The Age of Jackson, 1824–1844
The era that saw the emergence of popular politics in the 1820s and the presidency of Andrew Jackson (1829–1837) is often called the Age of the Common Man, or the Era of Jacksonian Democracy. Historians debate whether Jackson was a major molder of events, a political opportunist exploiting the democratic ferment of the times, or merely a symbol of the era. Nevertheless, the era and Jackson’s name seem permanently linked. (Of course, to attach a name to an age does not explain either what it was or why it happened.)
Jacksonian Democracy
The changing politics of the Jacksonian years paralleled complex social and economic changes.
The Rise of a Democratic Society
Visitors to the United States in the 1830s, such as Alexis de Tocqueville, a young French aristocrat, were amazed by the informal manners and democratic attitudes of Americans. In hotels, under the American Plan, men and women from all classes ate together at common tables. On stagecoaches, steamboats, and later in railroad cars, there was also only one class for passengers, so that the rich and poor alike sat together in the same compartments. It was also difficult for European visitors to distinguish between classes in the United States. Men of all backgrounds wore simple dark trousers and jackets, while less well-to-do women emulated the fanciful and confining styles illustrated in wide-circulation women’s magazines like Godey’s Lady’s Book. Equality was becoming the governing principle of American society.
Among the white majority in American society, there was widespread belief in the principle of equality—or more precisely, equality of opportunity for white males. (At the same time, the oppression of black slaves and discrimination against free blacks coexisted with and contradicted whites’ ideal of equality.) Equality of opportunity would, at least in theory, allow the young man of humble origins to rise as far as his native talent and industry would take him. The hero of the age was the “self-made man.”
There was no equivalent belief in the “self-made woman,” but feminists in a later period would take up the theme of equal rights and insist that it should be applied to both women and men.
Politics of the Common Man
Between 1824 and 1840, politics moved out of the fine homes of rich southern planters and northern merchants who had dominated government in past eras. These were the years when white males of the lower and middle classes began to vote in large numbers. The number of votes cast for president rose from about 350,000 in 1824 to over 2.4 million in 1840, a nearly sevenfold increase in just 16 years. The new state suffrage laws that enabled more citizens to vote were a significant cause of the change. But there were other reasons as well. Changes in political parties and campaign methods, improved education, and increases in newspaper circulation also contributed to the democratic trend.
The most important political changes and reforms during the Jacksonian years were the following:
Universalmalesuffrage. WesternstatesrecentlyadmittedtotheUnion— Indiana (1816), Illinois (1818), and Missouri (1821)—adopted state constitu- tions that allowed all white males to vote and hold office. Absent from these newer constitutions were any religious or property qualifications for voting. Most eastern states soon followed suit, eliminating such restrictions from their constitutions. As a result, from one end of the country to the other, all white males could vote regardless of their social class or religion. Also, political offices could now be held by people in the lower and middle ranks of society.
Party nominating conventions. In the past, it had been common for candidates for office to be nominated either by state legislatures or by “King Caucus”—a closed-door meeting of a political party’s leaders in Congress. The common people had no opportunity to participate. In the 1830s, however, caucuses were replaced by nominating conventions. Party politicians and voters would gather in a large meeting hall to nominate the party’s candidates. The Anti-Masons were the first to hold such a nominating convention. This method was more open to popular participation, hence more democratic.
Popular election of the president. In the presidential election of 1832, only South Carolina used the old system whereby its electors for president were chosen by the state legislature. All other states in the Union had adopted a new and more democratic method of allowing the voters to choose a state’s slate of presidential electors.
Two-party system. The popular election of presidential electors—and, in effect, of the president as well—had important consequences for the two- party system. Campaigns for president now had to be conducted on a national scale. To organize these campaigns, large political parties were needed.
Riseofthirdparties. Whileonlythelargenationalparties(theDemocrats and the Whigs in Jackson’s day) could hope to win the presidency, other political parties also emerged. The Anti-Masonic party and the Workingmen’s party, for example, reached out to groups of people who previously had shown little interest in politics. The Anti-Masons attacked the secret soc- ieties of Masons and accused them of belonging to a privileged, antidemo- cratic elite.
