Jacksonian Democracy

The election of 1828 is commonly regarded as a turning point in the political history of the United States. Jackson was the first president from the area west of the Appalachians, but it was equally significant that the initiative in launching his candidacy and much of the leadership in the organization of his campaign also came from the West. The victory of Jackson indicated a westward movement of the center of political power. He was also the first man to be elected president through a direct appeal to the mass of the voters rather than through the support of a recognized political organization. Jackson once said: “I know what I am fit for. I can command a body of men in a rough way; but I am not fit to be president.” Yet today he is regarded as the maker of the modern presidency.

Jackson was the first president born in poverty. In time he became one of the largest landholders in Tennessee, yet he had retained the frontiersmen’s prejudice against people of wealth. He had no well-defined program of action when he entered the presidency. He was the beneficiary of a rising tide of democratic sentiment, a trend that was aided by the admission of six new states to the Union, five of which had manhood suffrage, and by the extension of the suffrage laws by many of the older states. As the power of the older political organizations weakened, the way was opened for the rise of new political leaders skilled in appealing to the mass of voters. Not the least remarkable triumph of the Jacksonian organization was its success in picturing its candidate as the embodiment of democracy, despite the fact that Jackson had been aligned with the conservative faction in Tennessee politics for 30 years and that in the financial crisis that swept the West after 1819 he had vigorously opposed legislation for the relief of debtors.

As the victory of Jackson reflected the emergence of new forces in U.S. politics, so Jackson himself brought to the presidency a new set of personal qualifications that were to become the standard by which presidential candidates would be judged for the remainder of the 19th century. He was the first president since George Washington who had not served a long apprenticeship in public life and had no personal experience in the formulation or conduct of foreign policy. His brief periods of service in Congress provided no clue to his stand on the public issues of the day, except perhaps on the tariff.

Jackson approached the problems of the presidency as he had approached all other problems in life. He met each issue as it arose, and he exhibited the same vigour and determination in carrying out decisions that had characterized his conduct as commander of an army. He made it clear from the outset that he would be the master of his own administration, and, at times, he was so strong-willed and decisive that his enemies referred to him as “King Andrew I.” In making decisions and policy, Jackson relied on an informal group of newspaper editors and politicians who had helped elect him; they came to be known as his "kitchen cabinet."

The first term

When Jackson was inaugurated on March 4, 1829, it was the first time in more than a quarter of a century that the election of a new president reflected the repudiation of his predecessor. Hundreds who had worked for the election of Jackson hoped this would mean that incumbent officeholders would be replaced by friends of the new president, and within a few weeks the process of removing opponents of Jackson to make way for supporters had begun. Some years later, in the U.S. Senate, William L. Marcy of New York defended the principle of “rotation of office” with the aphorism, “To the victors belong the spoils.” The so-called spoils system, however, did not begin with Jackson, nor did he utilize this practice as extensively as was charged. In eight years as president, Jackson removed fewer than one-fifth of all federal officeholders.

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Jackson was in poor health when he became president, and few believed that he would have the strength or inclination to seek a second term. The question of the succession was, therefore, certain to attract early attention. One obvious candidate was Vice President John C. Calhoun from Jackson’s native state of South Carolina. Another was Martin Van Buren, Jackson’s first secretary of state. The harmony of the new administration was marred from the outset by the rivalry between Calhoun and Van Buren. Moreover, Jackson learned in 1830 that during the cabinet debates in 1818 Calhoun had urged that Jackson be censured for his invasion of Florida. In that episode Jackson had captured the Spanish forts at St. Marks, Pensacola, and several other towns, and claimed the surrounding territory for the United States. He had also seized two British subjects, Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister, and hanged them. Jackson, though considered a hero in many parts of the country for this action, was severely criticized by Congress. Calhoun was the most prominent of these critics, and Jackson concluded that he could no longer trust him. From that time, Van Buren was generally recognized as the probable successor of Jackson as president.

The feud between Jackson and Calhoun assumed momentous importance in 1830 when Calhoun openly espoused the cause of South Carolina in its opposition to a high protective tariff. Feeling in South Carolina was so intense that there were covert threats that the state would attempt to prevent collection of the tariff within its borders. The issue of the tariff drifted unresolved, however, until 1832, when congressional leaders sought a compromise in the form of a moderate reduction of the tariff. South Carolina was not satisfied and in reply adopted a resolution declaring the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void and prohibiting the enforcement of either within its boundaries after February 1, 1833. Jackson accepted the challenge, denounced the theory of nullification, and asked Congress for authority to send troops into South Carolina to enforce the law. The president believed the tariff to be too high, however, and urged Congress to reduce the rates it had enacted a few months earlier. On March 1, 1833, Congress sent to the president two companion bills. One reduced tariff duties on many items. The other, commonly called the Force Bill, empowered the president to use the armed forces to enforce federal laws. South Carolina repealed its nullification ordinance, but at the same time it declared the Force Act null and void.

