JACKSONIAN ERA

 

Jackson was the common man’s hero and tried to use the office of the presidency

 

Jackson was a man of contradictions:

       born in poverty but amassed wealth and slaves

       little education but self-taught to become a lawyer

       western born but had characteristics of an

              aristocratic gentleman

 

 

Nullification Crisis:

       Focused around the tariff (tax on imported goods)

       1828: Tariff of Abominations

       South Carolina Exposition and Protest 1828

              (Compact Theory)

       Webster-Hayne Debate 1830:

              Southern States rights view vs, Federal

              Supremacy

       1832 Tariff led to Nullification and Threat of

              Secession by South Carolina

      

       Jackson threatened to use the military to collect the

              tariff if necessary

 

       End result was a Compromise Tariff arranged by

              Henry Clay

 

Opposing the Second National Bank

       Jackson vetoed the rechartering bill in 1832

       he won re-election by championing the common

              man over the bank aristocracy
       Jackson withdrew federal funds and placed them in

              state banks with killed thebank

       wildcat state banks began overlending and over-

              printing of money (inflation)

Other Economic Issues:

       Changed laws to reduce price of land

       early trade unions began under Jackson

 

Other Changes of the Jacksonian Era:

       Creation of the Second Two-Party System (Whigs

              and Democrats)

       Removal of property qualifications for voting

       Shortened terms for state officials (rotation in office)

       Nominating Convention replaced the Party Caucus

       Believed the president should use his power to

              defend the “little guy”

       Used the veto more often than all his predecessors

              combined

       Spoils system used to grant jobs to supporters

 

Social Movements of the Jacksonian Era:

       Women’s Rights: Seneca Falls Convention

       Abolitionism

       Prohibition

       Care for the mentally ill

       Public Education