Terms
Election of 1824- The election that ended the “Era of Good feelings”, as 5 different candidates ran on the same Democratic-Republican ticket. Nobody gained an advantage in the Electoral college, so the election was sent to the House of Representatives. Henry Clay, the speaker of the House, did not like candidate Andrew Jackson, and candidate William Crawford had a stroke. Therefore, Clay threw his support to candidate and eventual president John Quincy Adams. Adams won in the House on the first ballot.
Andrew Jackson- The Tennessee legislature nominated Jackson for the presidency in 1824 and 1828. Jackson allied himself with Vice President John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, and former supporters of William H. Crawford; together they built a coalition that handily defeated the reelection of John Quincy Adams in 1828. His supporters called themselves "Jackson Men," or Jacksonians. It was him, as well as his supporters, who popularized the term “Corrupt Bargain” describing the Election of 1824.
John Quincy Adams- Adams ran against four other candidates in the Presidential election of 1824. After the elections no one had a majority of either the electoral votes or the popular votes, although Andrew Jackson was the winner of a plurality of both. The decision went to the House of Representatives. Henry Clay gave his support to Adams after Clay was dropped from the ballot. Adams won on the first ballot and was named president. Adams then named Clay Secretary of State to the angry complaints of Andrew Jackson, who alleged a “corrupt bargain”.
Election of 1828- The United States presidential election of 1828 featured a rematch between President John Quincy Adams and his rival Andrew Jackson, who was now a candidate under the banner of the Democratic Party. Unlike the 1824 election, no other major candidates appeared in the race, allowing Jackson to consolidate a power base and easily win an electoral victory over Adams.
“Age of the Common Man”- The age in which every white man was granted suffrage.
Kitchen Cabinet- The Kitchen Cabinet is a term used by political opponents of U.S. President Andrew Jackson to describe the collection of unofficial advisors he consulted in parallel to the United States Cabinet (the "parlor cabinet") following his purge of the cabinet at the end of the Eaton Affair and his break with Vice President John Calhoun in 1831. Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet included his political allies Martin van Buren, Francis Blair, Amos Kendall, William B. Lewis, Andrew Donelson, John H. Overton, and his new attorney general Roger Brooke Taney.
Peggy Eaton Affair- An affair involving Peggy O’Neal (later Peggy Eaton) and Jackson’s Secretary of War, John Henry Eaton, after O’Neal’s husband committed suicide. The affair caused members of Jackon’s cabinet to take sides, and eventually some left their positions.
Henry Clay- The speaker of the House during the J.Q. Adams presidency. He was given the position with what the Jacksonians called the “corrupt bargain”. He was known as the Great Compromiser for his ability to get treaties and agreements done.
Daniel Webster- A leading figure in the Webster-Hayne debate who defended New England. He argued that if each state had the ability to nullify laws, then there would be no nation. He also ran on the Whig ticket of 1836, gaining only 14 Electoral College votes.
South Carolina Exposition and Protest- The South Carolina Exposition and Protest was written in 1828 by John C. Calhoun, in disguise under the pseudonym Mr. X. Three years later, Calhoun went public with these ideas during the Nullification Crisis. He said that states should have nullified the tariff of 1828.
Tariff of Abominations- The Tariff of 1828 (also known as the Tariff of Abominations), was a protective tariff passed by the U.S. Congress in 1828. The goal of the tariff was to protect industry in the northern United States from competing European goods by causing the prices of European products to increase. It was pushed to 45% by the Jacksonians in the hope that it would hurt the Adams administration.
John C. Calhoun- Author of the South Carolina Exposition, he was a Nationalist and Southern sectionalist. He spoke out against the “tyranny of the majority”. He was also the Vice President of Andrew Jackson until they split after the Eaton Affair.
Force Bill- Authorized U.S. President Andrew Jackson's use of whatever force necessary to enforce tariffs. It was intended to suppress South Carolina's nullification of tariffs. Opponents of the bill referred to it as Jackson's Bloody Bill or War Bill. The bill was a work of political mastery on Jackson's part as it gave the President the authority to close ports or harbors at his will. This also would require opponents to the tariff to travel a distance to carry out any threats or insurrection against federal facilities. Hostile acts against government facilities or personnel would then be considered pre-meditated and blatant.
