1.5 expanding democracy

the panic of 1819 and new voting rights

- panic used to mean recession - many people lost their homes and farms - people wanted to be able to elect politicians who would help them - they demanded an end to property requirements for voting - most states extended voting to white males

Voting before 1820

- rights were limited - voters followed the lead of wealthy, powerful families

lecture of warmup

00:00:00 Hi, I'm your instructor. Well let's take a look at this painting. Here you see the White House with a crowd of supporters standing outside. They're there to celebrate the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency. What's interesting, had Andrew Jackson lived a few decades earlier, he likely wouldn't have gotten the support to win 00:00:18 the presidency, because he was supported by the common man, the average American citizen out there, who didn't have the right to vote prior to the 1820s. So in this lesson we'll talk about the ways in which more Americans were granted the right to vote in the 1820s to the 1840s. This lesson is called Expanding Democracy. Section 2 00:00:00 Well to start, let's take a look at voting rights as they existed in the 1820s. Before 1820, only white men who owned property and paid taxes could vote. There were no official political parties the way that we have them today, where you are a registered member of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party which gives you a right to vote in primaries for example. 00:00:22 Men voted by saying who they wanted to vote for, not by secret ballot the way we do it today. State lawmakers chose representatives for the electoral college. And this body in turn chose the president. Ordinary Americans had very little say on who the president would be. And then finally, voter participation was very low. 00:00:41 Less than 30% of adult white males had the right to vote. In some states, New York, it was even less, only about 20%. Well all this begins to change. Let's take a look at how. Section 4 00:00:00 Well first, let's take a look at our lesson objectives for this lesson. By the end of the lesson, you should be able to identify the changes in democratic participation that occurred during the Jackson era, to explain how the "corrupt bargain" of 1824 led to the formation of a new political party, and then finally, to describe the factors that influenced the election of 1828.

