Chapter 13 - The Rise of a Mass Democracy, 1824-1840 Flashcards
Andrew Jackson
Presidential candidate in 1824 and winner in 1828
Henry Clay
Losing presidential candidate in 1824; Speaker of the House who got Adams elected; made plan to reduce Tariff of 1824 to 1816 levels over 10 years
John Quincy Adams
winning presidential candidate in 1824; created the Corrupt Bargain with Clay
King Caucus
Beginning in 1796, caucuses of the political parties’ congressional delegations met informally to nominate their presidential and vice presidential candidates, leaving the general public with no direct input. This early nomination system—dubbed “King Caucus” by its critics—evoked widespread resentment.
Corrupt Bargain
The charge make by Jacksonians in 1825 that Clay had supported John Quincy Adams in the House presidential vote in return for the office of Secretary of State. Clay knew he could not win, so he traded his votes for an office.
Old Hickory
Nickname for Andrew Jackson, due to his toughness and rigidity.
Mudslinging
slanderous political tactics in election time
Rachel Robards
Wife of Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States.
Inaugural Brawl
Jackson’s inaugural ball; he allowed anyone to come and had to flee b/c a riot ensued
King Mob
nickname given to Jackson’s first term
Spoils System
“To the victor go the spoils” - the winner of the election may do whatever they want with the staff, and they usually rewarded party loyalty with jobs, and fired the opposition. Jackson made more staff changes than any previous president, firing many people and replacing them with his own.
Tariff of Abominations (of 1828)
1828 - Also called Tariff of 1828, it raised the tariff on imported manufactured goods. The tariff protected the North but harmed the South; South said that the tariff was economically discriminatory and unconstitutional because it violated state’s rights. It passed because New England favored high tariffs.
Denmark Vesey
A mulatto who inspired a group of slaves to seize Charleston, South Carolina in 1822, but one of them betrayed him and he and his thirty-seven followers were hanged before the revolt started.
Nullies
People who believed each state in the union could counter the tyranny of the majority by asserting the right to nullify an unconstitutional act of Congress. They support Vice President Calhoun’s South Carolina Exposition, which was written in reaction to the Tariff of 1828, which he said placed the Union in danger and stripped the South of its rights.
Tariff of 1833
compromise tariff that reduced the rates of the Tariff of 1828; drafted by Clay
Force Bill
1833 - The Force Bill authorized President Jackson to use the army and navy to collect duties on the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832. South Carolina’s ordinance of nullification had declared these tariffs null and void, and South Carolina would not collect duties on them. The Force Act was never invoked because it was passed by Congress the same day as the Compromise Tariff of 1833, so it became unnecessary. South Carolina also nullified the Force Act.
Cherokees
First Americans tribes that tried to assimilate into American society
Five Civilized Tribes
refers to five Native American nations—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. These are the first five tribes that Anglo-European settlers generally considered to be “civilized” according to their own world view, because these five tribes adopted attributes of the colonists’ culture, for example, Christianity, centralized governments, literacy, market participation, written constitutions, intermarriage with white Americans, and plantation slavery practices.
Indian Removal Act/Trail of Tears
A minority of the Cherokee tribe, despite the protest of the majority, had surrendered their Georgia land in the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. During the winter of 1838 - 1839, troops under General Winfield Scott evicted them from their homes in Georgia and moved them to Oklahoma Indian country. Many died on the trail; the journey became known as the “Trail of Tears”.
Indian Territory
Area in modern day Oklahoma that was the destination for the Cherokee, as well as the other tribes that were removed under the Indian Removal Act.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs
1836 government branch set up to take care of the First Americans
Seminoles
Florida First American tribe that fought 7 years before giving into removal
Bank of the United States
The Second Bank of the U.S. was established in 1816 and was given more authority than the First Bank of the U.S. Bank loans were used to finance the American industrial revolution in the period after the War of 1812.
Nicholas Biddle
The Bank of the United States was chartered by Congress in 1791; it held government funds and was also commercial. It wasn’t rechartered in 1811, but a second bank was established in 1816 (1/5 government owned). Jackson opposed it, saying it drove other banks out of business and favored the rich, but Clay favored it. Nicholas Biddle became the bank’s president. He made the bank’s loan policy stricter and testified that, although the bank had enormous power, it didn’t destroy small banks. The bank went out of business in 1836 amid controversy over whether the National Bank was constitutional and should be rechartered.
