Jacksons clashes with whig h Party Members such as henry clay and Daniel Webster. Good morning everybody and welcome to American History. My name is jonathan barth. You all know me as professor barth and i am a history professor at Arizona State university in conjunction with two very stellar world class programs. There they are on the screen. The school of historical philosophical and religious studies, quite a mouth full. So we call this shippers, great program. And then the center for political thought and leadership. If this lecture intrigues you, you should check out our center. Were doing some big things. Finally if you are interested in learning more about yours tru trutruly professorbarth. Com. You can read about me on that website. Well, a generation of politicians has passed. Alexander hamilton dies in a duel in 1804. James madison retires from politics and dies in 1836. John adams and Thomas Jefferson die on the same day, july 4th, 1826, 50 years to the day of the signing of the declaration of independence. Pretty incredible. You cant make Something Like that up. America is changing. A market revolution is sweeping the young republic, mass commercialization, profit making, new opportunities for investment. Inventions, entrepreneurship. Look at that population explosion from 1 million in 1750 to 13 million by 1830. This is a young population, average age about 17 years old. Idealistic, energetic, reckless. Facto outside of the cities, outside of new england, an agricultural boom. Wheat exports off the charts. In the south, a new plant, cotton, that drug of a plant, creating that soft durable textile spreading all throughout the south, entrenching that slave system deeper and deeper in the south. If youre going to have textiles, cotton, wheat, you need transportation. So we have roads being built, turnpikes connecting rural markets to waterways and to atlantic port cities. Steam boats by the 1820s and 1830s trekking up and down the mississippi river. Canals, canal mania, canals built all across the country, the most famous being the erie canal completed in 1825 conducting the hudson river to lake erie. What an accomplishment that is. If you have canals and plantations and factories, you need credit. And here too we have lots and lots of credit, banks sprouting up all across the United States from three banks in 1790 to several hundred banks by the 1820s. Sitting on top of those state banks is the mother bank. Right. The chief bank. The central bank. The bank of the United States and this is the second bank of the United States because as you recall, from earlier in the semester there was a first bank of the United States. 1791 alexander hamilton. Pushes through congress a bank of the United States. This bank a private bank with stockholders and dividends. This Bank Hamilton says will benefit not only Financial Private financial interests but will benefit the country, the public, how will it benefit the public, because the treasury, the u. S. Treasury, will deposit money in the bank, money coming in from taxes and the treasuries, can also borrow money from the bank. This bank has a 20year charter but it has lots of opponents. You remember, that chief opponent, Thomas Jefferson, hates the bank. The Bank Jefferson believes is an institution that imperils american liberty by elevating to power a wealthy financial elite, nonproductive elite. Jefferson opposes it and jefferson comes to power in 1800, so does his party the bank of the United States the first bank the charter expires in 1811, but one year later a war erupts with britain. That war is a very expensive war. The National Government finds itself in tremendous fiscal straits. After the war is finished five years later the democratic republicans, the party of jefferson, charter a second bank of the United States and this second bank much like the first, also will have a 20year charter. This charter will run out in 1836 and presumably congress and the president in good faith will renew the charter. So there you have it. And there are bumps along the road, right, after the bank is chartered, you will recall from the last lecture the panic of 1819 explodes. This massive bubble in western land speculation, a bubble caused largely by the bank, by all of this new bank currency, creates a bubble and then the burst. But the country recovers from the panic of 1819, fairly quickly, and so the second bank of the United States survives that panic and goes into the 1820s with very little opposition. Most americans by the mid1820s have come to accept the bank, the market revolution is fully under way. But its not just the economy that is changing. It is the political arena that is changing. Two new political parties. The whigs and the democrats. Bucking heads. Who are these whigs and democrats . Will representing new england for the whigs we have Daniel Webster, a lawyer from massachusetts. One of the most brilliant orators in u. S. Congressional history. Quite an impressive figure, dana webster is. We have in massachusetts, John Quincy Adams, son of the second president of the United States, john adams. He, too, is a whig. But then most famously, of course, we have henry clay, hailing from the state of kentucky, and clay, well, clay ends up running for president five times. Just cant get in. Cant seem to do it. But nonetheless, henry clay is one of the most important political figures in American History. What does clay do . Clay has a program, a system, an american system, and that american system is threefold. Henry clay says, first, we need to have protective tariffs on