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Chapter #13The Rise of a Mass Democracy, 1824-1840
Election Day in Philadelphia by John Lewis Krimmel, 1815
Chapter Synopsis: The so-called Era of Good Feelings was never entirely tranquil, but even the illusion of national consensus was shattered by the panic of 1819 and the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Economic distress and the slavery issue raised the political stakes in the 1820s and 1830s. Vigorous political conflict, once feared, came to be celebrated as necessary for the health of democracy. New political parties emerged. New styles of campaigning took hold. A new chapter opened in the history of American politics. The political landscape of 1824 was similar, in its broad outlines, to that of 1796. By 1840 it would be almost unrecognizable. The deference, apathy, and virtually nonexistent party organizations of the Era of Good Feelings yielded to the boisterous democracy, frenzied vitality, and strong political parties of the Jacksonian era. The old suspicion of political parties as illegitimate disrupters of society’s natural harmony gave way to an acceptance of the sometimes wild contentiousness of political life. In 1828 an energetic new party, the Democrats, captured the White House. By the 1830s the Democrats faced an equally vigorous opposition party in the form of the Whigs. This two-party system institutionalized divisions that had vexed the Revolutionary generation and came to constitute an important part of the nation’s checks and balances on political power. New forms of politicking emerged in this era, as candidates used banners, badges, parades, barbecues, free drinks, and baby kissing to “get out the vote.” Voter turnout rose dramatically. Only about one-quarter of eligible voters cast a ballot in the presidential election of 1824, but that proportion doubled in 1828, and in the election of 1840 it reached 78 percent. Everywhere the people flexed their political muscles.
Please provide THREE key points that can be drawn from the chapter synopsis.
KEY POINT #1
KEY POINT #2
KEY POINT #3
Chapter #13The Rise of a Mass Democracy, 1824-1840
#1 The "Corrupt Bargain” of 1824 A Yankee Misfit in the White HousePlease provide relevant factual information drawn from pages 256 to 260
Explain the subheading “A Yankee Misfit in the White House”
#2 Going "Whole Hog" for Jackson in 1828 and “Old Hickory” as President
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from pages 260 to 262
#3 The Spoils System
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 262
Explain the subheading
#4 The Tricky “Tariff of Abominations”
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 262 to263
Explain the subheading
#5 "Nullies" in South Carolina
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 264-265
Explain the subheading
#6 The Trail of Tears
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 265 to 268
Explain the subheading
#7 The Bank War
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 268-270
Explain the subheading
#8 "Old Hickory" Wallops Clay in 1832
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 270
Explain the subheading
#9 Burying Biddle’s Bank
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 271-272
Explain the subheading
#10 The Birth of the Whigs and The Election of 1836
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 250-252
Explain the subheading“The Birth of the Whigs”
OMIT OPPORTUNITY
Ted Widmer: Redeeming Martin Van Buren (42 minutes)
See class index to download
#11 Big Woes for the "Little Magician"
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 273-274
Explain the subheading
OMIT OPPORTUNITY
Ted Widmer: Redeeming Martin Van Buren (42 minutes)
See class index to download
#12 Depression Doldrums and the Independent Treasury
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 274-275
Explain the subheading
#12 Gone to Texas ? and The Lone Star Rebellion
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 275-280
#12 The Log Cabins and Hard Cider of 1840
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 280-
Explain the subheading
#13 Politics for the People and the Two-Party System
Please provide relevant factual information drawn from page 253-254
/ COMMENTS, CONCERNS or CLARIFICATIONS
COMMENTS, CONCERNS or CLARIFICATIONS
COMMENTS, CONCERNS or CLARIFICATIONS
COMMENTS, CONCERNS or CLARIFICATIONS
COMMENTS, CONCERNS or CLARIFICATIONS
COMMENTS, CONCERNS or CLARIFICATIONS
COMMENTS, CONCERNS or CLARIFICATIONS
King Andrew?
Many historians have claimed Andrew Jackson was more of a tyrant than a president. Others state emphatically Jackson was a true representative of the common man. What do you think? Fill in the chart below with information supporting both sides.
Issue / Jackson as a tyrant / Jackson as an agent ofNew Democracy
Vetoing The 2nd National Bank
The removal of the Cherokee nation from Georgia
Support for the Spoils System
Vetoing the Maysville Road
Support for the Tariff of 1828 (Passage of the Force Bill)
VARYING VIEWPOINTS
What Was Jacksonian Democracy?
Frederick Jackson Turner
Arthur M. Schlesinger
Richard Hofstadter
Marvin Myers
Lee Benson
Sean Wilentz
Time Period #4 1800 to 1848