Colin Ulmer

Conley 9/10
A Democratic Revolution
APUSH Chapter 10 Notes

I) The Rise of Popular Politics, 1820-1829

Questions:
What parties were created?
Why Was JQA the last notable president?
What is significant about the elections of 1824 and 1828?
A)The Decline of the Notables and the Rise of Parties

American Revolution weakened the deferential society, but didnt

overthrow it. Wealthy notables still dominated the political system at first.
In 1810 Struggle to expand suffrage began. State legislatures grant
broader voting rights to diffuse criticism and deter migration to the west.
The new voters refused to support politicians that flaunted their high
social status.
Democratic politics are corrupt.
Martin Van Buren Created political machine, the Albany Regency
Patronage: gives government jobs to party members in return for their
loyalty. (Spoils system)
Insists on party discipline, requires elected officials to follow dictates of
the party caucus.
B)The Election of 1824

Five candidates, all Republicans, campaigned for presidency. Jackson

receives most popular votes, but Adams wins because Clay made a
corrupt bargain with Adams, where Clay would vote Adams into
presidency if he would become secretary of state.
C) Presidency of John Quincy Adams: the last notable president

Supports American System (protective tariffs, national bank, subsidized

internal improvements)
Resistance to the American System: southerners oppose protective tariffs
because they raised the price of manufactures, and smallholders feared
powerful banks that could force them into bankruptcy. Politicians oppose
American System on constitutional grounds (for example, saying that the
national governments income couldnt fund state improvement projects
because those projects were the responsibility of the states). Southerners

were also angry about the Tariff of 1828, which raised duties on raw
materials and textiles. Southerners also dislike Adamss pro-Indian policy.
D)The Democracy and the Election of 1828

Jackson runs for president, and his supporters created a national political
party. The Jacksonians called themselves the Democracy.

Summary:
The wealthy still relatively ran America at this time. Democratic politics become corrupt.
Adams made the, Corrupt Bargain for presidency with Henry Clay. JQA supports the American
System. The tariffs involved with the system anger the southerners because it raised price on
raw materials. Jackson then runs for president and his supporters create a political party they
called, the Democracy.

II)The Jacksonian Presidency, 1829-1837

Questions:
What is rotation and decentralization?
What is the Bank War?
How are the Indians doing?
A)Jacksons Agenda: Rotation and Decentralization

Although Jackson had formal cabinet, he relied on mostly on informal

group of advisors called Kitchen Cabinet.
Followed Van Burens example: used patronage to create disciplined
national party system.
Rotation in office: when an administration was voted out of office, the
officials it appointed have to leave the government. Jackson used this
system to help his friends and win support for his legislative program.
Primary goal: destroy American System (centralized plan of economic
development).
Simultaneously: tariff and nullification, bank war, and Indian removal.
B)The Tariff and Nullification

White planters South Carolina oppose protective tariff.

In 1832 Congressmen ignore warnings from S.C. that they were
endangering Union. Congressmen pass legislature that retains tariff rates.
Response: S.C. adopts Ordinance of Nullification; saying tariffs of 1828
and 1832 are void. Supported by V.P. Calhoun.
Jackson wants middle path: limit power of national government, but also
denounces Calhouns doctrine of localist federalism. Response to
Ordinance of Nullification: declares Ordinance violated Constitution.
1833 Force Bill. Says that President can use military force to compel S.C.
to obey national laws.

Jackson simultaneously lowers tariffs, which gradually go back to the

levels of 1816. Pleases S.C., and Jackson eliminates another part of
Clays American System.

C) The Bank War

Role of Second Bank of the United States: stabilize nations money

supply by collecting notes and demanding specie (gold and silver coins)
in return from the state-chartered banks.
Americans do not understand regulatory system of bank, simply worried
about Second Banks ability to force bank closures, leaving people with
worthless paper notes.
Politicians oppose bank because of the influence of its arrogant president,
Biddle
Other bankers want to escape supervision of central bank.
Jackson believed that the Second National Bank was unconstitutional,
dangerous to the liberty of the people, and an institution of special
privilege and monopoly power that benefited few at the expense of
others.
Clay and Webster persuade Biddle to seek early extension of the Banks
charter, hoping that because they had enough votes in Congress to pass
the legislation, they would lure Jackson into a veto that would split up the
Democrats before the 1832 election. Jackson turns plan on Clay and
Webster, attacks Second Bank successfully, wins election.
In 1833 Jackson tells Taney to assault Second Bank though it has four
years left on its charter. Taney withdraws governments specie from
Second Bank and deposits it in state banks. Transfer abrupt, probably
illegal. First time President claims victory in elections gives him the power
to pursue controversial policy (destroying the Second National Bank).
In 1836 Second Bank charter expires, Jackson doesnt renew it.
Result of Jackson destroying national bank and American System of
protective tariffs and internal improvements: reduction in economic
activities and creative energy of national government.

