HISTORY 1DD3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Spoils System, The Dial, New Lebanon, New York
22 Jun 2018
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Chp 10 Identifications
Changing Democratic Politics
● Politics became democratized in the 1820s. States began to substitute property
requirements with poll taxes, and replaced voting aloud (which allowed superiors to
influence inferiors) with written ballots. No new state in the West required property
req. and states in the East gradually liberalized its laws.
● The electoral college survived, but state legislatures gave way to direct presidential
election by the voters, allowing Americans to vote for their preferred candidates. By
1824, only six states chose electors, and by 1832, only South Carolina.
● Political democratization developed at uneven pace. Caucus, a conference of party
members in the legislature, was used to nominate candidates rather than by popular
vote, and political democracy didn’t extend to women and blacks.
● Politicians also had to adjust and make sure they did not oppose the people or
democracy, which was the formula for political suicide.
President VI: John Quincy Adams
● Sectional tensions brought the Era of Good Feelings to an end in 1824. Five
candidates, all Republicans, vied for presidency. John Quincy Adams was the NE
favorite, Calhoun and Crawford contested in the South, while Henry Clay and
Andrew Jackson contested in the West.
● The Republican caucus chose Crawford as the party’s official candidate, but 3/4 of
the party refused to attend and could not enforce it. Meanwhile, Calhoun, impressed
by Jackson’s support, withdrew and ran unopposed for the vice presidency.
● In the Election of 1814, Jackson won the most popular and electoral votes, but failed
to gain the majority required by the Constitution. Therefore, the election was thrown
into the H of Rep whose members had to choose from Jackson, Adams, and
Crawford.
● Hoping for an alliance between the West and NE for the future, Clay gave his support
to Adams, who in turn became president. Adams appointed Clay Secretary of State.
● Speculation that Adams made a “corrupt bargain” cheating Jackson of presidency,
other miscalculations in his presidency, and his obsolete belief that presidents should
be free from partisan politics for the public good, made his re-election chances slim.
Martin van Buren and the second American party system
● As Adams’ popularity declined, Jackson’s rose. Jackson’s victory in the Battle of NO
had made him a hero, but he was distrusted for his hot temper and love for duels.
● Jackson benefited because he was the only candidate not related to the Monroe
administration, in which the Panic of 1819 had left widespread discontent. Because
of this, Jackson was portrayed as a living link to a more virtuous past.
● By 1826, Jackson’s supporters established committees throughout the country, and
there was furious but unfocused political activity. “Adams men,” “Jackson men,”
“and friends of Clay” were signs of the beginning of a second American party
system.
● Martin van Buren, a NY senator, was one of few to realize a new party system.
● Van Buren started in country politics and made his way up. He wasn’t physically
attractive, but possessed a quality which made ordinary people feel comfortable. He
loved the game of politics and had an uncanny ability to sense which way the
political winds would blow.
● The election of 1824 had convinced van Buren of the need for renewed two-party
competition. He saw that without a strong opposition, the Republican party had
split, failed to gain a majority in the election, and led to charges of corruption. Van
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Buren believed it would be better if all the opinions were reduced to two so that a
clear winner would emerge.
President VII: Andrew Jackson
● Slowly, two separate parties emerged. The Democratic Party put up Jackson
(Calhoun for VP) while the National Republican Party put up Adams (Rush for VP).
● The election of 1828 was a mudslinging affair with both parties attacking the other.
● Jackson’s men had better aim because they attacked Adams as a rich aristocrat while
Jackson was attacked as an illiterate man, only adding to the appeal that he was an
ordinary citizen. Of course, Jackson was a wealthy planter himself, but the way
Jackson was portrayed was what the people wanted to hear.
● Jackson swept into office with twice the electoral vote of Adams, yet the closer
popular vote made it clear that people also voted on sectional bases. Adams had
double Jackson’s vote in NE, while the opposite was true in the South. In the
Southwest, Jackson’s votes were almost triple Adams’.
“spoils system”
● As president, Jackson’s first policy was to support rotation in office. Critics called
this the “spoils system”. This system removed officeholders of the rival party, and
although Jackson had not invented it, his belief that the federal civil service was
corrupt led him to apply it much more harshly than his predecessors.
● Jackson defended the rotation on democratically flavored grounds and said that most
duties were so simple that plain people should be given as much chance to work.
● The future belonged to van Buren’s idea that federal jobs should become rewards for
loyalty to the victorious party.
"Tariff of Abominations" (1828) (Tariff of 1828)
● Jackson’s strongest support lay in the South, but was tested through the tariff issue.
● While Adams was still president in 1828, several Jackson supporters in Congress
contributed to the passage of the Tariff of 1828, a highly protective tariff which
benefited the West and Northeast and the South’s expense.
● Jackson’s supporters had calculated that southerners would blame the Adams
administration for this “Tariff of Abominations” when Jackson was behind the fury
in reality.