main lecture

Section 1 00:00:01 Let's take a look at our lesson question. How did American democracy change in the 1820s? Well, you now know that prior to 1820, very few people had the right to vote. In fact, less than 30% of all adult white men in the country could even cast a vote for the Senate or the House of Representatives. Well, all that begins to change, and in this segment, 00:00:21 we're going to take a look at how democracy began to expand, and more men are given the right to vote. Section 2 00:00:00 Now, remember before 1820 most average American citizens had very little say in elections or in American politics. That's because voting rights were limited. Remember, you had to be a landowner paying taxes in order to vote. Voters tended to follow the lead of wealthy, powerful families within the country. And candidates, as a result, didn't feel a need to appeal 00:00:23 directly to voters, making promises, or even talking to them about their wants and needs. Now, this is all going to change when an economic crisis hits the country. And this crisis is called the Panic of 1819. Now, a panic is simply the name that they used to use for a recession. And during a recession there are economic 00:00:43 problems in a country. Typically, there's high unemployment so people have trouble finding work. People aren't spending as much money, which means that farmers, for example, during this time can't get enough for their crops. So we see people starting to struggled financially. And as a result, people start losing their 00:00:59 homes and their farms. And so they demand action from the government. They want to be able to elect people that will help them. So they start to demand that states change their voting requirements. They want an end to property requirements, which means no longer do you have to actually own land to become a voter. You would just have to live in the state or you would have to 00:01:19 pay taxes in the state to have that right. Now, as a result most states gradually extend the right to vote to all adult white males. Now, what's important to notice here is that African American men are not getting the same right. Basically, after about 1819 all new states that are added to the union specifically restrict the right to vote to white man. 00:01:44 And black men are not given that same right. So let's take a look at what happens. In 1800, if you take a look, that means that these states have no requirements for voting. There are just three. We have New Hampshire, Vermont, and Kentucky. They're the only states in the union where all white men have the right to vote. 00:02:04 However, if you take a look at 1830 we see that number has increased dramatically. There are 11 states. You can see all of the states in New England, states in the west. So what is happening as a result and why this is important is that more and more and more men are getting the right to vote. 00:02:19 And as a result, that's going to result in some political changes. Section 4 00:00:00 Now, you just learned that the size of the voting population's starting to increase. More and more white men are getting the right to vote. Now, this is important. Because as a result, we need to make some changes in the voting process to accommodate this larger size of the electorate or the voting population. So first, more polling places had to be created. 00:00:21 And they stayed open longer because people have to have time to vote. We have to make sure that we can accommodate all the voting public. Next, voters no longer are simply yelling out their vote. Instead, they're writing them down so they can be counted later. So we're starting to make progress 00:00:35 towards a secret ballot. Next-- now, nominations for president, for example, used to be done in back rooms. And some powerful people would get together and decide who they were going to nominate for president. Well, no longer. Now public conventions are held, not only to nominate the 00:00:51 president, but other candidates for public office. And people now have the right to vote for members of the Electoral College. So now they're having a say for the first time in who will be the new President of the United States. Section 6 00:00:00 Well as a result of the reforms made way back in the 1820s, we enjoy some of these new processes that make our votes secure, safe, and give us a say in our government. First, we have local polling places, so we typically only have to go to a place in our neighborhood. We don't have to travel too far away in order to vote. We use written ballots, because there are millions of voters today, hundreds of millions of voters, and as a 00:00:26 result, those votes can be tallied later, often by a machine like the one you see here. We use popular nominations. Everyone has the right to vote for the candidates, for everything from governor to mayor, to president of the United States. And we also elect members of the electoral college. And we vote built for specific individuals with the 00:00:45 understanding they will vote for our candidate for president. Section 7 00:00:01 Let's take another look at our lesson question. How did American democracy change in the 1820s? Well you now know that during the 1820s, more people got a right to vote. And those people started to have a say in candidates, from everything from the House of Representatives, all the way up to the presidency. Well, in the election of 1824, those new rights 00:00:21 would be put to a test. That because the very popular Andrew Jackson will be running for president against this man, John Quincy Adams. Quincy So let's see what happens. Section 8 00:00:00 Well, let's take a look at what's going on in American politics in 1824. Well, after the War of 1812, the United States went back to having just one official political party. That's because the Federalist Party had collapsed. Federalists had supported the British. They were against the war. And as a result, they lost support after the United 00:00:19 States defeated Britain in the War of 1812. Now, on top of that, the remaining political party, the Democratic-Republican Party, was split on many issues. First, its leaders disagreed about slavery and what should be done about slavery in the West. Some resented the selection process for presidential candidates. People were concerned that practically every president 00:00:39 had come from either Virginia or Massachusetts. And others were tired of well-connected politicians, the wealthy men running the country. So they were ready for a change. And into this situation steps a man named Andrew Jackson. Now, Andrew Jackson was born in the Carolinas and even fought in the American Revolution when he was just 13 years old. 00:01:00 Later, he'd moved to Tennessee. And he'd become both a lawyer and a politician for the state. He was known for his win against the British in the Battle of New Orleans. He commanded the American victory in that very famous battle. And he also spoke out again against that Eastern 00:01:16 aristocracy, that group of wealthy men along the East Coast who were running the country. Now very quickly, Jackson's going to capture the imagination of Americans. They believed he had what is called a cult of personality. And what this means is that this person is extremely charismatic. For some reason, we want to follow them. 00:01:36 We believe what they tell us. And there've been all sorts of these types of personalities in American history. And there's no doubt that Jackson was one of them. His simple background made him very popular among the common man, this group of people that are just now getting the right to vote. First, he was born in a log cabin. 