D)Indian Removal:

Many whites want Indians resettled, but Indians refuse to leave their land.
Removal seemed to the whites to be the only way to protect Indians from
alcohol, financial exploitation, and loss of culture.
Mixed-blood Indians in Southwest: some strongly resist removal, others
want to assimilate into white society. Many mixed-blood Indians had
already assimilated.
In 1802, Georgia legislature had given up western land claims for federal

promise to extinguish Cherokee landholdings in the state. Now Georgia

wants fulfillment of pledge.
Indian Removal Act of 1830. Gives money and land to Indians to
persuade Indians to resettle.
In 1832 Chief Black Hawk refuses to move, American army kills his
warriors in Bad Axe Massacre.
Meanwhile, Cherokees in Georgia take case to the Supreme Court.
1831: Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. Chief Justice Marshall denies
Cherokee claims for independence, says they are domestic dependent
nations.
1832: Worcester v. Georgia. Marshall says Georgia cannot push state law
on Cherokees, because they are distinct political communities and their
exclusive authority in those communities is guaranteed by the U.S.
1835: Treaty of New Echota. U.S. negotiates removal treaty with minor
Cherokee nation, says all Cherokees have to abide by it.
1838: Few Cherokees move out, rest forced out to new territory. Journey
called Trail of Tears.

E)Jacksonian Impact

Expanded potential authority of President by identifying it with the voice of

the people.
Upheld national authority by threatening use of military force, laying
foundation for Lincolns later defense of the Union.
Reinvigorated Jeffersonian tradition of limited central government by
undermining American System of national banking, protective tariffs, and
internal improvements.
States write new constitutions that extend democracy, many of which
introduce classical liberalism (laissez-faire). Laissez-faire says the
government role in the economy should be limited.
Manifest Destiny and Indian removal.
Undermined constitutional jurisprudence of Marshall by appointing Taney
as Marshalls successor. Taney partially reversed nationalist and
property-rights decisions of Marshall. Example: In the case Charles River
Bridge Co. v. Warren Bridge Co. (1837), Taney says that a charter
doesnt necessarily bestow a monopoly, and a legislature could charter
competition (in this case, a competing bridge co.) to help the public. This
decision directly challenges what Marshall said in the Dartmouth College
v. Woodward case, where Marshall stresses the binding nature of a
contract by saying that a state cannot invalidate a contract. Other cases
that place limits on Marshalls nationalistic interpretations by enhancing
role of state governments:
Mayor of New York v. Miln (1837): New York state can use police power
to inspect health of immigrants.

Briscoe v. Bank of Kentucky (1837): When it issues currency, a bank

owned by the Kentucky doesnt violate the provision of the Constitution
that prohibits states from issuing bills of credit.
As a result of the Taney Courts decisions, the role of state governments
in commerce was greatly enhanced.

Summary:
Jackson is president and his primary goal is to destroy the American System. Jackson
lowers tariffs to the level of 1816 destroying that part of Clays system and pleasing southerners.
Politicians opposed the second bank and did not renew its charter. Indian act of 1830 offers
indians money to leave due to whites wanting the indians to resettle somewhere else. Trail of
tears initiated. States write their own constitutions that extend democracy.

III) Class, Culture, and the Second Party System

Questions:
Who were the Whigs?
What was the Panic of 1837?
Who was John Tyler?
A)The Whig Worldview