Black Hawk War- The Black Hawk War was fought in 1832 in the Midwestern United States. It was an attempt by the Indians to return to their tribal lands. In the end, over 100,000 Indians were forced to move to reservations West of the Mississippi River.
Indian Removal Act- A part of a U.S. government policy known as Indian Removal. It was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. It's considered by many modern observers to be a very sad moment in American History. The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the "Five Civilized Tribes". Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee nation. President Jackson supported Indian removal primarily for reasons of national security.
Maysville Road Bill- The Maysville Road veto was a famous veto by U.S. President Andrew Jackson that is one of the most important events in the history of federalism in the United States. It took place in 1830. The Maysville Road bill provided for the federal government to buy $150,000 in stock in a private company to fund a 60-mile road connecting the towns of Maysville and Lexington, an extension of the Cumberland and National Roads. The U.S. Congress passed the bill, with a 103 to 87 vote in the House of Representatives. Jackson vetoed the bill, arguing that federal subsidies for internal improvements that were located wholly within a single U.S. state were unconstitutional.
Dartmouth College vs. Woodward- A case in 1819 whose final outcome prevented states from interfering in contracts.
Trail of Tears- The Trail of Tears refers to the forced relocation in 1838 of the Cherokee Native American tribe to the Western United States, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees.
Gibbons vs. Ogden- A case in 1824 whose outcome prevented the state of New York from giving a monopoly over a steamboat line to Robert Fulton (the vessel’s inventor).
Nicholas Biddle- Nicholas Biddle was the president of the Bank of the United States. After Biddle moved to the state senate of Pennsylvania, he lobbied for the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States. The Bank was rechartered in 1816, and President Monroe appointed Biddle as a government director.
“Pet Banks”- Pet banks is a pejorative term for state banks selected by the U.S. Department of Treasury to receive government deposits in 1833, when President Andrew Jackson "killed" the Second Bank of the United States. The term implied that the state banks were controlled by Jackson.
Whigs- The party was formed to oppose the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party. The Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the Executive Branch and favored a program of modernization and economic development. Their name was chosen to echo the American Whigs of 1776 who fought for independence.
Specie Circular- An executive order issued by U.S. President Andrew Jackson in 1836 and carried out by President Martin Van Buren. It required payment for government lands be in gold and silver specie.
Nullification Crisis- A sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson that arose when the state of South Carolina attempted to nullify a federal law passed by the United States Congress. South Carolina’s attempt was based on a constitutional theory articulated by South Carolina’s John C. Calhoun in which any state could , in cooperation with other states, refuse to comply with any federal law which a convention selected by the people of the state ruled was unconstitutional.
Bank War- The Bank War started in 1830, when Henry Clay presented Congress with a bill to renew the Bank of the United States in order to make it an election issue. Knowing that Jackson would veto the bill, Clay believed that it would anger many influential people in the East. But when Jackson vetoed the bill, it appealed to the masses, who felt that the bank was to blame for the Panic of 1819. With the election of 1832 secured, Jackson proceeded to destroy the Bank of the United States.
Martin Van Buren- The eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency he served as the Vice President and the Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson. He was a key organizer of the Democratic Party, as well as a dominant figure in the Second Party System. Van Buren was the first President who did not experience the American Revolution firsthand.
Samuel F.B. Morse- An American painter of portraits and historic scenes, the creator of a single wire telegraph system, and co-inventor, with Alfred Vail, of the Morse Code.
William Henry Harrison- The ninth President of the United States. Harrison first gained national fame for leading U.S forces against American Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 and earning the nickname "Tippecanoe" (or "Old Tippecanoe"). As a general in the subsequent War of 1812, his most notable contribution was a victory at the Battle of the Thames, which brought the war in his region to a successful conclusion. When he took the presidential office, he contracted pneumonia giving his acceptance speech and died about a month later.