More elected offices. During the Jacksonian era, a much larger number of state and local officials were elected to office, instead of being appointed, as in the past. This change gave the voters more voice in their government and also tended to increase their interest in participating in elections.
Popular campaigning. Candidates for office directed their campaigns to the interests and prejudices of the common people. Politics also became a form of local entertainment. Campaigns of the 1830s and 1840s featured parades of floats and marching bands and large rallies in which voters were treated to free food and drink. To be sure, there was also a negative side to the new campaign techniques. In trying to appeal to the masses, the candidates would often resort to personal attacks and downplay the issues. A politician, for example, might attack an opponent’s “aristocratic airs” and make him seem unfriendly to “the common man.”
Spoils system and rotation of officeholders. Winning government jobs became the lifeblood of party organizations. At the national level, President Jackson believed in appointing people to federal jobs (as postmasters, for example) strictly according to whether they had actively campaigned for the Democratic party. Any previous holder of the office who was not a Democrat was fired and replaced with a loyal Democrat. This practice of dispensing government jobs in return for party loyalty was called the spoils system by critics because it promoted government corruption.
In addition, Jackson believed in a system of rotation in office. To make it possible for a maximum number of Democrats to hold office, he would limit a person’s tenure in office to just one term and appoint some other deserving Democrat in his place. Jackson defended the replacement and rotation of office- holders by the new administration as a democratic reform. “No man,” he said, “has any more intrinsic claim to office than another.” Jacksonians had contempt for experts and believed that ordinary Americans were capable of holding any government office. Both the spoils system and the rotation of officeholders affirmed the democratic ideal that one man was as good as another. They also helped build a strong two-party system.
Jackson Versus Adams
Political change in the Jacksonian era began several years before Jackson moved into the White House as president. In the controversial election in 1824, Jackson won more popular and electoral votes than any other candidate, but he ended up losing the election.
The Election of 1824
Recall the brief Era of Good Feelings that characterized U.S. politics during the two-term presidency of James Monroe. The era ended in political bad feelings in 1824, the year of a bitterly contested and divisive presidential election. By then, the old congressional caucus system for choosing presidential candidates had broken down. As a result, four candidates of the same party (the Republican party founded by Jefferson) campaigned for the presidency. The candidates were John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, William Crawford, and Andrew Jackson.
Jackson won the greatest number of popular votes. But because the vote was split four ways, he lacked a majority in the electoral college as required by the Constitution. Therefore, the House of Representatives had to choose a president from among the top three candidates. Henry Clay used his influence in the House to provide John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts with enough votes to win the election. When President Adams appointed Clay his secretary of state, Jackson and his followers were certain that the popular choice of most voters had been foiled by secret political maneuvers. Angry Jackson supporters accused Adams and Clay of making a “corrupt bargain.”
President John Quincy Adams
Adams further alienated the followers of Jackson when he asked Congress for money for internal improvements, aid to manufacturing, and even a national university and an astronomical observatory. Jacksonians viewed all these mea- sures as a waste of money and a violation of the Constitution.
In 1828, toward the end of Adams’ presidency, Congress patched together a new tariff law, which generally satisfied northern manufacturers but alienated southern planters. Southerners denounced it as a “tariff of abominations.”
The Revolution of 1828
Adams sought reelection in 1828. But the Jacksonians were now ready to use the discontent of southerners and westerners and the new campaign tactics of party organization to sweep “Old Hickory” (Jackson) into office. Going beyond parades and barbecues, Jackson’s party resorted to smearing the president and accusing Adams’ wife of being born out of wedlock. Adams’ supporters retaliated in kind, accusing Jackson’s wife of adultery. The mudsling- ing campaign attracted a lot of interest. Three times the number of voters participated in the election of 1828 as in the previous election.
Jackson won handily, carrying every state west of the Appalachians. His reputation as a war hero and man of the western frontier accounted for his victory more than the positions he took on issues of the day.