Anti-Masonic Party
The Anti-Masons sprang up as a reaction to the perceived elitism of the Masons, and the new party took votes from the Whigs, helping Jackson to win the election in 1832.
Pet Banks
Pet banks were state banks into which Jackson deposited federal funds in 1833, after he vetoed the recharter of the Second Bank of the U.S., so called because people thought they were chosen on political grounds.
Specie Circular
1863 - The Specie Circular, issued by President Jackson July 11, 1836, was meant to stop land speculation caused by states printing paper money without proper specie (gold or silver) backing it. The Circular required that the purchase of public lands be paid for in specie. It stopped the land speculation and the sale of public lands went down sharply. The panic of 1837 followed.
Democrats
new name chosen by the former Democratic Republicans in the 1830s.
Whigs
Whigs were conservatives and popular with pro-Bank people and plantation owners. They mainly came from the National Republican Party, which was once largely Federalists. They took their name from the British political party that had opposed King George during the American Revolution. Among the Whigs were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and, for a while, Calhoun. Their policies included support of industry, protective tariffs, and Clay’s American System. They were generally upper class in origin.
Favorite Son
whig strategy of running several regionally popular candidates in the hopes that none would get the majority.
William Henry Harrison
Whig candidate from Ohio and was hero from the Battle of Tippecanoe.
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren, a Democratic-Republican Senator from New York. He became Jackson’s V.P. after Calhoun resigned. He was elected president after Jackson, and only served one term mostly due to the economic collapse that happened during his term.
Panic of 1837
When Jackson was president, many state banks received government money that had been withdrawn from the Bank of the U.S. These banks issued paper money and financed wild speculation, especially in federal lands. Jackson issued the Specie Circular to force the payment for federal lands with gold or silver. Many state banks collapsed as a result. A panic ensued (1837). Bank of the U.S. failed, cotton prices fell, businesses went bankrupt, and there was widespread unemployment and distress.
Speculation
Speculation is the purchase of a good with the hope that it will become more valuable at a future date.
Divorce Bill
decree that established an “independent treasury” that would keep federal funds out of banks.
Independent Treasury
Idea that federal government should have its own treasury; never put into practice.
Stephen Austin
In 1822, Austin founded the first settlement of Americans in Texas. In 1833 he was sent by the colonists to negotiate with the Mexican government for Texan independence and was imprisoned in Mexico until 1835, when he returned to Texas and became the commander of the settlers’ army in the Texas Revolution.
Davy Crockett
famous rifleman who went to Texas and fought in the Alamo.
Sam Houston
Former Governor of Tennessee and an adopted member of the Cherokee Indian tribe, Houston settled in Texas after being sent there by Pres. Jackson to negotiate with the local Indians. Appointed commander of the Texas army in 1835, he led them to victory at San Jacinto, where they were outnumbered 2 to 1. He was President of the Republic of Texas (1836-1838 & 1841-1845) and advocated Texas joining the Union in 1845. He later served as U.S. Senator and Governor of Texas, but was removed from the governorship in 1861 for refusing to ratify Texas joining the Confederacy.
Santa Anna
As dictator of Mexico, he led the attack on the Alamo in 1836. He was later defeated by Sam Houston at San Jacinto.
Alamo
A Spanish mission converted into a fort, it was besieged by Mexican troops in 1836. The Texas garrison held out for thirteen days, but in the final battle, all of the Texans were killed by the larger Mexican force.
Goliad
site of Texan surrender against Mexicans.
W. B. Travis
Texan commander at the Alamo.
Lone Star Republic
Created March, 1836 but not recognized until the next month after the battle of San Jacinto. Its second president attempted to establish a sound government and develop relations with England and France. However, rapidly rising public debt, internal conflicts and renewed threats from Mexico led Texas to join the U.S. in 1845.
San Jacinto
A surprise attack by Texas forces on Santa Ana’s camp on April 21, 1836. Santa Ana’s men were surprised and overrun in twenty minutes. Santa Ana was taken prisoner and signed an armistice securing Texas independence. Mexicans - 1,500 dead, 1,000 captured. Texans - 4 dead.
Anglos
American immigrants to Texas.
Log Cabin and Hard Cider
Slogan for W.H. Harrison to paint him as a common man, and contrasts him to Van Buren, who was derided for living a “urbane” and living in luxury.
“Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”
Slogan for W.H. Harrison, referring to his well known role as the commander in charge of the crushing defeat of Tecumseh in the Battle of Tippecanoe.
