Era of Good Feeling &
the Age of Jackson
U.S. History until 1877
Era of Good Feeling
§ Demise of
Federalists
§ James Monroe,
1817-25
§ Foreign
policy success
§ Good British
relations
§ 1818 treaty
draws the Canadian border
§ Demilitarized
§ 49th parallel
favors US
§ Joint
occupation of Oregon Territory
§ Florida:
Jackson & the
Adams-Onís Treaty, 1819
Monroe Doctrine, 1823
§ Revolutions
in Spanish colonies
§ No new
colonies
§ No European
forms of government
§ Existing
colonies accepted
§ No
interference in Europe
Good Feeling and Bad
§ Sectional
tensions
§ Eli Whitney’s
cotton gin, 1793
Cotton gin
Good Feeling and Bad
§ The Missouri
crisis, 1819
§ Tallmadge
Amendment
§ Henry Clay’s
compromise
§ Parity in
Senate: Missouri & Maine
§ 36°30´ limit
to slavery
§ Denmark Vesey
conspiracy, Charleston, SC, 1822
§ Southern
slavery debate chilled
Elections of 1824 and 1828
§ William
Crawford vs. John Quincy Adams
vs. Henry Clay vs. Andrew Jackson
§ “Corrupt
bargain”
§ Election of
1828: Rematch
§ John Quincy
Adams vs. Andrew Jackson
Election of 1828
Democratization
of Politics
§ Universal
manhood suffrage
§ Direct
election of electoral college
“All Creation Going to the
White House”
Jacksonian Democracy
§ National
movement
§ Equality
& opportunity; born in a log cabin
§ No monopolies
or privilege; anti-elite
§ “Spoils
system”: federal jobs need no training
§ Negative side
of democracy
§ Catered to
mediocrity; anti-intellectual
§ Incompetence
& corruption in government
§ Political
life uncomfortable for gentlemen
§ Excluded
blacks, women, Indians
The Jacksonian Era
§ An age of
heroes
§ Jackson and
the era
§ Democratic
Presidents are all Jacksonians up to 1861
§ James K.
Polk: “Young Hickory”
§ Whig
President William Henry Harrison a Jackson type
Jackson and the Presidency
§ New type of
Presidential personality
§ New type of
Presidential power
§ President
leads Congress
§ New use of
veto
§ Ignores
Marshall’s ruling for the Cherokees
§ Spurs
creation of a new party system
The Second Party System
§ Jackson’s
supporters organize Democratic Party
§ Martin Van
Buren
§ Party
organization at precinct, county, state, national levels
§ National
convention
§ “Factions”?
Parties as the “watchdogs of liberty”
§ Jackson’s
opponents organize the Whig Party (against “King Andrew”)
§ Congress
above the President
§ Internal
improvements: federal transportation aid
§ Tariffs and
banking to protect & stimulate economy
§ Moral
progress
The Nullification Crisis
§ 1828 “Tariff
of Abominations”
§ Calhoun:
South Carolina Exposition and Protest
§ Daniel
Webster’s response to Hayne
§ “Liberty
& Union, now & forever, one & inseparable”
§ Tariff of
1832 & Nullification
§ Henry Clay:
Compromise Tariff & the Force Bill
§ Significance:
Dress rehearsal for Civil War
§ Doctrines of
secession & union formulated
§ Southern
state got its way by threat to secede
§ Precedent:
President acts forcefully against secession
The Bank War
§ The Bank of
the United States
§ Chartered in
1816 for 20 years
§ President
Nicholas Biddle
§ Plan to
embarrass Jackson, 1832: early renewal
§ Veto for
democracy
§ Economic
chaos
§ “Pet banks”:
federal money in state banks
§ 1836 Specie
Circular
§ 1837 Panic
& Depression