Summary: Politics Of The Market Revolution
Chapter 11 (pgs. 186-199): Politics of the Market Revolution
Politics in the Age of Jackson
* A New Kind of Politics * (1) The Panic of 1819 * Economic booms and busts caused Americans to feel that the government should be more responsive to their needs. * (2) Expansion of the Franchise * The expansion of the franchise, or vote, allowed greater numbers of American men to participate in politics. * (3) The Election of 1824 * The contentious presidential election of 1824 led the entire nation to become increasingly political. * “Corrupt bargain” – alleged deal between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay to manipulate the voting in the House of Representatives to install Adams as president and Clay as his secretary of state in 1824. * Second two-party system – evolution of political organizations in 1824 into the Jacksonians and the Whigs. * (4) A New Culture of Politics * Drove the rise of mass parties and the second two-party system.
* Andrew Jackson and the Politics of the “Common Man” * The Election of 1828 * Jackson’s campaign strategy was mudslinging… while he defamed the personal character of his political adversaries, his fellow Democratic leaders organized rallies and barbecues to attract and mobilize voters. * …show more content…
He was most successful with 3 groups: * (1) Southerners, who appreciated the fact that some of the Indians he had killed were Florida’s Seminoles, who were hated by southerners because the tribe had invited slaves to escape freedom in Seminole lands; * (2) Westerners, who viewed Jackson as a hearty frontiersman (his supporters avoided revealing the fact that his frontier lifestyle depended largely on the 100 slaves he owned); * and (3) the working classes of the North, who had come to resent what they called the “elitism” of the Federalists and their political offspring. * A New Style of Politics * The election of 1828 signaled the beginning of the kind of political culture that persists in America today. * White Male Democracy * Jackson was the first president from the West (Tennessee) rather than from the aristocracy of New England or Virginia. He was supported by a coalition of western frontiersmen, southern planters, and the northern working class who supported manhood suffrage (extending the vote to all white men regardless of property ownership) and opposed anyone they considered an aristocrat, even if those aristocrats were interested in extending rights to other, less privileged minorities. * Racism in the North * The African Americans did not support Jackson because they were excluded from the “common man”.
Jackson as President… 4 issues dominated his presidency:
* (1) Patronage * Patronage – exchange of a government job in return for political campaign work.
* (2) The Nullification Crisis * The Context of Nullification * The economy was changing so rapidly during the Market Revolution that many Americans felt they could hardly keep up. Most focused the blame for their economic problems on the high tariff placed on their goods. * Tariffs * 1816 – Congress started increasing America’s tariffs to protect American industries, especially the textile industry in New England, which used southern cotton as its material. * 1824 – Congress raised these tariffs; South Carolina and other states objected. Congress approved the tariff despite the complaints. * 1828 – Jackson (running for president against Adams) advocated a ridiculously high tariff, assuming it wouldn’t pass. Jackson’s promotion of the tariff would have gained him the support of the West and the North, while the South would be content that not tariff had been passed. * The Tariff of 1828 (aka the “Tariff of Abominations”) passed in Congress (Jackson was shocked). Adams didn’t veto the measure, leaving Jackson with a tariff that made many of his supporters unhappy. The South was furious and, in response, the South Carolina legislature issued a document called the South Carolina Exposition. * What Was Nullification? * The South Carolina Exposition gave voice to a new political idea – nullification. * Nullification – assertion that the United States was made up of independent and sovereign states; states did not agree to give up their autonomy; and every state reserved the right to reject any federal law it deemed unconstitutional. * Jackson’s Response * December 1832 – In Jackson’s Proclamation on Nullification, he emphasized that the states of the Union were not independent and that, therefore, no state had the right to reject a federal law; only the Supreme Court had the authority to do that. * March 1833 – Jacksonians in Congress passed the Force Bill, which confirmed the president’s authority to use that army and navy to put down insurrection.
