US History Chapter 13 Part 2
"Nullies" in South Carolina
• A showdown had developed between the federal government and the states. • Congress eased tensions with the Tariff of 1832 that removed the worst parts of the Tariff of 1828 (AKA Tariff of Abominations). Still, the principle of nullification was under question. South Carolina again led the nullification charge... - "Nullies" sought the 2/3 majority needed in the SC legislature to nullify the tariff. They got the votes and SC officially voted to nullify the federal tariff. - SC even threatened secession if Washington tried to impose the tariff over the nullification vote. • Andrew Jackson was not a president with whom to bluff or pick a fight. Jackson was the old fighter, dueler, and warrior. - Privately, Jackson threatened to go to SC and start hanging the leaders. With any other president this would just be tough-talk; Jackson, however, just might actually do it. - Publicly, he got the military ready. Civil war hung as a real possibility. • Henry Clay proposed a compromise which settled the situation. - Clay's personal motives were to prevent his foe Andrew Jackson from scoring a victory. - Clay's compromise said that the tariff rate would be reduced by about 10% over 8 years. Despite debate, the compromise passed and violence was thwarted. - Congress also passed the Force Bill (AKA "Bloody Bill" in the Carolinas) authorizing the president to use force if necessary to collect the tariff. • Like a true compromise, the "winner" of the nullification crisis was unclear. - South Carolina and the states did not join behind the nullification cause like SC expected. But, South Carolina won in that, all by itself, it succeeded in driving the tariff down. - The federal government won in the sense that it got SC to abide by the tariff (Ie. SC repealed its nullification law).
The Bank War
• Andrew Jackson held the common western view of a distrust in banks. Mainly, he distrusted the B.U.S., the Bank of the United States. - Jackson's view was that the B.U.S. was a tool of the rich to get richer at the poor's expense. Jacksonians felt that the rich used "hard money" to keep the common man down. - The B.U.S. minted "hard money" (actual metal money) which the wealthy preferred since it gave the economy stability. The farmers preferred "soft money" (paper money) that would lead to inflation, devalue the dollar, and make loans easier to pay off. • B.U.S. president Nicholas Biddle carried out bank policies of (a) coining hard money and (b) cracking down on western "wildcat banks" by calling in loans. He, and the B.U.S., was compared to a serpent that could grow multiple heads when one was cut off. • The B.U.S. was used as a political football... - Although the B.U.S. charter didn't expire until 1836, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster started a re-charter bill in 1832. The goal was to have Andrew Jackson veto it (as expected) and therefore give himself a political black eye. - The thought was that Jackson would be in a lose-lose situation... ~ If he vetoed it...the North would be angry and would not vote for his re-election. ~ If he signed it...the South and West would be angry because he'd gone to Washington and "sold them out" to big business. Either way, he'd be in trouble come election time in 1836. - Congress passed it and Jackson vetoed the B.U.S. re-charter bill saying, "The Bank...is trying to kill me, but I will kill it."
"Old Hickory" Wallops Clay in 1832
• In the 1832 election, it was Andrew Jackson for reelection being challenged by Henry Clay. - Jackson again appealed to the common man and urged them to "Go the whole hog." - Clay's slogan was "Freedom and Clay" but was criticized for his gambling, dueling, cockfighting, etc. • The 1832 election also brought some political firsts. All helped move America in a more democratic direction. The new things were... - The emergence of a third party, the Anti-Masonic Party. ~ The Masons or Freemasons were (and still are) a secret society. Due to its secret nature, questions, mystery, and a skeptical air swirled around them. ~ The Anti-Masonic Party was made up of a mix of various groups that were joined by (a) dislike of the Masons and/or (b) dislike of Jackson (who was a Mason). - The use of national nominating conventions. This meant that the people of each party nominated their candidate, not the "big whigs" in a backroom choosing a candidate for the people. - The use of a printed party platform. This was done by the Anti-Masonic Party when they printed their positions on the issues. This would become the norm for all parties. • The voting was anti-climatic. Jackson was loved by the people and easily won, 219 to 49 in the electoral vote.
Burying Biddle's Bank
• Jackson could've waited until 1836 and the B.U.S. charter would've expired, but he was in a fighting mood and wanted to kill it right then. So... - Jackson started withdrawing money from the B.U.S. and depositing it into local, "pet banks" or "wildcat banks." - Nicholas Biddle fought back by calling in loans from the wildcat banks to the B.U.S. • The overall result was bank chaos, and often, bank foreclosure. Ironically, the common man, whom Jackson set out to defend, often lost his farm in the bank confusion. • Even though Jackson was largely at fault for the turmoil, from the common man's perspective, the B.U.S. and eastern big-whigs were to blame.