The Presidency of Andrew Jackson
Jackson was a different kind of president from any of his predecessors. A strong leader, he not only dominated politics for eight years but also became a symbol of the emerging working class and middle class (the so-called common man). Born in a frontier cabin, Jackson gained fame as an Indian fighter and as hero of the Battle of New Orleans, and came to live in a fine mansion in Tennessee as a wealthy planter and slaveowner. But he never lost the rough manners of the frontier. He chewed tobacco, fought several duels, and displayed a violent temper. Jackson was the first president since Washington to be without a college education. In a phrase, he could be described as an extraordinary ordinary man. This self-made man and living legend drew support from every social group and every section of the country.
Role of the president. Jackson presented himself as the representative of all the people and the protector of the common man against abuses of power by the rich and the privileged. He was a frugal Jeffersonian, who opposed increasing federal spending and the national debt. Jackson interpreted the powers of Congress narrowly and therefore vetoed more bills (12) than the total vetoes cast by all six preceding presidents. For example, he vetoed the use of federal money to construct the Maysville Road, because it was wholly within one state, Kentucky, the home state of Jackson’s rival, Henry Clay.
Advising Jackson was a group of politicians who did not belong to his official cabinet. This group became known as the “kitchen cabinet.” Thus, members of the appointed cabinet had less influence on policy than under earlier presidents.
Peggy Eaton affair. The champion of the common man also went to the aid of the common woman, at least in the case of Peggy O’Neale Eaton. The wife of Jackson’s secretary of war, she was the target of malicious gossip by other cabinet wives, much as Jackson’s recently deceased wife had been in the 1828 campaign. They refused to invite her to their private parties because they suspected her of being an adulteress. When Jackson tried to force the cabinet wives to accept Peggy Eaton socially, most of the cabinet resigned. This controversy also contributed to the resignation of Jackson’s vice president, John C. Calhoun, a year later. For remaining loyal to Jackson through this crisis, Martin Van Buren of New York was chosen to be the new vice president.
Indian removal act (1830). Jackson’s concept of democracy did not extend to Native Americans. Like most whites of the time, Jackson sympathized with land-hungry citizens who were impatient to take over lands previously held by Native Americans. Jackson thought the most humane solution was to compel the Native Americans to leave their traditional homelands and resettle west of the Mississippi. In 1830, he signed into law the Indian Removal Act, which forced the resettlement of many thousands of Native Americans. By 1835 most eastern tribes had reluctantly complied and moved west. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created in 1836 to assist the resettled tribes.
A majority of politicians in various states also believed in a policy of Indian removal. Georgia and other states passed laws requiring the Cherokees to migrate to the West. When the Cherokees challenged Georgia in the courts, the Supreme Court ruled in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) that Cherokees were not a foreign nation with the right to sue in a federal court. But in a second case, Worcester v. Georgia (1832), the high court ruled that the laws of Georgia had no force within the boundaries of the Cherokee territory. In this clash between a state’s laws and the federal courts, Jackson sided with the states. He said defiantly, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”
Most Cherokees repudiated the settlement of 1835, which provided land in the Indian territory. It was not until 1838, after Jackson had left office, that the U.S. Army forced 15,000 Cherokees to leave Georgia. The hardships on the “trail of tears” were so great that 4,000 Cherokees died on their tragic westward trek.
Nullification crisis. Jackson favored states’ rights—but not if it would lead to disunion. In 1828, the South Carolina legislature declared the increased tariff of 1828, the so-called Tariff of Abominations, to be unconstitutional. In doing so, it affirmed a theory advanced by Jackson’s first vice president, John C. Calhoun. According to this nullification theory, each state had the right to decide whether to obey a federal law or to declare it null and void (of no effect).
In 1830, Daniel Webster of Massachusetts debated Robert Hayne of South Carolina on the nature of the federal Union under the Constitution. Webster attacked the idea that any state could defy or leave the Union. Following this famous Webster-Hayne debate, President Jackson declared his own position in a toast he presented at a political dinner. “Our federal Union,” he declared, “it must be preserved.” Calhoun responded immediately with another toast: “The Union, next to our liberties, most dear!”
