Andrew Jackson portrayed by his enemies as
a monarch, trampling on the Constitution
and abusing the veto power
(Bettman Archives)
B. Election of 1824
2) Jackson receives more electoral and popular votes than Adams, Clay, and Crawford, but not a majority
3) House chooses Adams because of Clay's support
b) Adams and Clay agreed on American System
c) Jackson's followers accused Clay of Adams of a "Corrupt Bargain" when Clay was named Secretary of State
2) Property qualifications for voting eliminated in most states
3) Changing nature of political campaigns
4) Jackson's inauguration symbolic of new age
C. Indian policy
2) Trail of Tears--Cherokees and other Indian tribes in Southeast U.S. forced to march 1200 miles to Oklahoma territory
2) Jackson appealed to people of South Carolina to obey national law, obtained authority from Congress (Force Act) to enforce laws any way necessary, and worked out a compromise tariff
2) Foreclosed mortgages on farmers
3) Restricted the issuance of paper money by state banks
4) Biddle made a number of loans to anti-Jackson politicians
C. Wildcat banks created in wake of U.S. Bank's failure
2) Loans made increased 400%
3) Inflation rose as loans were made to land speculators
4) Sales of western land increased from 4 million acres in 1832 to 20 million acres in 1836
E. Jackson distributed federal government surpluses to states, which stimulated spending and inflation
F. To check the inflationary spiral, Jackson issued the specie circular which required gold and silver for land purchases.
G. Panic of 1837 resulted when
2) Gold supplies were depleted, preventing banks from making payments and forcing failures
Feldmeth, Greg D. "U.S. History Resources"
http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html (31 March 1998).
Back to Outlines & Charts Index
Back to U.S. History Resources main page.