* (3) The Bank War * The Bank * 1819 – The Bank began calling in its loans, contributing to the Panic of 1819. People late on their payments now had to pay up. Many Americans went to debtors’ prisons; others suffered bankruptcy. * 1823 – Nicholas Biddle assumed leadership of the Bank. He believed that the Bank could serve as a stabilizing influence over the American economy by preventing the national credit supply from expanding too far or contracting too quickly. * Until 1863, there was no standardized national currency. Instead, several forms of money existed… * (1) specie (gold or silver); * (2) barter (goods exchanged for other goods without the use of money); * and (3) state bank notes (paper money issued by state-chartered banks). * Jackson’s Opposition * 1832 – Conflict between Jackson and Biddle erupted when Biddle applied for a renewal of the Bank’s charter 4 years before the charter was set to expire. Congress renewed the Bank’s charter. Jackson vetoed the charter, arguing that the Bank was a nest of special privileges for the wealthy who were out to hurt America’s humble poor and that the Constitution did not allow for the creation of a national bank or for the use of paper money. His veto was popular with the working classes, westerners, and southerners. * Crushing the Bank * 1832 – Once Jackson was reelected, he ordered that all $10 million of federal deposits be withdrawn and redeposited in state banks. * 1836 – When the Bank’s charter expired, the institution closed its doors for good. * Wildcat Banking * The absence of a central bank allowed for the rise of many state and local banks that had less than adequate credit and little government regulation. Jackson ruined the national currency, which did not revive again until the Civil War.
* (4) Westward Expansion and Indian Removal * Indian Resistance * Debt, disease, and war crushed Indian resistance. * Indian Removal Act of 1830 – legislation that allowed the federal government to trade land west of the Mississippi River for land east of the river, allowing the federal government to move Indians further west. * The Cherokees Nation versus Georgia * Trail of Tears – forced removal of the Cherokee nation from Georgia to Oklahoma in 1838; the Cherokees were forced to walk more than 1,000 miles. * Was Jackson Anti-Indian? * He believed any Indian presence east of the Mississippi River was illegitimate, and that the Indian people as a whole were destined for extinction anyway. * The Seminole Revolt * 1836 – the Seminole Indians in northern Florida and their free black population (called Black Seminoles) attacked at least 12 white-owned sugar plantations. Many slaves freed themselves and burned all the sugar plantations in the region. The war lasted until 1842.
* The Panic of 1837 * The Specie Circular * Specie Circular – executive order of 1836 requiring that the government cases accepting paper money as credible currency, accepting only gold or silver (specie) for all items, including public land. * The Panic of 1837 * The Specie Circular caused an immediate drop in demand for western lands and drained most of the specie from New York banks. Paper money lost nearly all of its value, and nearly a quarter of all banks in the United States closed. There was no central bank to control the economic contraction, and the United States plummeted into an economic depression.
The Development of the Second Two-Party System
* Jackson’s Democrats (“the party of the poor”) * Extremely nationalistic and believed it was best to keep the federal government small. The government was not supposed to control the way that people conducted themselves privately. They viewed American society as being divided between 2 hostile camps: “the people” (farmers, planters, workers), who worked hard to make an honest living, and “the aristocracy” (merchants, bankers, financial agents), who manipulated markets for their own private enrichment.
* The Whigs (“the party of the rich”) * Favored a more active federal government.
They supported using federal funds to finance internal improvements, like turnpikes and railroads, and they believed that government power could be used to promote the moral health of the nation through temperance laws or antislavery legislation. Economic development made people richer, increased popular demand for foodstuffs and other agricultural products, and created jobs. Banks were not evil; they were essential for controlling the flow of money. Many opposed the expansion of slavery into new territory, but they did form alliances with southern states’ rights
groups.
* Constituencies * The Whigs * Farmers who wanted better methods to transport their produce to market; workers who believed they would benefit from economic growth; and planters who wanted the United States to have a stable bank system that would float loans. They also appealed to people concerned about the increasing numbers of Irish Catholics entering the country. The Whigs did well in cities and rural areas that embraced market competition. * The Democrats * They attracted farmers and workers who felt alienated by America’s increasingly commercialized economy, as well as small businessmen who hoped the Democratic Party would stand watch against monopolies and give “little guys” a chance to succeed. They also attracted Irish immigrants who immigrated in large numbers during the 1840s.
