Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - History Other Jacksonian Era Free Response Essay Jacksonian Era Free Response Essay Ever since the second term of George Washington’s presidency, America’s politicians have worked within a two party political system. The first two parties were the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalist Party supported a strong centralized federal government, while the basis of Anti-Federalists political platform was exactly the antithesis. The two party system has survived for so long, because for every idea set-forth there are always those who will argue against it. No one party ever supported the same ideas as those of the other. Between 1820 and 1840, the American political system was in a state of restructuring. Many things contributed to the political changes that took place. People such as John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay and Martin Van Buren provided opportunities and reasons for political recreation. States’ rights, and other economic issues such as the national bank, the protective tariff and Indian removal also caused many politicians to take strongly opposing sides. Many politicians proposed ideas upon which other political pundits strongly split and disagreed. These groups of people with commonly held beliefs developed into structured political parties. The electoral race for president in 1824 was very controversial. Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William Crawford (who died shortly after) went to the House for a final choice to be made as the top 3 candidates. Henry Clay (Speaker of the House) made Adams his choice for the presidency. After Adams took office, Clay was appointed Secretary of State, and there was talk of a corrupt bargain. Jackson was outraged, and even blamed Clay for his wife’s death (due to anxiety) and never forgave him. Jackson became president in 1828, and maintained a very tenacious grip upon presidency. During the time Jackson was president, he increased the power of the Executive Office, while still ensuring the rights of the common man. He believed that no group, class, or agency was entitled to any special political or economic advantage. Though he didn’t believe in special power or privilege, through his use of what he interpreted as his “executive power”, he made many contentious decisions while president. Such actions as the withdraw of federal money from the Bank of the United States (without any amendment of mandate) spurred fervent anti-Jacksonian feelings. Jackson also changed the perception of the presidential veto. It had originally been viewed as something the president could do if he considered a bill unconstitutional. Jackson eventually made it clear that the president could veto a bill on whatever grounds he saw fit. Many saw Jackson’s reign as a tyranny, and strong opposition to Jackson formed. The anti-Jacksonian’s rallied behind what Henry Clay began to call the national-republican party. Clay called for a protective tariff in support of home manufactures, internal improvements (federal aid to local road and canal projects), a strong national bank, and distribution of the proceeds of federal land sales to the states. All of which Jackson was opposed to (vetoing the Maysville Road bill). Clay was strongly disliked to Jackson, and after John C. Calhoun, and other Democrats joined the national-republicans, they united under their contempt of the “king-like” president, and thereafter became known as the Whig Party in 1834. This party modeled itself after the Whig party of late 17th century England, who opposed the tyrannical rule of the Catholic kings. Another man behind the development of political parties during the 1820s – 1840, was Martin Van Buren. Van Buren has been referred to as the first “professional politician.” He was responsible for devising the structure of the modern political party. He also began the distribution of information about the Democratic Party (party newspapers, etc.). Van Buren was responsible for formulating the new campaigning methods which aided in the success of Andrew Jackson elections to the presidency (1828 and 1832). From the beginning of the American governmental system, states’ rights have always been a very divisive issue. It has also produced some of the most zealous antagonism. One such incident involved The Maysville Treaty (internal improvements), which proposed for the federal government to fund a road across Kentucky. This plan was drawn-up and submitted to Congress by Henry Clay. When Jackson saw the bill, he vetoed it with little hesitation, citing that the proposed road was within state boundaries (not interstate) and the federal government had no right to construct it. Again, politicians took opposing sides on the issue. In 1828, the “Tariff of Abominations” was passed (a protective tariff). This time, instead of going along with the tariff, South Carolina declared that they could deem a federal law null and void within their borders. They based their decision on the compact or states’ rights theory, which stated that the states had created the government, therefore they were sovereign, and a state could overrule a federal law within it’s borders. The Webster-Hayne debate (1830) argued the points of both sides. Webster argued the nationalist federal point of view, and articulated the opposition to states’ rights. Hayne argued on behalf of states’ rights supporters. Eventually, the Compromise of 1833 was issued, which lengthened the list of duty-free items, and lowered the tariff over a nine-year period. Along with those, the Force Act was passed, which gave the president the power to call upon the military to occupy posts within a state if needed. Another very prominent issue was slavery. The issue of slavery was clearly split between the North and the South. Over the years, Congress, and the government had tried to avoid the issue of slavery, but when Texas asked for annexation it was brought to the center of attention. Texas was a slave holding state, and for that reason many politicians such as Van Buren didn’t want to allow Texas to enter the United States. Tyler, who ran with Van Buren as the Whig candidate for vice president was a strong supporter of annexation (though this went against the Whig’s ideology). Slavery was the key issue in the decision, and it decisively divided politicians into those who were pro-slavery, and those who were against it. Eventually, after Texas began negotiating with Great Britain, they were annexed by the United States. The times between 1820 – 1840 were times of economic turmoil to say the least. The issue that affected most Americans was that of the National Bank. Before the charter for the bank was supposed to expire, Henry Clay proposed a plan (re-chartering of the bank), which would provide economic stability for the nation. Jackson vetoed the bill on the grounds that the bank was still unconstitutional, and that it was a monopoly that favored the rich. The charter for the bank was supposed to expire in 1836, but instead, Jackson acted on his own accord, and withdrew all federal funds from the Bank of the United States, and placed them into “pet banks” across the nation. Nowhere in the constitution did it give the president the power to do this, but this didn’t stop Jackson from following through, and completing his plan. This action was the catalyst for the creation of the Whig party, who saw Jackson as more of a tyrant then a president. The protective tariff, specifically the “Tariff of Abominations” sparked harsh controversy over the government’s power to tax for the purpose of protecting New England industries (which didn’t affect the South in the least bit). All it did to the South was take money out of their pockets. This later led to the nullification crisis, and the passing of the Compromise of 1833. Another problem that was very controversial was Indian removal. On paper, the Indians were technically a sovereign state, but in actuality no one ever treated then that way. In the court case of Georgia vs. Cherokee Nation (1831), Georgia tried to remove the Cherokee nation from valuable gold mining land. The case ended with the Indians being declared no longer sovereign, so they could be removed. This lead to the Worchester vs. Georgia case (1832), in which Chief Justice Marshall declared that a state could not break a federal treaty. When Marshall looked to Jackson for support, Jackson basically told him that he made the decision, so try and enforce it. Georgia defied the Supreme Court, and met with no consequence. The need for political restructuring only occurs when there are problems with the way the nation is functioning. During the period between 1820 and 1840, the American people were faced with many political and economic hardships. The extreme actions of some politicians, such as Jackson, lead to the formation of new political parties, like the Whigs, which united under their common dislike of the president. Other problems, such as the fluctuating economy changed the needs of the different areas of the country (which thus lead to the change of the political representative’s views). Political restructuring occurred because of all of these changes that directly impacted the American public, and thus prompted the re-emergence of the two party political system. Bibliography: Word Count: 1492
Copyright © 1998-2008 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved. DMCA Notifications and Requests