Andrew Jackson as President

1828-1836
Jacksons two
terms in office
were tough!
Secession,
depression, and
even a good old
fashion scandal
met Old
Hickory in the
White House.

The Spoils System

When Jackson took office, he fired many

government workers and replaced them with
supporters.
To the victor goes the spoils
Many of Jacksons enemies saw this as a
corrupt practice.
Jackson as
the devil,
giving away
the spoils

The Tariff of Abominations

Tariff of 1824 on iron goods and more

expensive woolen and cotton imports.

Tariff of 1828 higher tariffs on imported raw

materials [like wool & hemp].
Both of these tariffs were passed by
President Adams before Jackson, but Jackson
supported them as a way for the federal
government to make money.
The South was adamantly against it! The
called it a Tariff of Abominations!
This caused goods in the south to rise in price

The Nullification Crisis

South Carolina was especially upset by the

tariff. The Vice-President John C. Calhoun
was from S.C. and he proposed that states
had the right to Nullify (reject) federal laws
that the states believed were
unconstitutional.

Many in S.C. and around the country

believed this would lead to Civil War.

Jackson would have none of it. He refused

the idea of nullification and told S.C they
must follow federal law.

The Webster-Hayne
Debate

Sen. Robert Hayne

[SC]
The debate was waged on the floor of congress and in the
newspapers. South Carolina threatened to secede (leave)
the union. Daniel Webster answered that threat with this
famous line
Sen. Daniel Webster
[MA]

Webster:
Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and
inseparable!!!

Jackson threatened to hang the

first nullifier he could get his
hands on. He would keep S.C. in
the Union by force if necessary.
Jackson: Our Federal
Unionit must be
preserved!
Calhoun: The Union,
next to our liberty,
most dear.

Calhoun Ascends the Platform

that Leads to Despotism
(dictatorship)

1832 Tariff Compromise

Henry Clay came up with a lower tariff
Compromise and war was avoided.
Jackson ran for re-election, without
Calhoun. The men were now bitter
enemies.

Clays
Sews Up
Jacksons
Mouth

The Cherokee Nation After

The Cherokee Nation
had adapted white
1820
ways by 1820. Sequoya had developed a
written language for the Cherokee tongue,
they had a Cherokee constitution, and had
fought for the U.S. many times.

But they were still Native

Americans and whites wanted
their land. There had also
been gold discovered there in
1828 which increased the
pressure to move the
Cherokee west of the
Mississippi along with other
eastern tribes.

Indian Removal

Jacksons believed that the only way to

save the Indian was to move him away
from whites. In 1830 the Indian Removal
Act was passed. It ordered all tribes to be
moved west of the Mississippi.

The Cherokee sued and twice won Supreme

Court cases to keep their land.
Cherokee Nation v. GA (1831)
Worcester v. GA (1832)
Jackson was unimpressed:
John Marshall has made his decision, now
let him enforce it!

Indian Removal

Trail of Tears
(1830-1839)

In the whole scene there was an air of ruin and destruction,

something which betrayed a final and (irreversible end) ; one
couldn't watch without feeling one's heart wrung. The Indians
were tranquil, but somber. There was one who could speak
English and of whom I asked why the (they) were leaving their
country. "To be free," he answered, We watch the expulsion of
one of the most celebrated and ancient American peoples.

- Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

The Cherokee and

other tribes were
forced from their
homes, put in
wagons, and
forced to march
hundreds of miles
in the winter.
Thousands died in
this truly ugly
incident in
American History
known as the Trial
of Tears.

Opposition to the 2nd Bank

of the United States

Jackson did not trust the 2nd bank of the

United States. He felt that it benefited
the wealthy and was corrupt. He also
hated the President of the Bank,
Nicholas Biddle
When Biddle asked for Congress to renew
the Bank in 1832, Jackson declared war
on the bank. He vetoed its renewal and
withdrew federal deposits from it and
placed them into to smaller state banks.
Biddle in retaliation brought the economy
to a standstill by refusing to loan money.
Jackson had yet another bitter enemy.
He seems to have a lot of those!

The Bank & the 1832

Jackson Election
saw Biddles pushing forward

a bill to renew the Banks charter

earlier as an attempt to block his reelection!
Biddle & his associates
preferred Henry Clay.
Jackson refused to sign the bill
to re-charter.
The Bank is trying to destroy
me, but I will destroy it!
The Bank was the hot issue in the election of
1832. Jackson won the election because the
common people once again sided with him.
By 1841 the bank went bankrupt!

1832 Election
Results

Champion of
the Common Man?
A Hero?

OR

KingAndrew?
A Villain?