History Study Guide free essay sample

What is the difference between republicanism and democracy? Republicanism: rule by property-owning men of talents and virtue. By 1820s and ‘30s, Democracy: The majority should govern was a fundamental maxim in all free gov. ’s. United ordinary Americans in election fever and party organizations, they held together a social order increasingly fragmented by the economic revolution. Promoted political parties that could debate political policies. 3. Who formed the traditional wealthy notables in America? Northern landlords, slave-owning planters, and seaport merchants. 4. What challenges to the traditional political order arose in the Midwest? Social egalitarianism became important to the masses as small farmers and ambitious laborers in the Midwest became sick of being underrepresented and seemingly thought of as servants. 5. What were some of the democratic trends in the North? (1810-ish) Condemnation of property qualifications led to democratic change allowing broad franchise concerning property owning. Between 1818 and 1821, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and NY all wrote new constitutions that reapportioned legislative districts on the basis of popilation and made local governments more democratic by mandating the election—rather than the appointment—of judges and justices of the peace. 6. Summarize the make up and work of the new political â€Å"machines† They were a coherent legislative program. As the push for democracy developed, political parties became inherent, and by the 1820s were highly developed and disciplined organizations managed by pro politicians—often mid-class lawyers and journalists. Like a well-designed textile loom, they were machines that wove the diverse interests of social and economic groups into elaborate tapestry. 7. Who was Martin Van Buren and what did he do? Chief architect of the emerging system of party government. Between 1817 and 1821 he created the first statewide political machine—the Albany Regency. A decade later he organized the first nationwide political party: Jacksonian Democrats. Disagreed with the republican principle that political factions were dangerous to the common wealth and argued the opposite: â€Å" All men of sense know that political parties are inseparable from free government† because they check the gov. ’s ability to use/misuse power. Most importantly, he created the idea of using media (the Albany Argus) to help get people to vote and Patronage: Van Buren and his followers had greater interest in the gov. than notables. He insisted that state legislators follow the dictates of a party meeting, or caucus. 8. Who was Henry Clay and what was his American System? A presidential candidate in the election of 1824 running against Jackson. His American system was an integrated program of national economic development that relied on the 2nd Bank of the US to regulate state banks and advocated the set of tariff revenues to build roads and canals. 9. What was Andrew Jackson’s appeal? He was a war hero from the War of 1812, and had a wave of nationalistic pride that flowed towards him. He also had strong tied to influential families through marriage and his career as an attorney and slave-owning cotton planter. He also had risen from average to hero, which fit the democratic ideal of America, and his image as a â€Å"plain solid republican† attracted voters in all regions. 10. What was the â€Å"corrupt bargain†? Henry Clay had assembled a coalition in Congress that voted Adams into the presidency, and through that, Adams had then appointed him Secretary of State, the traditional stepping stone to the presidency. Clay was then accused of using the power of the executive to thwart the popular will. Jackson supporters likewise claimed that Clay had made a deal with Adams to become sec. f state. Condemning this â€Å"corrupt bargain† they vowed that Clay would never become president. 11. Why did the South call the Tariff of 1828 the â€Å"Tariff of Abominations†? The tariff raised duties on raw materials, textiles, and iron goods. It thus enraged the southern planters because their raw cotton was the world’s cheapest, so they needed no tariff o continue profi ting. It simply cost them $100 milly every year. Planters could either buy higher-cost American textiles and iron goods or buy form Britain. 12. Who liked and who didn’t like the American System and why? Manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and market-oriented farmers in the northeast and Midwest welcomed the policy. However, southern planters disliked the system because the opposed protective tariffs, and smallholding farmers despised it because they feared powerful banks. Jeffy, on his death bed, condemned Adams for promoting a more powerful central government. Other politicians objected to the system on constitutional bounds; they didn’t like that federal money, as opposed to state money, went into transportation infrastructure. 13. How was Adams politically vulnerable? His political style was out of date. The last notable to serve in the white house, he acted the part; aloof, moralistic, paternalistic. He lost popularity by disvaluing the masses and ignoring them, looking for support only from elected officials. 