The Jacksonian Age & Social Differences

The Jacksonian Age & Social Differences

The Era of the Common Man

Election of 1828 Andrew Jackson vs.

John Quincy Adams Jackson was billed

as the “common man” while Adams was portrayed as an “aristocratic elitist”

Jackson won both the popular and electoral vote in a majority

Andrew Jackson 1767 – 1845 Democrat 7th president Nicknamed “Old

Hickory,” a tribute to his background as a frontiersman

War hero from both War of 1812 and Seminole Indian War

First president to survive an assassination attempt

Jacksonian Democracy

Suffrage extended to any adult white male

Jackson was 1st president to come from background of poverty, so he was the hero of the common man

Still, Jackson hated Native Americans and supported slavery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYh7pato4uE&feature=related

“The Spoils System” Jackson began new

tradition of dismissing what had been career government officials and replacing them with his party’s loyal followers

This still happens today – Presidents reward their supporters with important government jobs

Nat Turner 1800 – 1831 Virginia slave who

had religious “visions”

Practiced as a Baptist preacher (nicknamed “The Prophet” by other slaves)

Believed that God called on him to lead a slave rebellion

Nat Turner’s Rebellion

August 21, 1831 Slave uprising that

resulted in the deaths of 56 whites in VA

Quickly suppressed by the militia, dozens of slaves (including Turner) were executed for their roles in the rebellion

Led to harsher slave codes- bans throughout the South on educating slaves and allowing slaves to freely assemble without white supervision

South Carolina Nullification Crisis 1832: South Carolina

declared new tariffs unconstitutional and thereby nullified

John C. Calhoun resigned as Vice-President to support SC position as a senator

Jackson considered this treasonous and prepared to use military force on SC to enforce the tariffs

SC threatened to secede (leave the US) if high tariffs weren’t repealed

Compromise of 1833 Henry Clay delayed

passage of the Force Bill which would give Jackson permission to take military action against SC until he could force through a bill that would gradually reduce tariffs over the next 10 years

Once this compromise tariff was passed, SC repealed its nullification and crisis was averted

Jackson and the National Bank Jackson disliked the Bank Congress passed a bill

extending the Bank’s charter in 1832, but Jackson vetoed; instead, Jackson withdrew all of the federal governments deposits from the Bank and moved them to state banks or “pet banks”

National Bank no longer had money to lend and closed

King Andrew Turn to page 257 Look at

“Analyzing Political Cartoons”

Answer 1 & 2

The Whig Party 1834: National

Republican Party changed its name to the Whig Party

“Whigs” in England were people who opposed the power of the king; American Whigs felt that Andrew Jackson had been abusive of his power as president

Election of 1836 Jackson supported his

VP Martin Van Buren as his successor

Van Buren easily won the Democratic nomination at convention (1st time national party convention used)

Whigs could not settle on one candidate to run and so their votes were split; Van Buren won

Martin Van Buren 1782 – 1862 Democrat 8th President

(1837-41) Former Vice-

President and Secretary of State under Jackson

Lost presidential elections of 1840 and 1848

Panic of 1837 State banks loaned

money freely without the National Bank to oversee them

Loaned more money than they had, leading to failure of many of the banks

Inflation soared, unemployment rose, businesses closed, many people lost everything

Ruined Van Buren’s presidency

Election of 1840 Whigs nominated

war hero William Henry Harrison after Henry Clay and Daniel Webster each proved too divisive to win majority support within the party

Harrison easily defeated Van Buren

William Henry Harrison 1773 – 1841 Whig 9th President (1841) Nicknamed “Old

Tippecanoe” from his fame as hero of Northwest Indian War

Shortest tenure in US history – president for only 32 days before dying of pneumonia

Social differences fuel sectionalism

Slavery 1808: Congress

banned the importation of new slaves

1820: 1.5 million slaves in US

1850: 4 million slaves in US

Demand for slaves grew as demand for cotton grew

Slave ownership 1850: South’s white

pop = 6 million 1850: South’s slave

pop = 3.6 million 350,000 slave owners 37,000 owned 20+

slaves 8,000 owned 50+

slaves 11 owned 500+

slaves

Immigration 1825 – 1855: 5

million European immigrants arrived

Arrived poor, concentrated in ethnic neighborhoods

Created a cheap labor force for Northern factories

NYC Immigrant Central

Nativism Many Americans

began to oppose immigration and promote the rights of “Native” Americans

Resented immigrants taking jobs from American citizens

The “Know-Nothings”

1840s – 1850s Anti-Catholic nativist

group To be a member, had to

be a male Protestant of English descent over the age of 21

If questioned about the group, members would reply, “I know nothing”

Briefly became a political party, with some success in Massachusetts and Illinois

Broke apart due to divisions over slavery issue

Oddly, immigrants were pro-slavery Didn’t want to

compete with freed slaves for jobs, so supported Southern slave owners!

Many Irish, in fact, would fight for the South in the Civil War

Growth of Northern cities

Causes of growth: Urbanization:

people move from country to cities

Immigration: European immigrants arrived at northern ports, tended to stay in north or go west

North’s population growth worried the South

Number of seats in the House of Representatives is based purely on population, so North was gaining control of one house of Congress

Slaves only counted as 3/5ths of a person in the 3/ 5ths compromise

naturalized immigrants counted as a whole person for population counts

North vs. South: SectionalismKey Differences

North Economy based on the

“factory system”: manufacturing and commerce

Relied on plentiful immigrant labor

Favored high tariffs that protected US industries

Wanted a strong federal government to build transportation networks, protect trade, and regulate the economy

South Economy based on the

“plantation system”: large-scale farming of cash crops

Relied on slave labor Opposed to high tariffs –

imported many European goods, feared Europeans would retaliate by putting tariffs on Southern agricultural exports

Favored strong state government, feared a strong federal government would restrict slavery

Exit Ticket 3.2.1

3 events/people that promoted nationalism.

2 events/people that promoted sectionalism.

1 example of how nativism brought division to the country