00:01:53 He wasn't very, very rich and wealthy. He was a soldier and a war hero. And he was also a hot-tempered lawyer. For example, he once got in a duel with a man who insulted his wife, Rachel. He was also a well-connected champion of the common man. He had lived in Tennessee. He had lots of contacts there. 00:02:12 And his wife was actually from a very wealthy family. So he had the political connections. And he also had that thing that would get the common man to support him. And as a result, he's going to win the nomination for president. So let's take a look at Jackson's rise through the ranks. 00:02:28 He started out as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention and then became Tennessee's first member to the House of Representatives and then later a senator. He was then appointed governor of Florida in 1821 and then returned back to Tennessee, where he ran again for the Senate. He won that election and then was nominated for 00:02:50 president in 1824. Section 10 00:00:00 Well, Jackson's opponent in the election of 1812 was his political and personal opposite. This man's name is John Quincy Adams. And he came from a very wealthy Boston family. He's the son of President John Adams. He served as a statesman and a politician. He was a senator from Massachusetts, as well as serving as Secretary of State. 00:00:22 He's considered by many to be a brilliant but cold man. He certainly didn't have the electric personality that Jackson had. He was also Democratic-Republican but was known for having an independent streak. He tended to want to do things that were best for the country instead of what his party always preferred. So let's compare our two candidates. 00:00:40 Now there are actually four candidates running for office in 1824, but only two have a chance of winning. And that's Adams and Jackson. Now John Quincy Adams favored a strong federal government. And he actually favored expanding the role of government. He wanted to put a tariffs on imports in order to build a national university system and to build roads and canals to 00:01:01 help the economy grow. He also opposed slavery. So you can imagine this is going to cost him support in the South. And he also, again, disliked party politics. He was more interested in doing what he saw as best for the nation. Now Andrew Jackson, on the other hand, favored the rights 00:01:16 of the states and the common man. So again, he's going to appeal to this large electorate of voters who are voting for president for the first time in many cases. He opposed high tariffs. And he was not only a slave holder, but he also supported slavery, which is going to help them in the South. Section 12 00:00:00 Well, now let's take a look at the results of the election. Now four men ran for president and no one won a majority of the electoral vote. Remember, in order to win the presidency you have to wait at least 50% of the electoral vote. So let's see what happened instead. First, on the popular vote you can see that Jackson here in blue got the most of votes. 00:00:20 He got 43%. Trailed quite significantly by John Quincy Adams, who got 31% of the popular vote. Next, let's take a look at the electoral vote. Jackson got 38% of the electoral vote. But remember, to win the presidency he needs 50% plus one vote. John Quincy Adams is second at 32%. 00:00:40 So you see the election is coming down to these two men. And do note that Jackson got the most popular votes as well as the electoral vote. So let's see what happens. Now, when there is no clear winner in the electoral college Congress, the House of Representatives, gets to decide the election. Now at this time Henry Clay, one of the four candidates for 00:01:01 president, is the speaker of the House. And he doesn't like Jackson. So he starts to collect votes for John Quincy Adams. John Quincy Adams wins the presidency and in return Adams makes Henry Clay his Secretary of State. Jackson is outraged. He accuses Adams and Clay of making a corrupt bargain. So a lot of times historians call this election the Corrupt 00:01:25 Bargain of 1824. Now, it's important to note that in the past this is the way it was always done. This is how presidents were chosen. But this time in 1824 Americans have participated in this election and they are outraged. And they're going to demand something be done. Section 14 00:00:00 Let's take another look at our lesson question, how did American democracy change in the 1820? Well, we just learned about the Corrupt Bargain of 1824. And Americans are outraged. They felt like most of them had voted for Jackson, and their will had been thwarted. So how did the supporters of Jackson, and Jackson himself, react to this election? 00:00:21 Well, let's take a look. We'll learn about that next. Section 15 00:00:00 Well as you can imagine, Jackson was very unhappy with the deal struck by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. He called Adams an aristocrat and began to fight Adams and his policies from the very beginning of his presidency. He also decided to form his own political party, the Democratic Party. Now this is the same Democratic Party that exists today. 00:00:22 So it was started in 1824 although it's beliefs and policies have changed dramatically over time. He also did something that no one had ever done before. He and his campaign began to appeal directly to the American people for support. They held speeches. They held barbecues. And they started gearing up for the 1828 election as soon 00:00:43 as the last election was over. Section 17 00:00:00 Well, the in his own opinion John Quincy Adams' presidency was a failure before it even got started. It seemed like every time he tried to achieve something or do something that measure was blocked or he couldn't get it passed through. For example, his efforts to increase tariffs in order to pay for road construction or other infrastructure improvements was blocked by Congress. 00:00:21 His American Indian policies wear unpopular. John Quincy Adams actually supported maintaining treaties with American Indians and respecting their property rights in the west. But, of course, those measures were very unpopular with settlers who wanted to move into those lands. His attempts to acquire Texas from Mexico failed. And he also tried to increase trade with Great Britain in 00:00:42 the British West Indies, but those measures also failed. So by the time the election comes around in 1828 John Quincy Adams is very, very unpopular. And Jackson is going to wage a very aggressive campaign. He has no intention of what happened the previous election to happen again. And as a result, you can see here he wins very handily, in both the electoral and the popular vote. 00:01:05 You see John Quincy Adams only wins a few states in the northeast and along the Atlantic seaboard. So let's take a look. Why is this important? Why is this election, the election of 1828, one that is so significant? Well, there's a couple of reasons why. First, he is the first president from the West, the 00:01:23 first president not from Virginia or Massachusetts. He's the first to use a direct campaign. He's going to appeal directly to voters for the first time in speeches in order to get their support. Not for his candidacy, but also for his policies. He's one of the few with a limited education. He was primarily self-taught. He didn't go to fancy boarding schools along the eastern 00:01:46 seaboard like so many of the other presidents up until that day. And he was the first president from the working class. Remember, he was a soldier. His dad was an Irish immigrant. He certainly wasn't from one of those wealthy families back east.

today

we still use voting processes like - local polling places - written ballots - popular nominations - popularly elected members of the electoral college