ANDREW JACKSON AND
THE PRESIDENCY: PART 2
The Trail of Tears:
Richard Lindneux, 1942
Unit
Overview
Early
in his presidency, Andrew Jackson refused to permit states to nullify federal
laws and made it clear that he would preserve the Union at all cost. As his administration continued, he opened up
thousands of Native American lands to white settlers, destroyed the Second
National Bank of the United States and expanded the power of the executive
branch. Although Jackson saw himself as
the champion of the common man, thousands of Native Americans suffered as a
result of his policies. His economic
decisions led to instability and helped to create the Panic of 1837. Through it all, Jackson’s popularity with the
American electorate remained high. Let’s
see how it all happened.
The Indian Removal
Act
While
the United States continued its expansion westward, over 125,000 Native
Americans still lived on lands east of the Mississippi River. The Five
Civilized Tribes, including the Cherokee,
Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw and Choctaw, had developed farming
societies with successful economies in parts of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi
and Florida by the 1820s. U.S. citizens
in these states wanted the federal government to relocate the Five Civilized
Tribes. They proposed that the Native
Americans be moved to the Southwest.
Because land in that section of the country seemed unsuitable for
farming, few white Americans chose to settle there. Because he was a frontiersman himself,
Jackson supported this plan. He
explained his position in the passage quoted in the graphic below.
In
1830, Congress passed and President Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. The law
permitted the federal government to pay Native Americans to go west. When federal officials arrived to negotiate
the agreements, most Indians felt that they had no choice but to accept the
government’s offer. In 1834, Congress
set aside land in modern-day Oklahoma for
Native Americans who left the eastern United States. This region became known as the Indian Territory.
Go to Questions 1 through 4.
The
Cherokee Nation
The
Cherokees living in Georgia,
however, were determined not to give up their land. They had negotiated several treaties with the
United States since the 1790s. Through
this process, the federal government had recognized the Cherokee people as a
separate nation with their own laws. Georgia’s
white American population easily disregarded this fact. The Cherokees hoped to keep their lands by
adopting American ways. They built
houses similar to those of white settlers, wore American-style clothing and
published their own newspaper in two languages.
This did not impress the people of Georgia. With the support of President Jackson, the
state stepped up its demands for the removal of the Cherokees after gold was
discovered on Native American land in the mid-1820s.
The
Cherokees tried to maintain their hold on the property by working through the
U.S. court system. They sued the state
of Georgia in the case of Worcester v Georgia, which reached
the Supreme Court in 1832. The Supreme
Court ruled that Georgia had no legal authority over the Cherokees because the
United States government had recognized the tribe as a separate nation within
the state. This, too, failed to impress
the people of Georgia.
In
spite of the Supreme Court’s ruling, President Andrew Jackson continued to back
Georgia’s efforts to relocate the Cherokees in the Indian Territory. As a last resort, the Cherokees, religious
groups and various organizations wrote letters of protest, also called memorials. They were usually addressed to President
Jackson, Congress or the people of the United States. Although they had little impact on the
decisions that were made, these letters, which were sometimes printed in
newspapers or magazines, help us to understand the Cherokee viewpoint. Read the excerpt from one of these memorials
quoted in the graphic below.
Go to Questions 5 through 8.
The
Trail of Tears
In
1838, General Winfield Scott with an
army of 7,000 U.S. soldiers arrived to remove the Cherokee from their homes and
escort them west. He told them that his
troops were prepared to prevent any attempt to escape. Recognizing that fighting would likely result
in their total destruction, the leaders surrendered, and the Cherokees began
the long journey to the Indian Territory.
Bad weather and a lack of food claimed thousands of lives along the
way. Over 4,000 members of the tribe, a
figure that represented one-fourth of the Cherokee nation, died on what
historians called the Trail of Tears.
Learn more about the Trail of Tears by watching the video listed below.
Trail of Tears
By
the 1840s, only a few scattered groups of Native Americans lived east of the
Mississippi River. American Indians had
relinquished more than one million acres of land to the federal
government. In return, they received 32
million acres in the West where they lived divided by tribes on reservations. The Five Civilized Tribes settled in the
eastern half of Oklahoma. They farmed,
built schools and developed their own governments. They also created a police force called the Lighthorsemen. This group made arrests, carried out
sentences and kept the peace in the region.
Peter Pitchlynn:
One of the Early Leaders of the Lighthorsemen
Go to Questions 9 and 10.