In 1832, Calhoun’s South Carolina turned up the war of words by holding a special convention to nullify not only the hated tariff of 1828 but also a new tariff law of 1832. The convention passed a resolution forbidding the collection of tariffs within the state. Jackson’s reaction was decisive. He told the secretary of war to prepare for military action. He persuaded Congress to pass a Force bill giving the president the authority to take military action in South Carolina. The president also issued a Proclamation to the People of South Carolina, stating that nullification and disunion were treason.
But federal troops did not march in this crisis. Jackson opened the door for compromise by suggesting that Congress lower the tariff. South Carolina postponed nullification and later formally rescinded it after Congress enacted a new tariff along the lines suggested by the president.
Jackson’s strong defense of federal authority forced the militant advocates of states’ rights to retreat. On another issue, however, militant southerners won Jackson’s support. The president shared southerners’ alarm about the growing antislavery movement in the North. He used his executive power to stop antislav- ery literature from being sent through the U.S. mails. Jacksonians in the South could trust the president not to extend the benefits of democracy to African Americans.
Bank veto. Another major issue of Jackson’s presidency concerned the rechartering of the Bank of the United States. This bank and its branches, although privately owned, received federal deposits and attempted to serve a public purpose by cushioning the ups and downs of the national economy. The bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle, managed it effectively. Biddle’s arrogance, however, contributed to the suspicion that the bank abused its powers and served the interests of the wealthy. Jackson shared this suspicion. He believed that the Bank of the United States was unconstitutional.
Henry Clay, Jackson’s chief political opponent, favored the bank. In 1832, an election year, Clay decided to challenge Jackson on the bank issue by persuading a majority in Congress to pass a bank-recharter bill. Jackson promptly vetoed this bill, denouncing it as a private monopoly that enriched the wealthy and foreigners at the expense of the common people. The issue backfired for Clay in the 1832 election. An overwhelming majority of voters approved Jackson’s attack on the “hydra of corruption.” Jackson won reelection with more than three-fourths of the electoral vote.
The Two-Party System
The one-party system that had characterized Monroe’s presidency (the Era of Good Feelings) gave way to a two-party system under Jackson. Supporters of Jackson were now known as Democrats, while supporters of his leading rival, Henry Clay, were called Whigs. The Democratic party harked back to the old Republican party of Jefferson, and the Whig party resembled the defunct Federalist party of Hamilton. At the same time, the new parties reflected the changed conditions of the Jacksonian era. Democrats and Whigs alike were challenged to respond to the relentless westward expansion of the nation and the emergence of an industrial economy.
For the differences between Democrats and Whigs, refer to the table below.
Jackson’s Second Term
After winning reelection in 1832, Jackson had to deal with the economic consequences of his decision to oppose the Bank of the United States.
Pet banks. Jackson “killed” the national bank not only by vetoing its recharter but also by withdrawing all federal funds. Aided by Secretary of the Treasury Roger Taney, he transferred the funds to various state banks, which Jackson’s critics called “pet banks.”
Specie Circular. As a result of both Jackson’s financial policies and feverish speculation in western lands, prices for land and various goods became badly inflated. Jackson hoped to check the inflationary trend by issuing a presidential order known as the Specie Circular. It required that all future purchases of federal lands be made in gold and silver rather than in paper banknotes. Soon afterward, as banknotes lost their value and land sales plum- meted, a financial crisis—the Panic of 1837—plunged the nation’s economy into a depression.
The Election of 1836
Following the two-term tradition set by his predecessors, Jackson decided not to seek a third term. To make sure his policies were carried out even in his retirement, Jackson persuaded the Democratic party to nominate his loyal vice president, Martin Van Buren, who was a master of practical politics.
Fearing defeat, the Whig party adopted the unusual strategy of nominating three candidates from three different regions. In doing so, the Whigs hoped to throw the election into the House of Representatives, where each state had one vote in the selection of the president. The Whig strategy failed, however, as Van Buren took 58 percent of the electoral vote.