Whatever the motives, Jackson had preserved the integrity of the Union against the most serious threat it had yet faced. In contrast, he was remarkably complacent when Georgia defied the federal government. In 1829 Georgia extended its jurisdiction to about 9,000,000 acres (4,000,000 hectares) of land that lay within its boundaries but was still occupied by the Cherokee Indians. The Cherokees’ title to the land, on which gold had been discovered, having been guaranteed by a treaty with the United States, the Indians appealed to the federal courts. In two separate cases, the Supreme Court ruled against Georgia, but Georgia ignored those decisions and continued to enforce its jurisdiction within the territory claimed by the Cherokees. In contrast to his strong reaction against South Carolina’s defiance of federal authority, Jackson made no effort to restrain Georgia, and those close to him felt certain that he sympathized with the position taken by that state. He is said to have declared privately, “John Marshall [the chief justice] has made his decision, now let him enforce it!” Jackson’s failure to support the Supreme Court remains an indelible stain on his record.

The Cherokee, left without a choice, signed another treaty in 1835 giving up their land in exchange for land in the Indian Territory west of Arkansas. Three years later, having been rounded up by Gen. Winfield Scott, some 15,000 Cherokees were forced to wend their way westward, mostly on foot, on a journey that became known as the Trail of Tears. On the way, during the cold and wet of winter, nearly a quarter of them died of starvation, illness, and exposure.

The plight of the Cherokee was a consequence of the Jackson government’s policy toward the Native American peoples who lived east of the Mississippi (especially in the Southeast) on lands that were desired for white settlement. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized Jackson to grant these Indian tribes unsettled western prairie land in exchange for their homelands. When members of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes, including the Cherokees, refused to relocate, military coercion was employed to force compliance. Even more reluctant to leave their Florida home were the Seminoles, who would resist resettlement in the Second Seminole War (1835–42)..

Reelection in 1832

In the meantime, Jackson acquiesced to the pressure of friends and sought a second term. As the election of 1832 approached, Jackson’s opponents hoped to embarrass him by posing a new dilemma. The charter of the Bank of the United States was due to expire in 1836. The president had not clearly defined his position on the bank, but he was increasingly uneasy about how it was then organized. More significant in an election year was the fact that large blocs of voters who favored Jackson were openly hostile to the bank. In the summer of 1832, Jackson’s opponents rushed through Congress a bill to recharter the bank, thus forcing Jackson either to sign the measure and alienate many of his supporters or to veto it and appear to be a foe of sound banking. Jackson’s cabinet was divided between friends and critics of the bank, but the obviously political motives of the recharter bill reconciled all of them to the necessity of a veto. The question before Jackson actually was whether the veto message should leave the door open to future compromise.

Few presidential vetoes have caused as much controversy in their own time or later as the one Jackson sent to Congress on July 10, 1832. The veto of the bill to recharter the bank was the prelude to a conflict over financial policy that continued through Jackson’s second term, which he nevertheless won easily. Efforts to persuade Congress to enact legislation limiting the circulation of bank notes failed, but there was one critical point at which Jackson was free to apply his theories. Nearly all purchasers of public lands paid with bank notes, many of which had to be discounted because of doubts as to the continuing solvency of the banks that issued them. Partly to protect federal revenues against loss and partly to advance his concept of a sound currency, Jackson issued the Specie Circular in July 1836, requiring payment in gold or silver for all public lands. This measure created a demand for specie that many of the banks could not meet; banks began to fail, and the effect of bank failures in the West spread to the East. By the spring of 1837 the entire country was gripped by a financial panic. The panic did not come, however, until after Jackson had had the pleasure of seeing Van Buren inaugurated as president on March 4, 1837.

During Jackson’s time, the President’s House underwent noteworthy alterations. The North Portico, which had long been advocated by James Hoban, its architect, was added to the mansion. The appropriation that Jackson obtained for this work included a sum for refurbishing the interior of the building, and the public rooms were refitted on a grand scale. A system of iron pipes was also installed in order to convey water from a well to a small reservoir on the grounds from which it could be pumped to various parts of the building. For the first time, the occupants’ needs for water could be met without relying on the time-honored system of filling pails and carrying them where required.

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Jackson retired to his home, the Hermitage. For decades in poor health, he was virtually an invalid during the remaining eight years of his life, but he continued to have a lively interest in public affairs.