Name: ______Date:______

7-3 Document Worksheet

Document 1
Andrew Jackson, a hero from theWar of 1812, ran for president in 1824against John Quincy Adams. Neither
candidate received a majority ofelectoral votes and the House ofRepresentatives had to decide thewinner. Speaker of the House Henry Clay disliked Jackson. He used hisinfluence to help Adams win theelection. Jackson’s followers accusedAdams of stealing the election. Theyformed their own party—theDemocratic-Republican Party. For thenext four years, the new party attackedAdams’s policies.
During Adams’s presidency, most stateshad eased voting requirements a citizenhad to fulfill to be able to vote. As a result,the voting population greatly increased.Fewer states had property qualificationsfor voting. This meant that many moreindividuals could vote.The 1828 presidential election signaledhow much the nation’s voter rolls hadgrown. In the election of 1824, about350,000 white males voted for thepresidency. In 1828, more than three timesthat number voted. However, certaingroups still lacked political power. Freeblacks and women did not njoy thefreedoms and privileges of white males.
Document 2:
Andrew Jackson appealed to many ofthese new voters. When Jackson ran forpresident again in 1828, these new voterssupported him. With their help, Jacksonwon the presidency by a landslide.Andrew Jackson also appealed to thecommon people. He was so popular thatcrowds of people came to Washington forhis inauguration.
Jackson wanted common people to havea chance to participate in government.Once in office, he removed about 10percent of federal workers from their jobs.He gave those jobs to friends and loyalfollowers. Jackson’s friends also becamehis advisers. These advisers were knownas his “kitchen cabinet” because theysupposedly slipped into the White Housethrough the kitchen.
The practice by incoming politicalparties of removing old workers andreplacing them with their supporters is
known as the spoils system. It comes froman old saying that in war “to the victorbelong the spoils of the enemy.”
Document 3
By the early 1800s, some NativeAmerican groups in the Southeast began totake on the culture of their white neighbors.These tribes—The Cherokee, Choctaw,Seminole, Creek, and Chickasaw—werecalled the Five Civilized Tribes.
Despite all this, white settlers did notwish to live with Native Americans. Instead,they wanted Native American land in theSouth and West for farms. As a result,President Jackson decided to remove theNative Americans from their lands.
Congress passed the Indian Removal Actin 1830. The law ordered all NativeAmericans to move west of the MississippiRiver. In 1830, Jackson pressured theChocktaw to sign a treaty that required themto move from Mississippi. In 1831, heordered U.S. troops to forcibly remove theSauk and Fox from their lands in Illinois and
Missouri. In 1832, he forced the Chickasawto leave their lands in Alabama andMississippi.
The Cherokee Nation, however, foughtthe Indian Removal Act in court. ChiefJustice Marshall ruled in their favor. TheCourt said that the United States had noright to take Cherokee land.But Andrew Jackson refused to obeythe Court’s ruling. Instead, federal agentssigned a treaty with a group of Cherokeeleaders willing to leave their land.
Beginning in October and November of1838, U.S. Army troops began forcing theCherokee to travel from Georgia to thenew Indian territory west of theMississippi River.The 800-mile trip was made partly bysteamboat and railroad but mostly onfoot. As the winter came, more andmore of the Cherokee died. Along theway, government officials stole theCherokees’ money, while outlawsmade off with their livestock. Thejourney became known as the Trail ofTears because more than a quarter ofthe travelers died on it. When theyreached their final destination, theCherokee ended up on land farinferior to that which they had beenforced to leave.

Document 1 Question(s):

  1. What was the problem in the election of 1824? How was it resolved?
  1. How did voting rights change by 1828?

Document 2 Question(s):

  1. Why did Jackson win in 1828?
  1. What is the spoils system?

Document 3:

  1. Why did Jackson remove the Native Americans from lands in the South?
  1. How did the Cherokee respond to the Indian Removal Act? What were the results?

Writing Assignment:

Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, answer the following question in the form of a short essay (of at least one paragraph) using the question answers, documents, claims and evidence from above:

  • Inquiry Question: What is the main idea, issue or theme that ties these documents together? What evidence can you offer to support this idea, issue or theme?(What is one thing that all the documents have in common? How do you know this?)