american manufacturing. And sure enough, henry clay, when he becomes secretary of state under president John Quincy Adams, adams signs into law a new tariff, the tariff of 1828, raising the tariff from 25 to 45 . Thats one heck of a tariff, 45 . Why do they do that . To protect american manufacturers and textile goods. Clay also says, we need federally funded internal improvements, using federal dollars to finance the building of roads, canals, bridges, and so forth. And then finally, clay says, we need to recharter that bank of the United States. Unlike jefferson or excuse me, unlike hamilton, however, clay frames his defense of the bank of the United States in common man rhetoric. Hamilton said the bank is good for financial interests, right. Clay says the bank is good for farmers. The bank is good for mechanics, for manufacturers. The bank is good for the country as a whole. We need to recharter this bank and theres the whig party platforms, the whigs support clays american system. The whigs support utilizing the powers of the federal government to stimulate Economic Activity and they adopt a broad interpretation of the constitution. The federal government, the whigs say, does have the right to engage in this activity and most of the whigs are going to come from new england, because of the tariff, right, those factories are in new england, but also from the west. This is what distinguished clay from hamilton. Hamilton makes no appeals to the west. Clay is from the west. Clays internal improvements in the bank he hopes will get some western votes. But they have opposition and theres that Democratic Party, the democrats, oppose the american system. The democrats adopt a strict interpretation of the constitution, a very limited view of the federal governments powers. The democrats appeal to farmers, to wealthy plantation owners in the south, but also to common ordinary people to wage earners, to working class labors, laborers in places like new york. New york definitely a hotbed for democratic activity, the south and the west. New york we have martin van buren, a democrat, later president of the United States, he later leaves the Democratic Party and joins the antislavery free soil party. Well get to that in a future lecture. Representing the south for the democrats, we have another legendary figure, john c. Calhoun. Calhoun, a rabid defender of slavery. But also, a rabid opponent of the tariff. He hates that tariff so much, in fact, that calhoun calls the tariff of 1828 the tariff of abominations. This 45 tariff, calhoun says, discriminates against the south and sure enough, calhoun, that same year, in 1828, authors in secret and does so in secret because hes Vice President of the United States at the same time, just to give you an idea of how muddy the political world is back then, calhoun authors in secret an essay advocating nullification, the idea that the states can nullify or make null and void any federal law that they deem unconstitutional, South Carolina does not nullify this tariff yet but it puts the idea in their head. Well, from the west, we have Andrew Jackson. Andrew jackson. And there he is. Right. The man. Probably the most colorful president in United States history. I say probably. I think we could state almost objectively the most colorful president in u. S. History. A giant of a figure. Tall, he stood at 61. That was very tall for that day and age. 61. Skinny. Bushy eyebrows. Hair brushed high above a very large forehead with piercing blue eyes. Look at those eyes. Jackson was a hot tempered man. He was a bit stubborn and oftentimes bullheaded. He had strong convictions and he knew when he was opposed to something he stood up to that system. Well, he had a few nicknames, in fact, as well. Andrew jackson. He went by the name old hickory. Old hickory. Tough as old hickory wood. His second nickname, you wont believe this, shark knife. Who has a nickname like shark knife. Andrew jackson has a nickname like shark knife. Whats Andrew Jacksons story. Jackson was born in 1767 in waxal, north carolina. He was born and his parents died at an early age. So he was an orphan raised with no parental restraints. As a young boy he got into brawls and fights. He wasnt all that interested in learning or reading. Jackson was 9 years old at the time of the American Revolution and youll see young andy right there in the middle. 9 years old. At age 13, he joined the militia as a messenger. And at one point, he ran into a british officer and the officer told young andy, clean my boots. And young andy said, i aint cleaning your boots. The officer took his sword, slashed young andy, leaving a permanent scar on his left hand and the left side of his head. Well, jackson went onto help found the state of tennessee, got married in 1806. Someone insulted his wife, he challenged the man to a duel, shot him. He shot him. The only president in the United States history who has ever killed a man, thats Andrew Jackson, sharp knife. Well Andrew Jackson joins the military. He joins the military and fights the creek indians in 1814. Fights the seminole indians in 1817 and in 1815, earns his fame through the battle of new orleans. This spectacular victory against the british, even though again as you remember, the war was already over. That doesnt seem to matter because this elevates Andrew Jackson to celebrity status and that is, indeed, what jackson is. A celebrity. He has some political experience. He serves about two years in the u. S. Senate, but thats really all. Jackson, well, hes also very wealthy. Very, very wealthy. Theres his