1. A New Kind of
Politics in America
Created by: Mark Freeman and Eric Haggard, O’Banion M.S.

2. AGE OF JACKSON
POLITICS
• In 1819, members of
Congress began to meet in
the new capital. The British
had burned down the
previous capital five years
earlier.
• It appeared that new
arguments would soon take
the place of the “Era of Good
Feelings”.
• The differences between
those which represented the
different regions of the
country was widening.
Inside the Rebuilt Capital in 1819
The Capital Today

3. SECTIONALISM
• Sectionalism is a loyalty to local interest, and in 1820s, it
began to replace nationalism as the mood of congress.
• Whether it was the south’s farming, the north’s
manufacturing, or the West’s desire for cheap land,
congressional representatives for each region began to
maneuver and push for their region’s short term goals. The
long term care of the nation was of little concern.

4. • The debates of Sectionalism
came to a head with the
Missouri Compromise of 1820.
• The were 11 slave states and 11
free states (states were slaves
were not allowed) in 1820,
when Missouri applied to be a
state.
• Congress argued and debated
for months, until Maine also
applied to be a state. Henry
Clay proposed that Maine be a
free state and Missouri be
admitted as a slave state.
• In addition, slavery would be
banned to the north of
Missouri’s southern border.
Henry Clay
MISSOURI
COMPROMISE

6. Missouri Compromise Continued

7. ELECTION OF 1824
• As James Monroe left office, the republican party split apart
as four men fought for the presidency.
• As the election ended, Andrew Jackson had the most
electoral votes, but he did not have a majority. Therefore
the vote went to the House of Representatives.
• The Constitution orders that when this happens, the House
of Representatives must vote from the top 3 vote getters.
• The 4th place finisher was Henry Clay. Clay, like Jackson,
was from the West, and most expected him to support
Jackson. However, he shocked Jackson by supporting John
Quincy Adams (who named him Secretary of State).
• Throughout his presidency, John Quincy Adams fought and
argued with congress. He was able to do very little as
president. He was a stubborn man, much like his father, and
he was easily defeated in the next election.

8. ELECTION OF 1828
A
D
A
M
S
V
S
J
A
C
K
S
O
N
II
• The election of 1828 was a
rematch between John Quincy
Adams and Andrew Jackson.
• Supporters of Jackson portrayed
Adams as corrupt and only
helping the rich. In contrast
Adams Supporters portrayed
Jackson as a gambler and a drunk.
• Jackson won the election in a
landside.
• Common people from all over had
suddenly started to participate in
their right of suffrage.
• Jacksonian Democracy had begun.

9. JACKSONIAN
DEMOCRACY
• As Andrew Jackson prepared to take office, a fresh
democratic spirit began to grip the country.
• In previous elections many states demanded land ownership
before voting was allowed. (See next slide.) Laws such as this
began to change. Electors in the Electoral College began to
be chosen by people instead of legislators.
• A new trust in common people began to grow in the country.
For the first time, Americans began to think of themselves
equal to those which they used to consider their “betters”.

10. 1790
WMA 21 yrs. old,
educated and property
owner…….
voting
Land easy to obtain,
property qualifications and
education dropped.

11. •
•
•
•
JACKSON’S INNAUGURATION
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson was sworn
in as President. He was the first president from
West, and he had been nominated by a national
convention. Many say he was the first president
truly elected by the people.
Jackson had risen up from a hard childhood. He
had not always been wealthy. People truly
identified with him.
The inauguration was held outside because so
many had attended to see the hero take office.
He had been a farmer, a lawyer, a congressman,
a general, a hero and now he was president.