John Tyler- The tenth President of the United States. A long-time Democrat-Republican, he was elected Vice President on the Whig ticket and on becoming president in 1841, broke with that party. His term as Vice President began on March 4, 1841 and one month later, on April 4, President William Henry Harrison died of what is believed to have been pneumonia.
Washington Irving- An American author of the early 19th century. Best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" (both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book), he was also a prolific essayist, biographer and historian. His works include biographies of George Washington and Muhammad.
James Fenimore Cooper- A prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical romances known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, which many consider his masterpiece.
Ralph Waldo Emerson- An American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century.
Questions
1) To say that America was becoming a democratic society in the early 1800s is to say that the society was based around political figures making an attempt to please the general public with their decisions, and making decisions that would help the politicians hold office. This excludes them trying to make decisions that were good for the country as a whole. Democratic, in this sense, means that the people are the chief makers of decisions.
2) Jackson made decisions that would please certain groups of people, and that didn’t necessarily make everyone happy. He transformed the office of the president because past presidents made decisions that attempted to please everyone and may not have been beneficial for the nation as a whole.
3) Government support for internal improvements was so divisive because there were certain people who believed that internal improvements were necessary and would be beneficial, and others saw them as unimportant. Farmers and producers of raw materials benefited from the transportation revolution because they could transport the goods they produced much easier. Nobody lost ground through this, because it benefited the economy totally.
4) The Whig party was very based on states’ rights, while the Democrats advocated a strong Federal government. The Whigs attempted to represent the “common man” while the Democrats represented the wealthy, influential citizens of society. The party’s programs were meant to benefit their supporters.
5) Jackson got the most support from the Southern, Eastern, and Western regions because the image that was created for him by others made it look like he was similar to those groups of people, giving them a reason to vote for him.
6) The arts and letters of the era reflected the age’s democratic spirit because they represented the people’s feelings, just as governmental officials did.
Election of 1824- The election that ended the “Era of Good feelings”, as 5 different candidates ran on the same Democratic-Republican ticket. Nobody gained an advantage in the Electoral college, so the election was sent to the House of Representatives. Henry Clay, the speaker of the House, did not like candidate Andrew Jackson, and candidate William Crawford had a stroke. Therefore, Clay threw his support to candidate and eventual president John Quincy Adams. Adams won in the House on the first ballot.
Andrew Jackson- The Tennessee legislature nominated Jackson for the presidency in 1824 and 1828. Jackson allied himself with Vice President John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, and former supporters of William H. Crawford; together they built a coalition that handily defeated the reelection of John Quincy Adams in 1828. His supporters called themselves "Jackson Men," or Jacksonians. It was him, as well as his supporters, who popularized the term “Corrupt Bargain” describing the Election of 1824.
John Quincy Adams- Adams ran against four other candidates in the Presidential election of 1824. After the elections no one had a majority of either the electoral votes or the popular votes, although Andrew Jackson was the winner of a plurality of both. The decision went to the House of Representatives. Henry Clay gave his support to Adams after Clay was dropped from the ballot. Adams won on the first ballot and was named president. Adams then named Clay Secretary of State to the angry complaints of Andrew Jackson, who alleged a “corrupt bargain”.
Election of 1828- The United States presidential election of 1828 featured a rematch between President John Quincy Adams and his rival Andrew Jackson, who was now a candidate under the banner of the Democratic Party. Unlike the 1824 election, no other major candidates appeared in the race, allowing Jackson to consolidate a power base and easily win an electoral victory over Adams.
“Age of the Common Man”- The age in which every white man was granted suffrage.
Kitchen Cabinet- The Kitchen Cabinet is a term used by political opponents of U.S. President Andrew Jackson to describe the collection of unofficial advisors he consulted in parallel to the United States Cabinet (the "parlor cabinet") following his purge of the cabinet at the end of the Eaton Affair and his break with Vice President John Calhoun in 1831. Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet included his political allies Martin van Buren, Francis Blair, Amos Kendall, William B. Lewis, Andrew Donelson, John H. Overton, and his new attorney general Roger Brooke Taney.