* Political Stability * 1840 – By this time, Americans had succeeded in building a stable 2-party system.
Politics in the Age of Jackson
* A New Kind of Politics * (1) The Panic of 1819 * Economic booms and busts caused Americans to feel that the government should be more responsive to their needs. * (2) Expansion of the Franchise * The expansion of the franchise, or vote, allowed greater numbers of American men to participate in politics. * (3) The Election of 1824 * The contentious presidential election of 1824 led the entire nation to become increasingly political. * “Corrupt bargain” – alleged deal between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay to manipulate the voting in the House of Representatives to install Adams as president and Clay as his secretary of state in 1824. * Second two-party system – evolution of political organizations in 1824 into the Jacksonians and the Whigs. * (4) A New Culture of Politics * Drove the rise of mass parties and the second two-party system.
* Andrew Jackson and the Politics of the “Common Man” * The Election of 1828 * Jackson’s campaign strategy was mudslinging… while he defamed the personal character of his political adversaries, his fellow Democratic leaders organized rallies and barbecues to attract and mobilize voters. * …show more content…
He was most successful with 3 groups: * (1) Southerners, who appreciated the fact that some of the Indians he had killed were Florida’s Seminoles, who were hated by southerners because the tribe had invited slaves to escape freedom in Seminole lands; * (2) Westerners, who viewed Jackson as a hearty frontiersman (his supporters avoided revealing the fact that his frontier lifestyle depended largely on the 100 slaves he owned); * and (3) the working classes of the North, who had come to resent what they called the “elitism” of the Federalists and their political offspring. * A New Style of Politics * The election of 1828 signaled the beginning of the kind of political culture that persists in America today. * White Male Democracy * Jackson was the first president from the West (Tennessee) rather than from the aristocracy of New England or Virginia. He was supported by a coalition of western frontiersmen, southern planters, and the northern working class who supported manhood suffrage (extending the vote to all white men regardless of property ownership) and opposed anyone they considered an aristocrat, even if those aristocrats were interested in extending rights to other, less privileged minorities. * Racism in the North * The African Americans did not support Jackson because they were excluded from the “common man”.
Jackson as President… 4 issues dominated his presidency:
* (1) Patronage * Patronage – exchange of a government job in return for political campaign work.
* (2) The Nullification Crisis * The Context of Nullification * The economy was changing so rapidly during the Market Revolution that many Americans felt they could hardly keep up. Most focused the blame for their economic problems on the high tariff placed on their goods. * Tariffs * 1816 – Congress started increasing America’s tariffs to protect American industries, especially the textile industry in New England, which used southern cotton as its material. * 1824 – Congress raised these tariffs; South Carolina and other states objected. Congress approved the tariff despite the complaints. * 1828 – Jackson (running for president against Adams) advocated a ridiculously high tariff, assuming it wouldn’t pass. Jackson’s promotion of the tariff would have gained him the support of the West and the North, while the South would be content that not tariff had been passed. * The Tariff of 1828 (aka the “Tariff of Abominations”) passed in Congress (Jackson was shocked). Adams didn’t veto the measure, leaving Jackson with a tariff that made many of his supporters unhappy. The South was furious and, in response, the South Carolina legislature issued a document called the South Carolina Exposition. * What Was Nullification? * The South Carolina Exposition gave voice to a new political idea – nullification. * Nullification – assertion that the United States was made up of independent and sovereign states; states did not agree to give up their autonomy; and every state reserved the right to reject any federal law it deemed unconstitutional. * Jackson’s Response * December 1832 – In Jackson’s Proclamation on Nullification, he emphasized that the states of the Union were not independent and that, therefore, no state had the right to reject a federal law; only the Supreme Court had the authority to do that. * March 1833 – Jacksonians in Congress passed the Force Bill, which confirmed the president’s authority to use that army and navy to put down insurrection.
