Andrew Jackson and the Politics of the Market Revolution

I.The Presidency of John Quincy Adams
Adams appointed Henry Clay as his Secretary of State. This was a corrupt bargain says his opponents. Jackson described Clay as Judas of the west. After he became president he got to work trying to build all these things like an observatory and national college. II.Martin Van Buren and Andrew Jackson

Martin close supporter of Jackson put together an organization that was designed to drive Adams and his type of people from the office. A.Jackson as a Candidate of the Frontier Jackson was the first candidate of non-gentry origin. He received a small inheritance, and went through it quickly. He started his career as looking out for the interest of the creditors, but came to be known as the figure for the common man. But he really made his name by his army career. B.The Importance of Political Parties

Van Buren believed that political parties and that partisan competition could be a good thing, and political parties can help save and preserve the union. People are going to disagree it is important that partisan divisions not be based on sectionalism (north, south). Buren hoped to bring together northerners and southerners in political parties. If they came together in a political party then they could not talk about slavery. Parties could help keep their opponents honest. Keeping the public informed which was vital to the republic. C.The Campaign of 1828

Jackson supporters argued that when Adams served as minister to Russia, he kept himself busy by giving American virgins to the Tsar. Jackson’s mother was a prostitute, Adams wife was illegitimate. Arguments and slanders like these went back and forth. Jackson won by a landslide. Jackson argued that he was the only person in the US elected by all of the people. Saw himself not only as an executive, but as a formulator of policy. III.The Politics of the Market Revolution

A.Internal Improvements
The Maysville Road Bill. 1830 Clay pushed through Congress this bill. This would have built a road linking the two corners of Kentucky, would have stayed entirely within Kentucky. Jackson vetoed this bill. He argued that this was bad policy, because this would increase the national debt. Also he saw this as a moral issue in a sense. He said you have to stick to the constitution, why not make an interstate road. If you want roads in just the state then amend the Constitution to say that. B.The Nullification Crisis

A prelude to civil war. South Carolina had been hit hard by the Panic of 1819 and blamed the tariffs for its’ suffering. Congress enacted a new tariff, called the tariff of abominations. South Carolinians felt that this tariff violated their rights. John C. Calhoun’s solution was the Doctrine of Nullification. He argued that the people of a state retained the right to judge the constitutionality of federal actions. The people of the state if the called a convention that convention could meet and vote a federal law null and void. Congress could accept the reasoning of the convention, and that it overstepped its constitutional bounds and back off, or they could began the process of amending the constitution to include that right. The South Carolina people did this convention, Jackson then decided to march down South. South Carolina backed down. C.The Bank War

Biddle turned the bank around, and the nation’s economy around. Clay of Kentucky ran against Jackson, and he said the charter of the second bank was about to expire so they should renew it. Jackson sent Biddle a note saying that trying to make an issue out of the bank, then it will backfire. Biddle sent a renewal idea through Congress, Jackson vetoed it. D.The Political Philosophy of Andrew Jackson

Jackson argued that Congress had no right to favor one group of people over another. He said that rich people too often bend the rules to their sides. Everyone should have a right to get to a starting block and compete without government interference.