotton with Europe for manufactured goods. Now they would have to pay more for these items. Some Southerners called for the Southern States to secede, or break away and form their own government. John C. Calhoun, a believer in states’ rights argued for nullification, or canceling a federal law it considered unconstitutional, and for secession.

He said that states have rights and powers independent from of the federal government, that states had created the federal government, and they should be able to have the last word on decisions affecting them. The Webster-Hayne Debate was a response to these issues. In January 1830, Senator Daniel Webster challenged the speech given by Robert Hayne.

Webster-Hayne Debate

Hayne was a senator from South Carolina who defended the right of states to nullify acts of the federal government and to secede. Webster defended the Constitution and the Union arguing that nullification would cause the end of the Union. Jackson defended the Union, saying it must be preserved. Vice President Calhoun was shocked. When he won election to the Senate in December 1832, he resigned as vice president.

The nullification crisis grew, and the threat of the Union splitting apart intensified. In 1832 Congress passed a new, lower tariff, hoping that the Southern protest would die down. But it did not. South Carolina’s state legislature passed the Nullification Act, saying that it would not pay the “illegal” tariffs of 1828 and 1832. The South Carolina legislature threatened to secede if the federal government interfered.

Jackson supported a compromise bill by Clay, lowering the tariff Jackson supported a compromise bill by Clay, lowering the tariff. He also made sure that the South would accept it. He Persuaded Congress to pass the Force Bill, which allowed the president to use the United States military to enforce acts of Congress.

South Carolina accepted the compromise tariff and state leaders voted to put aside the Nullification Act. The crisis between a state and the federal government was over for the time being.