1834: Whig Party is created, and is named after the pre-Revolutionary

American and British parties that opposed the British monarchy. The
Whigs accused King Andrew I of violating the constitution by creating a
spoils system and increasing presidential authority. Many evangelical
Protestants were Whigs.
Goal: Like the Federalists, the Whigs wanted a political world dominated
by men of ability and wealth. However, unlike the Federalists, the Whig
elite would be chosen by talent, not birth.
Whigs celebrated the entrepreneur and the enterprising individual, and
wanted a return of the American System. In the South, people didnt
support the Whigs social vision, but specific policies (breaking the
Democrats hold over the country, pro-nullification [the reason why
Calhoun became a Whig]) appealed to them. Most Southern Whigs, like
Calhoun, rejected the Whig Partys enthusiasm for high tariffs and social
mobility. In the North, most Whigs rejected Calhouns class-conscious
ideology.
Many Whigs previously supported the Anti-Masons, a political party that
opposed the Order of Freemasonry. The Freemasons were a secret
society called a secret aristocratic fraternity by the Anti-Masons. The
Whigs recruited Anti-Masons by supporting their beliefs in temperance,
equal opportunity, and evangelical moralism. Anti-Masons in the Midwest
also supported the Whigs because the Whigs program of nationally

subsidized transportation projects (part of the American System) would

benefit them.
Election of 1836: Van Buren v. Whig Partys four candidates
Van Buren opposed the American System and the efforts of the Whigs to
use state laws to impose temperance and use national laws to restrict or
abolish slavery. Van Buren won the election, but the Whigs still had a lot
of popular votes.

B)Labor Politics and the Depression of 1837-1843

1823: Urban artisans and workers established the Mechanics Union of

Trade Associations.
1824: They found a Working Mens Party to secure a balance of power
between various classes. They campaigned for fair taxation, universal
public education, and abolition of banks.
They needed equality because the economic transformation brought
prosperity to bankers and entrepreneurs but lowered the living standard
of many urban artisans and wage earners.
Core ideology: artisan republicanism. This ideal led many artisan
republicans to join Jacksonian Democrats in demanding equal rights and
attacking chartered corporations.
Workers also formed unions to get higher wages for themselves.
Employers responded by attacking the union movement. Judges usually
sided with the employers.
The Panic of 1837 and the Depression
Panic began when the Bank of England, hoping to boost the British
economy, ended the flow of money and credit to America. Previously,
British manufacturers extended credit to southern farmers and purchased
canal bonds. When they were deprived of British funds, Americans had to
withdraw specie from banks to pay off their debts and interest on British
loans. In addition to this, the price of cotton in the South collapsed
because the Bank of England refused credit to British cotton brokers.
Drain of specie to Britain and falling cotton prices set off financial panic.
A bank in NY closes, so anxious people withdraw specie from other NY
banks. This major withdrawal forces all banks in the U.S. to stop trading
specie and giving out credit. This measures turned into an economic
crisis because many businesses had to curtail production.
After the Panic of 1837, state governments hoped to revive the economy
by increasing their investments in transportation. They issued more bonds
to finance these investments, and as a result bond prices fell in Europe,
sparking a four-year international crisis. State governments couldnt pay
interest on the bonds, and many turned to foreign creditors to do so,
which undermined the confidence of European investors and cut the flow
of money to America. Bumper crops also drove down cotton prices. This

led to another depression. Because of too many unemployed workers

during the depression, the labor movement ended by 1843. They did
succeed in two things first, though.
Legal victory: Massachusetts court upheld the rights of workers to form
unions.
President Van Buren signs an order that sets a 10-hour workday for
federal employees.
C)Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!

Many blame Democrats, Jackson, and Van Buren for economic

hardships. They scorned Jackson for destroying the Second National
Bank and issuing the Specie Circular of 1836.
Whigs nominated Harrison for president and Tyler for vice president.
Harrison was a war hero of the battle of Tippecanoe and the War of 1812.
Van Buren also ran, but had the odds stacked against him because of the
depressions.
Campaign turns into a log cabin campaign based on style as well as
substance. Whigs boost electoral hopes by welcoming women to
campaign festivities. On the other hand, Jacksonian Democrats thought
politics was for men only.
Harrison won the election, and the Whigs got a majority in Congress.
However, a month after his inauguration, Harrison died and Tyler became
president. Tyler didnt intend to govern as a Whig. Tyler vetoed Whig bills
that would have promoted the American System. Tyler was expelled from
the Whig party.
The split between Tyler and the Whigs allowed the Democrats to regroup
and recruit supporters.

Summary:
The Whig party is created and wants men of wealth to have power. Whigs also supported the
American system. Van Buren wins presidency facing four whig candidates. Workingmen's party
is created to balance the power between classes. British stops money flowing to America
causing the Panic of 1837. Van Buren signs an order that limits a 10 hour work day. Harrison, a
whig wins presidency, but dies shortly thereafter leaving the presidency to his vice president
Tyler.