* (3) The Bank War * The Bank * 1819 – The Bank began calling in its loans, contributing to the Panic of 1819. People late on their payments now had to pay up. Many Americans went to debtors’ prisons; others suffered bankruptcy. * 1823 – Nicholas Biddle assumed leadership of the Bank. He believed that the Bank could serve as a stabilizing influence over the American economy by preventing the national credit supply from expanding too far or contracting too quickly. * Until 1863, there was no standardized national currency. Instead, several forms of money existed… * (1) specie (gold or silver); * (2) barter (goods exchanged for other goods without the use of money); * and (3) state bank notes (paper money issued by state-chartered banks). * Jackson’s Opposition * 1832 – Conflict between Jackson and Biddle erupted when Biddle applied for a renewal of the Bank’s charter 4 years before the charter was set to expire. Congress renewed the Bank’s charter. Jackson vetoed the charter, arguing that the Bank was a nest of special privileges for the wealthy who were out to hurt America’s humble poor and that the Constitution did not allow for the creation of a national bank or for the use of paper money. His veto was popular with the working classes, westerners, and southerners. * Crushing the Bank * 1832 – Once Jackson was reelected, he ordered that all $10 million of federal deposits be withdrawn and redeposited in state banks. * 1836 – When the Bank’s charter expired, the institution closed its doors for good. * Wildcat Banking * The absence of a central bank allowed for the rise of many state and local banks that had less than adequate credit and little government regulation. Jackson ruined the national currency, which did not revive again until the Civil War.
* (4) Westward Expansion and Indian Removal * Indian Resistance * Debt, disease, and war crushed Indian resistance. * Indian Removal Act of 1830 – legislation that allowed the federal government to trade land west of the Mississippi River for land east of the river, allowing the federal government to move Indians further west. * The Cherokees Nation versus Georgia * Trail of Tears – forced removal of the Cherokee nation from Georgia to Oklahoma in 1838; the Cherokees were forced to walk more than 1,000 miles. * Was Jackson Anti-Indian? * He believed any Indian presence east of the Mississippi River was illegitimate, and that the Indian people as a whole were destined for extinction anyway. * The Seminole Revolt * 1836 – the Seminole Indians in northern Florida and their free black population (called Black Seminoles) attacked at least 12 white-owned sugar plantations. Many slaves freed themselves and burned all the sugar plantations in the region. The war lasted until 1842.
* The Panic of 1837 * The Specie Circular * Specie Circular – executive order of 1836 requiring that the government cases accepting paper money as credible currency, accepting only gold or silver (specie) for all items, including public land. * The Panic of 1837 * The Specie Circular caused an immediate drop in demand for western lands and drained most of the specie from New York banks. Paper money lost nearly all of its value, and nearly a quarter of all banks in the United States closed. There was no central bank to control the economic contraction, and the United States plummeted into an economic depression.
The Development of the Second Two-Party System
* Jackson’s Democrats (“the party of the poor”) * Extremely nationalistic and believed it was best to keep the federal government small. The government was not supposed to control the way that people conducted themselves privately. They viewed American society as being divided between 2 hostile camps: “the people” (farmers, planters, workers), who worked hard to make an honest living, and “the aristocracy” (merchants, bankers, financial agents), who manipulated markets for their own private enrichment.
* The Whigs (“the party of the rich”) * Favored a more active federal government.
They supported using federal funds to finance internal improvements, like turnpikes and railroads, and they believed that government power could be used to promote the moral health of the nation through temperance laws or antislavery legislation. Economic development made people richer, increased popular demand for foodstuffs and other agricultural products, and created jobs. Banks were not evil; they were essential for controlling the flow of money. Many opposed the expansion of slavery into new territory, but they did form alliances with southern states’ rights
groups.
* Constituencies * The Whigs * Farmers who wanted better methods to transport their produce to market; workers who believed they would benefit from economic growth; and planters who wanted the United States to have a stable bank system that would float loans. They also appealed to people concerned about the increasing numbers of Irish Catholics entering the country. The Whigs did well in cities and rural areas that embraced market competition. * The Democrats * They attracted farmers and workers who felt alienated by America’s increasingly commercialized economy, as well as small businessmen who hoped the Democratic Party would stand watch against monopolies and give “little guys” a chance to succeed. They also attracted Irish immigrants who immigrated in large numbers during the 1840s.
* Political Stability * 1840 – By this time, Americans had succeeded in building a stable 2-party system.