12. • As Andrew Jackson became
president he began a new era in
politics.
• He began by firing hundreds of
government employees.
• He then replaced all of those
jobs with friends and
supporters. This method of
rewarding supporters is called:
The Spoils System. ( “To the
victor goes the spoils”)
• He also had an informal group
of advisors that served as a
kind of cabinet that Congress
did not approve known as “The
Kitchen Cabinet” by Jackson’s
critics.
ANDREW
JACKSON’S
PRESIDENCY

13. INDIAN POLICY UNDER JACKSON
• For many years, the government had made treaties
and agreements with Indian tribes. Some Indian
even agreed to settle down and become farmers and
adopt the “white man’s way of life”, even owning
slaves in some cases. Soon however, the white
settlers wanted the Indian land. They rarely
accepted the Indians as equals, so they sought out a
way to get the land.
• When Jackson became President, many tribes were
forced to go West, past the Mississippi. Some tribes
went, but others resisted. The Sauk and Fox Indians
fought, but they were defeated by the U.S. army
during the Black Hawk War. The U.S. army even
tricked the Seminole chief Osceola and his warriors
into being captured under a white flag.

14. TRAIL OF TEARS
•When the Cherokee were
forced to leave, instead of
fighting, they appealed to the
supreme court because of a
treaty they signed which gave
them the land.
•The Supreme Court sided with the Indians and said they could
not be removed. Jackson, however, ignored the supreme court,
and forced them to move anyway.
•The Cherokee were forced to move in
the middle of winter to Oklahoma. The
forced trip became known as the “Trail
of Tears” because more than 3,700
Cherokee died.
John Marshall

15. • John C. Calhoun was Vice
President under Jackson.
DOCTRINE OF
• Because many people in the South NULLIFICATION
were so angry about government
tariffs that supported the North, he
proposed the doctrine of
nullification.
• This doctrine stated that Congress
could not pass laws which favored
any one area of the country over
another.
• When it did, he said, that state had
the right to declare the law “null
and void” in that state.
John C. Calhoun
• The Doctrine of Nullification was
another challenge of state vs.
federal power.

16. THREATS
TO THE
UNION
•Political Cartoon drawn
by an 8th grader, about
the Nullification Crisis
of 1832.
• Andrew Jackson suggested that the
tariffs be lowered.
• Congress did lower the tariffs, but
South Carolina and Calhoun felt they
were still too high.
• South Carolina threatened that if the
tariffs remained, they would secede,
or leave the U.S.
• Jackson said he would send troops to
South Carolina, and the country came
close to civil war over states rights.
• However, Henry Clay stepped in with
a compromise. He proposed a
lowering of the tariffs over 10 years.
• South Carolina stayed in the Union
and no blood was shed.

17. SECTIONALISM AND FINANCES
Even though the different areas of the country were having
political differences, they still depended upon or were affected
by each other. Here are a few examples
NORTH
The north
needed the
raw materials
from the
South and the
West to
produce
goods in their
factories.
SOUTH
The South
needed those in
the North to
purchase raw
materials and keep
tariffs low so they
could trade with
other countries as
cheaply as
possible.
WEST
The West needed
transportation
lanes to be
expanded with
government
money. This
money came
primarily from
the tariffs charged
to the south.

18. • The greatest controversy of Jackson’s
Presidency was his fight against the
United States Bank.
• Jackson felt that the bank was great
evil, so when Congress passed the
renewal of the bank, Jackson vetoed
the bill.
• To starve the national bank out of
existence, Jackson created 29 little
“pet” banks and took all federal money
out of the national bank.
• These banks had mixed results. It
caused much more expansion to the
West, but land speculation / credit
loans and badly managed pet banks
caused problems with U.S. economy
that would soon cause hard times.
THE BANK
DEBATES
King Andrew I, political
cartoon of Andrew Jackson

19. JACKSON LEAVES OFFICE
Martin Van Buren
• Andrew Jackson was nearly 70
when he left office. His last act
in government was to use his
popularity to help win the 1837
election for a supporter named
Martin Van Buren.
• Jackson said he had only two
regrets in office. He regretted
that he had not shot Henry Clay
and hung John Calhoun.
• However, he was able to retire
knowing that his political party,
the democrats (formerly the
democratic republicans) were
still in power.