Unit Ten: The Jacksonian Era

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Unit Ten The Jacksonian Era

• Jacksonian Democracy

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Indian Relations

• Another topic during Jacksons first term was
  Indian relations in the lands East of the
  Mississippi, mostly in the South.
• In the South the last tribes still there were the
  Five Civilized Tribes (had assimilated white
  culture) Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee,
  and Seminoles.
• The Southern states though wanted Indian lands to
  make fields to grow cotton, so they established
  Indian Removal laws to kick them off their
  Reservations.

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Five Civilized Tribes
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The Indians fight back

• In 1830 Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act
  which allocated money for the President to use to
  voluntarily remove Indians west of the
  Mississippi to the Great American Desert
  (Oklahoma Territory)
• Some left willingly as the Choctaws with the
  Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, others did not.
• This law led to conflict in Illinois with the
  Black Hawk War and in Florida with the Second
  Seminole War.
• The Cherokees of Georgia decided to use the court
  systems to fight back.

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The Indians fight back

• The Cherokees were the most assimilated tribe
  with their own written language developed by
  Sequoyah.
• The Cherokees first sued Georgia in Cherokee
  Nation v. Georgia, but the Supreme Court ruled
  that they could not sue because they were not
  U.S. citizens but rather Domestic Dependants of
  the Federal government.
• In the second case of Worcester v. Georgia, the
  Supreme Court said Georgia did not have the right
  to remove, only Federal government through a
  treaty.

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The Indians fight back

• In response to John Marshalls decision Jackson
  said, Marshalls made his decision, now let him
  enforce it.
• In 1838 the remaining Cherokees about 15,000 were
  rounded up by General Winfield Scott and forced
  to move to the Oklahoma Territory in an event
  known as the Trail of Tears, due to 1/3 dying on
  the way.
• Jacksons Indian policy disliked by missionaries
  like Jeremiah Evarts and Frontiersman like David
  Crockett, were agreed with by a majority of
  Americans, even some calling for the ethnic
  cleansing (genocide) of the entire savage race
  (Indians).

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Trail of Tears
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Bank War

• The last big issue of Jacksons first term was
  the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United
  States (BUS).
• Jackson believed the BUS headed by Nicolas Biddle
  was a corrupt institution (the monster) using
  public funds to purchase Congressional votes and
  direct American policy and did not like the use
  of bank notes but rather wanted only specie.
• When the BUS applied for recharter in 1832
  Jackson vetoed the bill, which many Americans
  agreed with due to general anger with the BUS.
  

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Election of 1832

• In the Election of 1832 Jackson ran for a second
  term for the Democrats against the National
  Republican candidate Henry Clay and won with a
  large margin.
• The election did have the first third party
  candidate William Wirt from the Anti- Masonic
  Party.
• To Jackson this was a mandate from the people
  that they liked him and his policies.
• Jackson wanted to end the bank, but did not want
  to wait until 1836 for its charter to end, so he
  came up with an idea to kill it.

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Kill the BUS

• To kill the BUS Jackson came up with the plan to
  move all the Governments (Public) money from the
  BUS, thus ending its ability to loan or do much
  of anything.
• Jackson moved all the Publics money into
  different state banks (Pet Banks) with the
  consent of the Secretary of the Treasury Roger
  Taney. (Jackson fired two previous Secretaries
  because they would not do it)
• To Force Jackson to recharter the BUS, Biddle cut
  credit and interest rates shot up causing an
  economic recession called Biddles Panic.
  (Biddle did finally give in to Jackson)

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Economic Issues

• In 1835 Jackson completed paid off the National
  debt (only time in U.S. history it happened) and
  passed surplus money on to the states.
• This caused an economic boom, but it was growing
  to quickly and to slow it down Jackson issued the
  Specie Circular (stated that Public lands could
  only be purchased with silver or gold).
• The demand for specie, Jacksons fiscal policies,
  and the death of the BUS in 1836 caused a huge
  Panic in 1837 causing further division in the
  nation. Even though Jackson was right about many
  things about the BUS, it was a stabilizing force
  on the economy and should have been reformed not
  killed.

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The Bank War
Nicholas Biddle
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Jacksonian Diplomacy

• Andrew Jackson believed in a strong arm type of
  diplomacy and that American interests should come
  before all other.
• In 1830 Jackson reopened trade with the West
  Indies which was a much needed trade region.
• In 1831 Jackson opened a quarrel with France over
  payments owed to American shippers during the
  Napoleonic Wars, which the French chose not pay.

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Jacksonian Diplomacy

• Jackson then urged the seizure of French property
  in the U.S. to pay the shippers which led to the
  cutting off of trade relations and the fear of
  war.
• In 1835 France agreed to pay the money if Jackson
  was to apologize, which he did not because he was
  backed by the American people Hurrah for
  Jackson, No apologizes Jackson only said he did
  not intend to insult the French which they took
  and paid the payments.

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Election of 1836

• Jackson was the first President to have an
  assassination attempt on his life, not once but
  twice Robert B. Randolph (only hit Jackson) and
  Richard Lawrence (had two pistols misfire)
• In 1836 Jackson was tired (70yrs old) and refused
  to run again retiring to his home the Hermitage.
• Jackson left a lasting legacy of what was termed
  the rise of the common man in America.

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Andrew Jackson
Click to see
a YouTube
video
on the Hermitage
The Hermitage
Richard Lawrence Attempt 1835
Jackson 1844
Jacksons Tomb
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Election of 1836

• In the Election of 1836 Jacksons hand picked
  predecessor Martin Van Buren was chosen to run on
  the Democratic ticket.
• Van Buren ran against three candidates from a new
  party called the Whig Party (National Republicans
  and Anti-Jacksons).
• The Whig Party formed from the thought
  that Jackson was trying to make himself
  an elected king in America, hence Whigs.
  (King Andrew I)
• Van Buren easily beat Daniel Webster,
  Hugh White, Willie Magnum, and William Henry
  Harrison to win the Presidency.

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Election of 1836
Martin Van Buren Little Magician
William Henry Harrison
Daniel Webster
Hugh White