plantation. The hermitage. It starts out 1804, jackson has nine slaves. By the 1830s jackson has well over 100 slaves and slaves are very expensive. Most Common People cannot afford any at all. Jackson has over 100. Hes a very, very wealthy man. Very welltodo. Well jackson enters like i said, enters the senate in 1823. In 1824 he runs for the presidency, a fourway race between jackson, adams, William Crawford and henry clay. Jackson wins the popular vote, 42 . Jackson also wins the most electoral votes, but jackson doesnt win a majority of the electoral votes. So the contest goes to the house of representatives. Henry clay is speaker of the house, henry clay cannot stand Andrew Jackson. His rival in the west. Henry clay strikes a deal with John Quincy Adams and says, tell you what, ill get the votes you need in the house of representatives if you make me secretary of state. The deal is made. Adams wins in the house of representatives, becomes president. Clay is elevated to secretary of state. Andrew jackson furious with this corrupt bargain, this rigged election. Jackson vows, i will get my revenge in four years. Sure enough he does. 1828, twoman contest, jackson versus adams. Jackson wins in a landslide and look at that electoral map, quite an impressive victory. Landslide victory. How does he do it . How does he do it . The answer is simple, democracy. Democracy. Jackson benefits from universal male suffrage. We call this period jacksonian democracy, property qualifications for all free men in the United States are eliminated. No property required to vote. Double the number of voters in 1828, then you saw in 1824. Jackson uses this to his advantage and wages a Political Campaign that utilizes a form of politics we call populism. Populism. Populism is a political term that has come up quite a bit in the last two years. What is populism . Well, populism is not an ideology per se. You can find populism on the left, you can find populism on the right. Populism is a style of politics, a style of politics that speaks to the interests, to the hopes, to the fears of common, ordinary people. Populists tend to pit the people versus the elites. The people versus the establishment. Populists tend to warn of nefarious forces in positions of power, whether those positions of power are in government or in the corporate world. Nefarious forces. And the cherry on top, populists often benefit from charismatic personalities. Very often, with populism, youll see populists emerge who uses the sheer force of personality to rally people around him and then to use that charisma to attack what he claims, at least, in his defense, to attack corrupt entrenched interests. Thats what populism is. Andrew jackson is a populist. Andrew jackson inaugurated into the presidency in 1829. And in celebration of his presidency, he throws a party. Opens up the white house lawn to the public. Hundreds of people from around the country pour in to the white house lawn, shopkeepers, wage earners, common, ordinary, everyday americans, sleeping on hotel room floors and in hallways, they pack in on the white house lawn. A spiked punch bowl and whiskey is being passed around. Its one heck of a party and jackson is stoked. The people are ready for a Jackson Administration and as you can imagine these guys dont like it one bit. They look at whats going on and oh, this disgusts them. Imagine what Daniel Webster thought of Something Like this. Hes not going to like it too much. Jackson is ready. Is the country ready for jackson. Whats this man going to do . Theres no telling. Hes a loose cannon, right. Whats going to happen . Well henry clay says all right, we lost that election, thats fine, clay says, im going to push through my american system. And he begins with internal improvements. Clay says, we need a road, weve got all these farmers from my home state of kentucky, we need a road that stretches from lexington, kentucky, to maysville, kentucky, right there along the ohio river. And i want to use federal dollars to build that road. The bill arrives on jacksons desk after it flies through congress. Jackson responds and vetoes the bill. The maysville road veto. One of the first famous vetoes in president ial history. Clay very upset. But this is just the beginning. Just the beginning. All right. Clay says, you vetoed my internal improvements bill, lets try another plank of the american system. Lets try a new tariff. The tariff of 1832. Now this is a strange tariff because it seems to contradict clays program. The tariff of 1832 lowers the tariff from 45 to 35 . Why does clay do this . Well, youll recall, that tariff of abominations, in 1828, South Carolina and other states in the south are very angry about this. Clay fears that maybe 45 is pushing it too much. Lets lower it a little bit. High enough still, but just a little bit, to soften some of that opposition. The bill arrives on Andrew Jacksons desk. President jackson signs the bill. Signs the bill. All sounds good. Oh, well, South Carolina, isnt so pleased with this bill. South carolina nullifies the tariff of 1832. Why would they do this . It lowered the tariff. South carolina says, not enough. Not enough. This tariff is unconstitutional. We have a right to declare this tariff null and void and if you do not respect our nullification of this bill, of this tariff, we will secede from the United States. Unbelievable. Whats going to happen . Whats Andrew Jackson going to do . Calhoun is a democrat. Well, jackson gets word of this and jackson could not be more furious with john c. Calhoun. For jackson, this is an affront to