The Spoils System
• President Jackson quickly started what was called the "Spoils System." The spoils system rewarded political party workers with government jobs. This meant government workers already in office had to be fired to make room for the new. - Many said this wasn't right and criticized the spoils system. They also claimed that the people he put into office had no qualifications. - Jackson shot back saying, "To the victor belong the spoils." This meant that whoever wins the presidency can do as he pleases. - Jackson also argued that federal jobs weren't offered on a for-life basis and that a little change is a good thing in a government. • Being the old military man, loyalty was everything. Jackson was loyal to the people who helped get him elected, and he wanted people underneath him that were loyal to him. • Despite the criticism, only one fifth of the federal employees were replaced. Later on, presidents would make clean sweeps of the executive branch. • Corruption also slid into the government. - Some of the men were less-than-honorable yet were given jobs due to their help in the election. - One Samuel Swartwout was put in charge of the customs duties at the port of New York. Nine years later he "Swartwouted out" and ran off to England; his accounts were $1 million short.
Spoils system
• Started by President Andrew Jackson. • It rewarded political party workers with government jobs.
The Tricky "Tariff of Abominations"
• The tariff (tax on imports) became the hot issue in the 1820s and 30s. It nearly brought America to civil war before being worked out by compromise. • Congress had raised the tariff significantly in 1824, but wool manufacturers called for an even higher tariff. • Jackson and his followers hated the tariff. They felt it was a tool of the rich to get richer by jacking up prices that the poor would have to pay. Jacksonians planned to hike the tariff to the sky-high rate of 45%, thinking it would never pass. The plan backfired and sectional warfare began... - New England liked the high tariff since it protected manufacturers. Daniel Webster (Mass.) became the North's main spokesperson. - Southerners, and Westerners, hated it because it drove up the cost of things that they purchased. John C. Calhoun (SC) became the South's main spokesperson. • At about the same time, the South also struggled with slave rebellions. - Denmark Vesey was a free black who led a slave rebellion in Charleston, SC in 1822. - It was unsuccessful, but scared the southern whites to what might happen, especially in areas with an almost 1:1 white-to-black ratio like South Carolina. - Also, Britain was moving toward abolition of slaves. The South felt the pressure and began considering secession and using the tariff as the issue. • John C. Calhoun secretly wrote the "South Carolina Exposition" that took the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions to the next level. The Exposition said that the states, such as South Carolina, could nullify (or declare null and void) the tariff. This was a direct challenge to the federal government. Would the federal government allow states to pick-and-choose the laws they followed? Or would all federal laws be binding?
The Trail of Tears
• Westward expansion meant whites and Indians continued to bump into one another. Problems followed. • Since the 1790s, the U.S. policy was to gain Indian land only through treaty. These treaties were (a) sometimes questionably made and (b) often overlooked or broken. • Indian-White relationships varied... - There were attempts to assimilate Indians into white society, notably the Society for Progating the Gospel Among the Indians (est. 1787). - Some tribes readily adopted white ways they felt beneficial. The Cherokee of Georgia settled down to become farmers; largely accepted Christianity; Sequoyah devised a Cherokee alphabet so they could write; and the tribe soon set up a government with a legislative, executive, and judicial branch. ~ Georgia challenged and revoked the Cherokee's right to rule themselves. The Cherokee appealed to the Supreme Court which supported the Indians, 3 times. - The Cherokee, along with the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole were called the "Five Civilized Tribes." • Pres. Jackson's policy on Indians was clear and simple-. Indians and whites couldn't live together peacefully so the Indians were to be removed to the West. Notably, this was the general consensus of white America at the time. Ironically, Jackson also had a sort of "soft-spot" for the Indians. He felt they needed to be rescued (he'd even adopted an Indian) and reassured himself that their way-of-life might be preserved out West. - Oklahoma was the appointed "Indian Territory." - Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress making the relocation law and the Bureau of Indian Affairs was started to oversee matters. The military rounded up eastern tribes and drove them westward. Most infamous was the Trail of Tears where the Cherokee were forced to walk from their Georgia home to Oklahoma. The walk was miserable and fatal (4,000 out of the 15,000 died). - Many Indians pushed back, such as (a) the Black Hawk War which saw the Sauk and Fox tribes of IL and WI crushed, and (b) Osceola leading the Seminoles until he was tricked and captured, although many Seminoles (and runaway slaves) fled to the Everglades of FL.