Lesson 14 Study Guide: Andrew Jackson and the Growth of American Democracy
Section 1: Introduction
The presidential campaign of 1828 was one of the dirtiest in U.S. history.
There were 2 candidates
John Quincy Adams was running for reelection.
Andrew Jackson, the popular hero of
the War of 1812's Battle of New Orleans,
also ran for president.
When the votes were counted, Jackson was
the clear winner.
Section 2: From the Frontier to the White House
Andrew Jackson was born in 1767, on the South Carolina frontier.
After the war, Jackson decided to become a lawyer.
In 1824, Jackson ran for president against Henry Clay, William Crawford and
John Quincy Adams.
Clay, who had come in fourth, urged his supporters in the House to vote for Adams.
Jackson's supporters used the time between
elections to build a new political organization,
known today as the Democratic Party.
This new party, they promised, would represent ordinary
farmers, workers, and the poor, not the rich and upper class
who controlled the republican party.
In the election of 1828, Jackson's supporters worked hard to reach the nation's voters.
Section 3: The Inauguration of Andrew Jackson
On March 4, 1829, more than 10,000 people, who came from every
state, crowded into Washington, D.C., to witness Andrew Jackson's
inauguration.
Until the 1820s, the right to vote had been limited to the rich and upper class.
With the western states leading the way, voting
laws were changed to give the "common man"
the right to vote.
Jackson had promised to throw the rich out and return the government to "the
people."
Section 4: Jackson's Approach to Governing
He made most of his decisions with the help of trusted friends and political
supporters.
Because these advisors were said to meet with him in the White House kitchen, they were called
the "kitchen cabinet."
Jackson's opponents called the practice of rewarding political supporters with
government jobs the spoils system.
Section 5: The Nullification Crisis
In 1828, Congress passed a law raising tariffs, or taxes on imported goods such as
cloth and glass.
Northern states, humming with new factories, favored the new tariff law. But southerners opposed tariffs for
several reasons.
Led by Calhoun, they proclaimed south Carolina's right to nullify, or reject, both the 1828 and 1832
tariff laws.
The state threatened to secede if the national government tried to enforce the tariff laws.
Faced with such a firm opposition, South Carolina backed down and the nullification crisis ended.
Section 6: Jackson Battles the bank of the United States
Jackson saw himself as the champion of the people, and never more so than in his war with the Bank of the United States.
Jackson thought that the bank benefited rich eastern depositors at the expense of farmers and
workers, as well as smaller state banks.
Jackson vetoed the recharter bill.
In 1832, a large majority elected Jackson to a second term.
Section 7: Jackson's Indian Policy
As a frontier settler, Andrew Jackson had little sympathy
for American Indians.
Despite the treaties American Indians continued to be pushed off their land.
Most of the eastern Indians lived in the south.
They belonged to five groups, called tribes by
whites: the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw,
Choctaw, and Seminole.
In 1830, urged on by president Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act.
Groups that refused to move west voluntarily were met with military force, usually with tragic results.
Two years later, under President Martin Van Buren, more than 17,000 Cherokees were forced from
their homes in Georgia and herded west by federal troops.
Those who survived remembered that journey as the Trail of Tears.
Summary
Andrew Jackson was a self-made man who
rose from poverty to become president of
the United States. First-time voters, many of
them farmers and frontier settlers, helped
elect Jackson in 1828. His supporters
celebrated his election as a victory for the
“common man” over the rich and powerful.
As president,
Jackson relied on his “kitchen cabinet” rather
than the official cabinet. He replaced a number
of Republican civil servants with Democrats in a
practice that became known as the spoils
system.
A controversy over higher tariffs led to the nullification crisis, in which
South Carolinians threatened to secede from the United States.
Although Jackson forced them to back down, the crisis was another
sign of developing tensions between North and South.
Jackson thought the Bank of the United States benefited rich eastern
depositors at the expense of farmers, workers, and smaller state banks. He
also thought it stood in the way of opportunity for capitalists in the West and
other regions. Jackson vetoed the bank’s renewal charter.
Jackson’s Indian policy was simple: move the eastern Indians across the Mississippi to make room
for whites. The Indian Removal Act caused great suffering for tens of thousands of American Indians.