Peggy Eaton Affair- An affair involving Peggy O’Neal (later Peggy Eaton) and Jackson’s Secretary of War, John Henry Eaton, after O’Neal’s husband committed suicide. The affair caused members of Jackon’s cabinet to take sides, and eventually some left their positions.
Henry Clay- The speaker of the House during the J.Q. Adams presidency. He was given the position with what the Jacksonians called the “corrupt bargain”. He was known as the Great Compromiser for his ability to get treaties and agreements done.
Daniel Webster- A leading figure in the Webster-Hayne debate who defended New England. He argued that if each state had the ability to nullify laws, then there would be no nation. He also ran on the Whig ticket of 1836, gaining only 14 Electoral College votes.
South Carolina Exposition and Protest- The South Carolina Exposition and Protest was written in 1828 by John C. Calhoun, in disguise under the pseudonym Mr. X. Three years later, Calhoun went public with these ideas during the Nullification Crisis. He said that states should have nullified the tariff of 1828.
Tariff of Abominations- The Tariff of 1828 (also known as the Tariff of Abominations), was a protective tariff passed by the U.S. Congress in 1828. The goal of the tariff was to protect industry in the northern United States from competing European goods by causing the prices of European products to increase. It was pushed to 45% by the Jacksonians in the hope that it would hurt the Adams administration.
John C. Calhoun- Author of the South Carolina Exposition, he was a Nationalist and Southern sectionalist. He spoke out against the “tyranny of the majority”. He was also the Vice President of Andrew Jackson until they split after the Eaton Affair.
Force Bill- Authorized U.S. President Andrew Jackson's use of whatever force necessary to enforce tariffs. It was intended to suppress South Carolina's nullification of tariffs. Opponents of the bill referred to it as Jackson's Bloody Bill or War Bill. The bill was a work of political mastery on Jackson's part as it gave the President the authority to close ports or harbors at his will. This also would require opponents to the tariff to travel a distance to carry out any threats or insurrection against federal facilities. Hostile acts against government facilities or personnel would then be considered pre-meditated and blatant.
Black Hawk War- The Black Hawk War was fought in 1832 in the Midwestern United States. It was an attempt by the Indians to return to their tribal lands. In the end, over 100,000 Indians were forced to move to reservations West of the Mississippi River.
Indian Removal Act- A part of a U.S. government policy known as Indian Removal. It was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. It's considered by many modern observers to be a very sad moment in American History. The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the "Five Civilized Tribes". Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee nation. President Jackson supported Indian removal primarily for reasons of national security.
Maysville Road Bill- The Maysville Road veto was a famous veto by U.S. President Andrew Jackson that is one of the most important events in the history of federalism in the United States. It took place in 1830. The Maysville Road bill provided for the federal government to buy $150,000 in stock in a private company to fund a 60-mile road connecting the towns of Maysville and Lexington, an extension of the Cumberland and National Roads. The U.S. Congress passed the bill, with a 103 to 87 vote in the House of Representatives. Jackson vetoed the bill, arguing that federal subsidies for internal improvements that were located wholly within a single U.S. state were unconstitutional.
Dartmouth College vs. Woodward- A case in 1819 whose final outcome prevented states from interfering in contracts.
Trail of Tears- The Trail of Tears refers to the forced relocation in 1838 of the Cherokee Native American tribe to the Western United States, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees.
Gibbons vs. Ogden- A case in 1824 whose outcome prevented the state of New York from giving a monopoly over a steamboat line to Robert Fulton (the vessel’s inventor).
Nicholas Biddle- Nicholas Biddle was the president of the Bank of the United States. After Biddle moved to the state senate of Pennsylvania, he lobbied for the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States. The Bank was rechartered in 1816, and President Monroe appointed Biddle as a government director.
“Pet Banks”- Pet banks is a pejorative term for state banks selected by the U.S. Department of Treasury to receive government deposits in 1833, when President Andrew Jackson "killed" the Second Bank of the United States. The term implied that the state banks were controlled by Jackson.