President Van Buren and the Panic of 1837
Just as Van Buren took office, the country suffered a financial panic as one bank after another closed its doors. Jackson’s opposition to the rechartering of the Bank of the United States was only one of many causes of the panic and resulting economic depression. But the Whigs were quick to blame the Democrats for their laissez-faire economics, which allowed for little federal involvement in the economy.
The “Log Cabin and Hard Cider” Campaign of 1840
In the election of 1840, the Whigs were in a strong position to defeat Van Buren and the Jacksonian Democrats. Voters were unhappy with the bad state of the economy. In addition, the Whigs were better organized than the Demo- crats, and also had a popular war hero, William Henry “Tippecanoe” Harrison, as their presidential candidate. The Whigs took campaign hoopla to new heights. To symbolize Harrison’s humble origins, they put log cabins on wheels and paraded them down the streets of cities and towns. They also passed out hard cider for voters to drink and buttons and hats to wear. Name-calling as a propaganda device also marked the 1840 campaign. The Whigs attacked “Martin Van Ruin” as an aristocrat with a taste for foreign wines.
A remarkable 78 percent of eligible voters (white males) turned out on election day to cast their ballots. Old “Tippecanoe” and John Tyler of Virginia,
a former states’ rights Democrat who joined the Whigs, took 53 percent of the popular vote and swept most of the electoral votes in all three sections: North, South, and West. This election established the Whigs as a national party.
Unfortunately for the Whigs, Harrison died of pneumonia less than a month after taking office, and “His Accidency,” John Tyler, became the first vice-president to succeed to the presidency. President Tyler proved to be not much of a Whig. He vetoed the Whigs’ national bank bills and other legislation, and favored southern and expansionist Democrats during the balance of his term (1841–1845). The Jacksonian era was in its last stage, and came to an end with the Mexican War and the increased focus on the issue of slavery.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY
Historians still debate whether or not the election of Jackson in 1828 marked a revolutionary new turn in American politics or was merely an extension of an ongoing trend. The traditional view is that Jackson’s election began the era of the common man, when the masses of newly enfranchised voters drove out the entrenched ruling class and elected one of their own. The Revolution of 1828 has also been characterized as a victory of the democratic West against the aristocratic East.
Nineteenth-century Whig historians, on the other hand, viewed Jackson as a despot whose appeal to the uneducated masses and “corrupt” spoils system threatened the republic.
In the 1940s, the historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. argued that Jacksonian democracy relied as much on the support of eastern urban workers as on western farmers. Jackson’s coalition of farmers and workers foreshadowed a similar coalition that brought another Democratic president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to power in the depres- sion decade of the 1930s.
Contemporary historians have used quantitative analysis of vo- ting returns to compare elections before, during, and after Jackson’s presidency. This analysis showed that increased voter participation was evident in local elections years before 1828 and did not reach a peak until the election of 1840, an election that the Whig party won. Strong links were discovered between voting behavior and the voters’ religious and ethnic backgrounds. For example, Catholic immigrants objected to the imposition of the Puritan moral code (e.g., temperance) by the native Protestants. Much of the increased participation in the election process had little to do with the election of 1828 or Jackson’s politics.
Other contemporary historians see Jackson’s popularity in the 1830s as a reaction of subsistence farmers and urban workers against powerful and threatening forces of economic change. A capitalist, or market, economy was rapidly taking shape in the early years of the 19th century. This market revolution divided the electorate. Some people (chiefly Whigs) welcomed the changes as the hope for enter- prising and disciplined men. Others (chiefly Jacksonian Democrats) viewed the wealth of successful capitalists and entrepreneurs as a threat to Jefferson’s vision of a nation of independent farmers. Those who were most uncomfortable with economic change rallied around Jackson. Why was Jackson’s veto of the bank such a key event? Some contemporary historians, such as Charles Seller (The Market Revolution: Jacksonian America, 1992), see Jackson’s popularity as expressing people’s unspoken fears about the rise of capitalism.
