New England Hate Adams example essay topic

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Chapter 13 Notes Mike Kuritzky P. 1 11-01-02 1. During this time a major shift about the idea of democracy took place. Democracy began to become respectable and the idea of aristocracy was becoming despicable. This new democracy was based on the idea of universal white manhood suffrage, and did not include the property requirements of the past. The common man was moving to the center stage and all decisions made would be made by the average person. During this time there were some major political issues going on.

The issues were the resounding growth of the market economy, the panic of 1819 and moreover the Missouri compromise of 1820. The people of the country were becoming more involved in politics by this increase in the market economy, which led people to understand how banks, tariffs, and internal improvements affected their lives, and they began to act. 2. The four candidates in the election of 1824 were Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William Crawford and Henry Clay. The campaigning was interesting. Jackson had the strongest personal appeal, especially in the west mostly because he appealed to the idea of the salvation of republicanism from the clutches of the caucus.

The accusation of the corrupt bargain was because under the special conditions of this election the house of representatives was to choose the president. Clay, than the speaker of the house supposedly made a deal with Adams. Shortly after Adams was elected president and quickly gave the prize of Secretary of State to Clay. These were only accusations though because no official documentation could prove the validity of the accusations. 3. John Quincy Adams was frigidly austere.

He despised people, he was a closeted thinker rather than a politician (in fact, he hated politicians). He was also irritable, sarcastic, and tactless. Adams antagonized certain groups and people by refusing to oust efficient officeholders to make room for his supporters. He also refused to see that the popular tide was turning away from nationalism and towards sectionalism and this made people go nuts.

Adams land policy also antagonized westerners. 4. The tariff of 1828 or the tariff of abomination was a plan the south employed to make New England hate Adams, and therefore secure the president's office in the next election in favor of Jackson. The tariff proposed a tax of 48% on imports. Contrary to what the south thought, New England swallowed hard and accepted the tax for they thought that if they turned down protection now that it might be taken away later. What the south didn't realize was that in the long run this was now bad for them.

They didn't see that if New England manufacturing expands than they would make more money by selling their products and raw materials to New England. The reason this tariff was such a big deal to the south was that they became afraid that if the Northern congress will impose this obviously unjust tax then they may, one day, impose the banning of slavery. 5. The southerners felt that this tariff discriminated against them because this tax limited the amount of money that they could make, and increased New England's profits.

The tax was only on imports so if the South exported raw materials they could get a certain amount of money for it. But if they tried to buy something from out of the country they would have to pay the price of the goods PLUS 48% more on top of it just so the domestic manufacturers wouldn't go broke. John C. Calhoun wrote the South Carolina Exposition (although he kept his identity secret at the time). This pamphlet boldly denounced the new tariff as unjust and unconstitutional.

It also proposed that the states should nullify the tariff within their borders. He wrote it in hopes of salvaging the union by quieting the fears of those forces that he believed would destroy it. 6. The election of 1828 was an incredible one.

Jackson won by a huge majority and was placed into office. Some major changes were happening during this time. One was the idea of the common man having power came into place, the increased turnout of voters proved that the common people now had he vote and the will to use if for what they wanted. Prior to this time America had been rules by aristocratic people, Jackson's victory accelerated the transfer of national power from the countinghouse to the farmhouse. Jackson as a person was the new West.

He was the jack of all trades, he was extremely individualistic, he was also opportunistic and moreover he showed the west's directness and its prejudices. As a president he was suspicious of federal government. He was friendly to the democracy being created in cities across America, but most of all he insisted on preserving the Union and the ultimate power of the federal government over the individual states. His inauguration was symbolic in the sense that it represented the ascendancy of the masses, all common men poured onto the presidential lawn to watch one of their own become Mr. President. 7. The spoils system was the process of rewarding political supporters with public offices.

Under Jackson this system was introduced on a large scale. Jackson also implemented the idea of "rotation of office" or the idea that as many people, as possible should hold public office because it was valuable training for citizenship. Jackson's kitchen cabinet was a bunch of people that were virtually useless, excluding the magician Martin Van Buren. This cabinet included 13 ever-shifting members that met very informally with the president on very random occasions. The Eaton affair was the one singular thing that wrecked the cabinet. Peggy Eaton was a woman that was ostracized and chastised by the wives of the community, especially Calhoun's wife.

Jackson, believing that his own wife died from this type of situation, tried to force the acceptance of Eaton. When the dust settled Calhoun and all his followers were thrown out of Jackson's cabinet in 1831.8. Sectional passions flared up immensely during the Webster-Hayne arguments. In late 1829 a New England senator proposed a resolution limiting the sale of public land in the West. The passion flared up when the Western Senators jumped to defend their interests. Robert Hayne of South Carolina was their main spokesman, he dazzled the senate by speaking of New England's disloyalty to the Union during the war of 1812, and the inconsistency of the tariff.

Daniel Webster came to the defense of New England by recalling the idea that the people of the United States wrote the constitution, not the states themselves. 9. Jackson, during a Jefferson Day banquet toasted to "Our union: It must be preserved!" Than, although stunned, Calhoun replied "The union, next to our liberty, most dear!" Jackson meant that the union is the most important thing in the eyes of man and that they should be ready and willing to give up anything and everything needed to preserve it and help it grow. Calhoun, on the other hand, states that the union is very important, but not nearly as important as the rights of the people. This in turn supports his argument of nullification, that if a law is infringing upon our liberties, forget the union and act to rid yourself of them.