Whigs- The party was formed to oppose the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party. The Whigs supported the supremacy of Congress over the Executive Branch and favored a program of modernization and economic development. Their name was chosen to echo the American Whigs of 1776 who fought for independence.
Specie Circular- An executive order issued by U.S. President Andrew Jackson in 1836 and carried out by President Martin Van Buren. It required payment for government lands be in gold and silver specie.
Nullification Crisis- A sectional crisis during the presidency of Andrew Jackson that arose when the state of South Carolina attempted to nullify a federal law passed by the United States Congress. South Carolina’s attempt was based on a constitutional theory articulated by South Carolina’s John C. Calhoun in which any state could , in cooperation with other states, refuse to comply with any federal law which a convention selected by the people of the state ruled was unconstitutional.
Bank War- The Bank War started in 1830, when Henry Clay presented Congress with a bill to renew the Bank of the United States in order to make it an election issue. Knowing that Jackson would veto the bill, Clay believed that it would anger many influential people in the East. But when Jackson vetoed the bill, it appealed to the masses, who felt that the bank was to blame for the Panic of 1819. With the election of 1832 secured, Jackson proceeded to destroy the Bank of the United States.
Martin Van Buren- The eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Before his presidency he served as the Vice President and the Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson. He was a key organizer of the Democratic Party, as well as a dominant figure in the Second Party System. Van Buren was the first President who did not experience the American Revolution firsthand.
Samuel F.B. Morse- An American painter of portraits and historic scenes, the creator of a single wire telegraph system, and co-inventor, with Alfred Vail, of the Morse Code.
William Henry Harrison- The ninth President of the United States. Harrison first gained national fame for leading U.S forces against American Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 and earning the nickname "Tippecanoe" (or "Old Tippecanoe"). As a general in the subsequent War of 1812, his most notable contribution was a victory at the Battle of the Thames, which brought the war in his region to a successful conclusion. When he took the presidential office, he contracted pneumonia giving his acceptance speech and died about a month later.
John Tyler- The tenth President of the United States. A long-time Democrat-Republican, he was elected Vice President on the Whig ticket and on becoming president in 1841, broke with that party. His term as Vice President began on March 4, 1841 and one month later, on April 4, President William Henry Harrison died of what is believed to have been pneumonia.
Washington Irving- An American author of the early 19th century. Best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" (both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book), he was also a prolific essayist, biographer and historian. His works include biographies of George Washington and Muhammad.
James Fenimore Cooper- A prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical romances known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo. Among his most famous works is the Romantic novel The Last of the Mohicans, which many consider his masterpiece.
Ralph Waldo Emerson- An American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century.
Questions
1) To say that America was becoming a democratic society in the early 1800s is to say that the society was based around political figures making an attempt to please the general public with their decisions, and making decisions that would help the politicians hold office. This excludes them trying to make decisions that were good for the country as a whole. Democratic, in this sense, means that the people are the chief makers of decisions.
2) Jackson made decisions that would please certain groups of people, and that didn’t necessarily make everyone happy. He transformed the office of the president because past presidents made decisions that attempted to please everyone and may not have been beneficial for the nation as a whole.
3) Government support for internal improvements was so divisive because there were certain people who believed that internal improvements were necessary and would be beneficial, and others saw them as unimportant. Farmers and producers of raw materials benefited from the transportation revolution because they could transport the goods they produced much easier. Nobody lost ground through this, because it benefited the economy totally.
4) The Whig party was very based on states’ rights, while the Democrats advocated a strong Federal government. The Whigs attempted to represent the “common man” while the Democrats represented the wealthy, influential citizens of society. The party’s programs were meant to benefit their supporters.
5) Jackson got the most support from the Southern, Eastern, and Western regions because the image that was created for him by others made it look like he was similar to those groups of people, giving them a reason to vote for him.
6) The arts and letters of the era reflected the age’s democratic spirit because they represented the people’s feelings, just as governmental officials did.