1. Chapter 14: Andrew Jackson and the Growth of American Democracy

2. Election of 1828
Jackson runs against incumbent President John Q. Adams
Election campaign is filled with mudslinging from both sides
Jackson’s win is in part due to the expansion of the vote to include the “common man.”
The “common man” extension of the vote came as a result of the western states rejection of eastern principles that rich, educated, propertied white men should hold the right to vote.
This expansion of the vote did not include African Americans, women, or Native Americans.

3. Biography: Jackson is the first self-made man to become president.
He is the first president to be elected that was not from the state of Virginia or Massachusetts.
Born in South Carolina.
Father died before he was born.
Grew up poor.
Fought at a young age in the American Revolution.
Went to North Carolina to learn law.
Practiced law in Nashville, Tennessee.
Once he was established he purchased a plantation, the Hermitage, and further increased his wealth and power.

4. Military Life:
Elected major general of the Tennessee militia, a position he held during the War of 1812.
Jackson fought against the Creek Indians, allies of the British against the United States in the War of 1812, and defeated them in a decisive conflict at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend; earning Jackson the title hero of the West.
He then marches into Spanish Florida, without having been given permission, and captures the port of Pensacola.
He then marches his army to Louisiana and establishes the defense of the city of New Orleans.
He and his army is victorious against the British troops.
The significance of this victory is:
This is the first American victory against British regulars without the aid of a European power.
The troops that are defeated at this battle are the same troops that defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in the Napoleonic Wars.

5. Political Life:
First elected Representative to the House from the state of Tennessee.
Elected Senator for the state of Tennessee.
Runs for president in the Election of 1824.
He wins the most popular votes, but does not have a majority so the contest is decided by the House of Representatives.
Jackson’s supporters claim that the victory by John Quincy Adams is rigged between Adams and Henry Clay (another of the candidates in the election).
Runs for president a second time in the Election of Changes in who could vote tip the balance of political power in favor of the western states. Jackson is elected president.

6. Jackson’s Cabinets
Jackson relied on his personal friendships when making political decisions. This means that his political cabinet was not relied upon for advice in the decisions made by Jackson.
Another way of thinking about this is Jackson made some decisions in his presidency which hurt the nation. Those decisions may not have been made if Jackson had relied on his political advisors and not his personal friends.

7. Civil Service Reform
Jackson felt is was perfectly alright to reward political and personal friends with government appointments.
This meant that people who had been appointed by previous administrations would be fired for their political views rather than their job performance.
Republicans called this move the “spoils system.”
This system will remain in place for a long time and has damaging consequences for the nation.

8. Tariffs Tariffs were a regional political and economic issue.
Northeastern states (New England) were in support of tariffs because they protected their business interests from foreign competition.
Southern states were against tariffs for two reasons:
First, southern states were agricultural states. They grew cash crops and had very little industrial investment. This meant they had to buy with cash pretty much everything they couldn’t grow. Tariffs meant they had to pay more for European goods and they didn’t like that.
Second, when the United States put tariffs on imports those countries reciprocated by placing tariffs on American goods coming into their country. This put American goods at an economic disadvantage.
Specifically this meant that Southern American cotton, tobacco, etc. cost more and therefore sold less. The South had to pay more for their goods and then their exports sold less; meaning they made less profit.
Jackson understood this and supported lower tariffs.

9. Nullification
Even though Jackson signed into law lower tariffs it wasn’t enough to satisfy South Carolina.
South Carolina felt the tariff were a violation of their states’ rights and argued they had the constitutional power to nullify unconstitutional federal laws.
Andrew Jackson’s Vice President John C. Calhoun, himself a South Carolinian, supported the position of South Carolina and spoke openly in support of states’ rights to the power of nullification.
South Carolina then went further and threatened to secede from the national government over the issue of enforcement of the tariff law.
Jackson did not react well to this threat and called on Congress to give the executive branch the power to enforce the collection of the tariff.
Congress passed the Force Bill giving the president the power to enforce the collection of the tariff.
Jackson threatened to call up an army and march on South Carolina where he would hang those responsible.
South Carolina backed down from its position.

10. Bank of the United States
Jackson was not a supporter of the view that the Bank of the United States (or National Bank) was constitutional.
Jackson felt the bank benefitted rich eastern investors at the expense of small farmers, businessmen, and workers.
Henry Clay, hoping to run against Jackson in the next presidential election, and bank president Nicholas Biddle decided to force the bank issue on the president by calling for the re-chartering of the bank two years earlier than was required.
This was done for political reasons: if Jackson supported the bank then he would lose votes in the West. If he opposed the bank he would lose votes in the East. This is the assumption of Clay and Biddle anyway.
Jackson vetoes the re-charter bill and wins reelection by a large majority.
He then takes the deposits of the federal government out of the National Bank and places them in specific state banks. This effectively kills the bank before the end of its charter.
The result of this is that the national economy slides into a recession. But this doesn’t materialize until Jackson leaves office….poor Martin van Buren.

11. Native American Policy
Jackson is partly made famous for his position as an “Indian fighter.”
He “saves” the West by defeating the Creek Indians so decisively.
His position is to remove all Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River and placing them in lands to the west to be left alone.
Congress passes the Indian Removal Act granting the federal government the power and money to begin the process of forcibly removing Native Americans east of the Mississippi.
Thousands of Native Americans were removed and at great suffering.
This conflict of interest between Native Americans and whites was not settled by this “solution.”

12. Trail of Tears
The Cherokee People were a settle group of Native Americans that based their society on that of the whites.
They had a constitution, a president, industry, and owned slaves.
When gold was discovered on their lands a decision was made to remove the Cherokee.
The Cherokee sued the State of Georgia claiming that only federal government, not states, had the right to made treaties and dealings with the Indian nations.
Eventually the United States Supreme Court hears the case and decides in favor of the Cherokee people.
Andrew Jackson is said to have remarked about the Supreme Courts decision, ““John Marshall [the chief justice] has made his decision, now let him enforce it!” Jackson's failure to support the Supreme Court remains a stain on the legacy of the Jackson presidency.