A White Man’s Country
Feb 24, 2016
A White Man’s Country
The Contradictions of Jacksonian Era
• Example: The Dorr War (1841)• Most states remove property qualifications– Meaning most white men can vote– Not Rhode Island– Site of growing factory production
• Many propertyless workers
– Reformers call a “People’s Convention”• Gives all white men right to vote• Takes away right from black men
– They elect lawyer Thomas Dorr governor
– Pres. John Tyler crushes rebellion– Dorr goes to jail for treason– Legislature removes property qualifications for
black and white
Conundrum of Jacksonian Democracy
– Expanding democracy– Expanding slavery in the cotton kingdom– Racist Andrew Jackson icon of the era– By 1840, 90% of white men could vote
Big Picture
• Jefferson succeeded by Madison and Monroe– Still from the revolutionary generation– Decolonization in South America• Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, etc. get independence
Monroe Doctrine (1823)
Big Picture
• Bank of United States acts as government’s financial arm– Semi-private institution– Akin to Federal Reserve today– Prints, lends money
Problems with the Bank
– Constitutional doubts– Helps fuel boom/bust, lending to fund western
expansion– Panic of 1819• Debtors over-extended• Want relief • Some states help debtors at expense of creditos
– Raises suspicion of banks
Problems with Expansion
– Missouri fiasco splits North and South– Problem of dividing up Louisiana Purchase– Slave or free?– Already slaves there
The Missouri Compromise
– Compromise:• Maine admitted as free state• Missouri as slave• Slavery prohibited in all territory north of 36°30′
latitude– Guys like Jefferson and John Quincy Adams knew
it was a danger to the Union
Enter “Old Hickory”
Andrew Jackson
• Hero of New Orleans/War of 1812• Ran for president in 1824• Won popular vote but failed to win majority in
Electoral College
• Lost to John Quincy Adams– Son of 2nd president– aristocratic New Englander– intellectual– not a very good politician– wanted the govt to do a lot
Jackson Strikes Back
• 1828 victory revolutionizes politics– Well-organized political parties– Founding of Democratic Party– Most white men can vote– Patronage
Jackson’s Ideas
– Limited government– Popular participation in govt for white men– Opportunity for whites, but definitely not Indians
and blacks
Democrats Worry about Inequality
– Industrialization, growing commerce– Suspicion toward bankers, merchants, speculators– Supported by small farmers, aspiring
businessmen, urban workers
New Opposition: the Whig Party
– Believed in progress– Tariff to protect industries– Active federal govt– Tended to be supported by rich planters, already-
successful merchants and bankers, Northerners
Battles of the Jackson Era
• Southerners didn’t like tariff, threaten “nullification”
Indian Removal
– Expansion of cotton production– Pushes into Indian lands in the South– Cherokees, Choctaws and other “civilized tribes”
screwed– Georgia expels them
The Trail of Tears
– Supreme Court (1832): removal violates treaties with federal govt
– “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it” – Jackson
– 18,000 Cherokees forced to move in 1838-9– 1/4 die on the way to Oklahoma
Seminoles in FL Keep Fighting
– Second Seminole War (1835-1842)– Indians, escaped slaves join forces– 1,500 US soldiers die– Similar # of Seminoles– Most forced to leave
The Bank War
– Bank of US helped finance expansion
– People suspicious of its power and authority
– Led by a big snob from Philly named Nicholas Biddle
– Bank charter to expire in 1836– Jackson vetoed bill to extend it– Saw it as tool of the “rich and powerful”
– Jackson puts $$$ into state banks w/ political connections
– They start printing money recklessly, causing speculation and inflation
– Economic crash in England causes Panic of 1837– Followed by deep depression
– First Whig president elected in 1840– Another military hero: William Henry Harrison– Dies in office after thirty days– Total fiasco– His successor disagrees with Whigs on everything
Recap: What the Hell Happened?
• Democratization mostly benefits white men• Economic growth, westward expansion on the
backs of Indians and slaves