John C. Calhoun, the issue over tariffs, and Nullification
● The tariff of 1828 laid the basis for a rift between Jackson and Calhoun.
● John C. Calhoun had originally been an ardent nationalist, entering Congress in 1811
as a war hawk. He had supported the tariff of 1816 as a measure of national
defence in the wake of the War of 1812.
● By 1826, few Americans perceived national defence as a priority, and the industries
had grown into a troublesome adolescent that demanded higher tariffs.
● Calhoun’s home state, SC, had suffered an economic decline throughout the 1820s,
producing negative feelings toward tariffs. Southerners also believed that tariffs,
which favored the North, would eventually lead to interference with slavery.
● Calhoun also burned with ambition to be president, as Jackson stated he would only
serve 1 term. To become president, Calhoun felt he had to maintain the support of
the South and changed from nationalism to states’ right sectionalism support.
● Calhoun followed the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, declared the tariff of
1828 as unconstitutional because it did not benefit everyone equally, and in his
anonymous South Carolina Exposition and Protest, declared that states therefore
had the right to nullify the law within the their borders.
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● Jackson knew he needed to retain key northern support while soothing the South, so
devised two policies. The first was to distribute surplus federal revenue to the states
with the intention of removing sectional injustice. Second, he lowered the tariffs
slightly in in 1832. Neither move came close to satisfying SC.
● Calhoun muffled his protest between 1828 and 1831 because he wished to retain the
support of Jackson, but a personal issue in 1829, evidence in 1830 of Calhoun trying
to punish Jackson for raiding FL in 1818 (under Monroe), and Calhoun’s revealing of
his authorship of the SC Exposition & Protest set the stage for a clash over
nullification.
● SC nullified the tariffs of 1828 and 1832, and Jackson reacted by despising
nullification and proclaiming it unconstitutional as it went against “a single nation”
that the Constitution emphasized.
● (continued below)
Compromise of 1833
● The crisis eased in March 1833 when Jackson signed two measures. The tariff of
1833 provided for a gradual but significant lowering of duties between 1833 and
1842, but the Force Bill authorized use of arms to collect customs duties in SC. SC
nullified the Force Bill, but rescinded its nullification of the tariffs of 1828 and 1832.
● The moving spirit behind the Compromise was Henry Clay, who had long favored
high tariffs. Clay feared that without the reduction of tariffs, the Force Bill would
prompt a civil war. He also believed that without the compromise, the Jackson’s
popularity would allow Jacksonians to take the initiative on tariff questions.
● SC realized that nullification had not gained support from other southern states and
decided that they would make Clay, not Jackson, hero. Everywhere, Clay was hailed
the Great Compromiser, and even van Buren stated Clay had “saved the country.”
The Bank Veto (1832)
● Background Info: The Second Bank of the United States’ charter would expire in
1836. The Bank restrained printing and lending of money by its ability to demand
redemption in specie, and was widely blamed for the Panic of 1819.
● Jackson believed many rich men grew even richer by securing privileges from corrupt
legislatures. His disastrous experience with speculations led him to suspect banks,
paper money, and monopolies, making him a strong opponent of the Bank of the US.
● Although chartered by Congress, the Bank was located in Phil. and its directors and
president Nicholas Biddle enjoyed considerable independence.
● Urged by Henry Clay who wished to ride a pro-bank bandwagon into the White House
in 1832, Biddle secured passage of a recharter, only to have Jackson veto the bill.
● By 1832, Jackson made it clear that he was simultaneously a staunch defender of
states’ rights as well as a staunch Unionist. This was because he believed the states
were too diverse to accept strong direction from Washington, and the safest course
would be to allow the states considerable freedom.
Election of 1832
● Jackson threw aside earlier promises to retire and again ran for presidency with van
Buren. Henry Clay ran for the NRP emphasizing his American System, protected
tariffs, national banking, and federal support for internal improvements.
● Jackson’s overwhelming personal popularity demolished Clay. With four more years
in office, Jackson was ready to completely dismantle the Bank of the United States.
“pet banks” and War on the National Bank
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Document Summary
States began to substitute property requirements with poll taxes, and replaced voting aloud (which allowed superiors to influence inferiors) with written ballots. No new state in the west required property req. and states in the east gradually liberalized its laws. The electoral college survived, but state legislatures gave way to direct presidential election by the voters, allowing americans to vote for their preferred candidates. 1824, only six states chose electors, and by 1832, only south carolina. Caucus, a conference of party members in the legislature, was used to nominate candidates rather than by popular vote, and political democracy didn"t extend to women and blacks. Politicians also had to adjust and make sure they did not oppose the people or democracy, which was the formula for political suicide. Sectional tensions brought the era of good feelings to an end in 1824. John quincy adams was the ne favorite, calhoun and crawford contested in the south, while henry clay and.