14. What various interest groups did Van Buren put together for the election of 1828? He united northern farmers and artisans (the plain Republicans of the North) with the southern slave-owners and smallholding farmers who had voted for the Virginia Dynasty. John C. Calhoun, Jackson’s vice-presidential running mate, brought his SC allies into the group as Van Buren’s group as well. He also proposed the state politician’s use of newspapers for campaigns, and it became massive. In NY 50 newspapers declared their support for Jackson on the same day. 15. Read Republican Majesty (p. 331) and summarize the scene at Jackson’s inaugural There was a mutual respect between Jackson and his people. They remained silent at will in honor of him to allow him to take oath, and he repeatedly bowed to them, demonstrating his democratic ideals of equal rights and popular rule; the people ruled him as much as he ruled them. 16. What was the spoils system? A system that used patronage to gain political support. Jackson dispensed and rotated government jobs both to gain support for himself and his friends/political programs, and also to encourage political activity among the masses, as any number of educated regular citizens could have the opportunity to be a part. 17. What was South Carolina’s Ordinance of Nullification and what was its connection to the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions? The state of SC declared the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void, and forbade collection of them after Feb 1, 1833, threatening secession if the federal bureaucrats tried to collect them. It is similar to the resolutions of Kentucky and Virginia in 1798, when they too declared state power over federal power to the Alien and Sedition Acts, outlawing them in the respective states. 18. Summarize Jackson’s resolution of the dilemma? Jackson DID want to limit the reach of the national government, just like SC, Virginia, and KY, but he renounced the radical redefinition of the constitution suggested by VP John Calhoun. He declared that nullification violated the Constitution and was unauthorized by its spirit and destructive of the great object for which it was formed. Disunion by armed force is treason, he warned. He then passed a Force Bill in early 1833 that authorized the prez to use military force to compel SC to obey national laws. He also won passage to a Tariff Act that was different than the Tariff of Abominations because it gradually reduced rates and would eventually return to normal. 19. What role did the Bank of the U. S. play to prevent inflation? It collected notes regularly from state banks and in return gave out specie, reducing the amount of paper money that states printed, thus reducing the risk of inflation. 0. Who opposed the Bank? Average citizens didn’t necessarily oppose it, but they feared an institution powerful enough to shut down state banks and leave them with worthless notes. NY bankers opposed it because they didn’t like the financial power the bank and its leader, Nicholas Biddle, had gained. Some state bankers wanted the specie to be owned by the federal government to be deposited in their institutions rather than in the 2nd Bank. 21. How did Jackson use constitutional arguments, revolutionary rhetoric and patriotism to justify his veto of the Bank Bill? He declared Congress had no constitutional right to charter a national bank, which was subversive of the rights of the States. † Rhetoric: attacked the bank as dangerous to the liberties of the people. Evoked patriotism by pointing out that British aristocrats owned much of the banks stock; any such powerful institution should be â€Å"purely American,† he declared. 22. What was Jackson’s next move on the Bank and what was the response from his opponents in Congress? His attack on the bank carried him to reelection in 1832. Jackson hired Roger B. Taney, a strong opponent of corporate privilege, to withdraw the government’s gold and silver form the 2nd Bank and deposit it in state institutions. Pissed Congress off because it was basically illegal for Jackson to do so, but he claimed his reelection showed the people wanted to wage a â€Å"bank war. † He ended up fighting Congress well enough to not allow the bank to be re-chartered after it expired in 1836. Basically Jackson eliminated both the national banking system and the American System of protective tariffs and internal improvements favored by JQ Adams and H Clay. The federal government thus lost power and purview. 3. What were the provisions of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and what was the Indian response? Granted money and land in present-day Oklahoma and Kansas to Native Americans who would give up their ancestral holdings. Many Indian peoples refused to leave their land, but were forced by threats and even military action, such as what was used against Chief Black Hawk and his Sauk and Fox followers. 24. What were John Marshall’s opinions regarding the Cherokee? He claimed they were not an independent nation, declaring that Indian peoples were domestic dependent nations. 25. What was the Trail of Tears?