Jackson’s
Bank War
Even
before he became president, Andrew Jackson had questioned the need for the Second Bank of the United States. Although the Supreme Court had ruled that the
establishment of a national bank was constitutional through the implied powers,
Jackson and many others disagreed. President
Jackson argued that the bank had become too powerful and only benefitted the
wealthiest Americans. The bank’s
president, Nicholas Biddle, represented
everything Jackson disliked. He was from
a wealthy family, had a good education and considered proper manners essential.
As
the election of 1832 approached, Jackson’s political opponents hoped he would
not win a second term. Henry Clay and Daniel Webster thought that the bank just might be the key to
Jackson’s defeat. The charter of the
Second Bank of the United States was set to run out in 1836. Thinking that the Bank was reasonably popular
with voters, Clay and Webster decided to make it an election issue by convincing
Biddle to apply for the charter’s renewal a few years early. Congress passed the bill to renew the Bank’s
charter, and President Jackson vetoed it as predicted. Henry Clay, the National Republican candidate
for the presidency in 1832, thought Jackson’s veto would carry him into the
White House. His party used political cartoons like the one pictured below in
hopes of swaying public opinion.
National
Republican Campaign Poster: 1832
Many
voters, however, agreed with Jackson’s position on the Bank. Although the Bank had willing given loans to
northern factory owners, the institution had frequently refused to lend money
to western farmers and southern planters.
When Americans went to the polls, Jackson easily won the popular vote
and the electoral vote. His friend and
business associate, Martin Van Buren,
was elected as vice president. Learn
more about the national bank issue by viewing the video listed below.
Once
re-elected to a second term, Andrew Jackson was determined to finish off the
Second National Bank of the United States.
First, he removed all federal funds from the Bank; then, he placed the
money in smaller banks, called pet banks,
around the country. When the charter
actually came due in 1836, Jackson refused to sign it, and the Second National
Bank of the United States officially closed.
Go to Questions 11 through 14.
Here
Come the Whigs
President
Jackson believed that he was elected by the nation as a whole. Therefore, he thought that he spoke for all
Americans when he vetoed the bank charter, supported the relocation of Native
Americans and took a strong stand during the Nullification Crisis. His actions strengthened the power of the
executive branch and convinced many Americans that their votes counted. In other words, presidential decisions
actually affected people’s lives and livelihoods. Although he remained a
popular president, Andrew Jackson made political enemies by taking a strong
stand on these issues. This led to the formation the Whig Party, a new political group composed of former National
Republicans and those who disliked Jackson. They favored high protective
tariffs, improvements in transportation paid for by the federal government, and
a national bank. You may think that Whig
was an odd name for a political party.
The video below explains why the name was chosen.
Andrew
Jackson decided to follow the two-term precedent and chose not to run for a
third term in 1836. At their national
nominating convention in Baltimore, Maryland, the Democrats nominated Vice
President Martin Van Buren as their presidential candidate. The Whigs, on the other hand, followed a
different strategy. They hoped to split
the vote by running several candidates and by winning the election in the House
of Representatives. Jackson’s popularity
and support helped Van Buren to defeat the Whig contenders easily, and he was
inaugurated as the country’s eighth president in 1837.
Go to Questions 15 through 17.
The
Panic of 1837
Shortly
after President Van Buren took office, the United States experienced a serious
economic depression. A depression occurs when business slows
down, and many workers lose their jobs.
When people cannot earn wages, they are unable to spend money. This makes conditions for business even worse. The Panic
of 1837 started the downward spiral of the U.S. economy. When land values began to decline, Americans
stopped investing in real estate. Businesses closed, and thousands of workers
were unemployed. When customers were not
able to make the payments on their loans, banks failed. In the South, cotton prices fell, and some
planters lost their land. President Van Buren believed that the country’s
economic troubles would resolve themselves, but the effects of the Panic of
1837 dragged on. The video listed below
describes seriousness of the financial crisis and its impact on Van Buren’s
political career.
Believing
that the financial situation was about to improve, the Democrats nominated
President Van Buren for a second term in 1840. The Whigs saw this as an
opportunity to win the presidency. They
nominated William Henry Harrison for
the office with John Tyler, a
Virginia planter, as the vice presidential candidate.
The Election of 1840
Harrison
was nationally known for his heroic exploits at the Battle of Tippecanoe during
the War of 1812. The Whig Party reminded
the public of Harrison’s war record by using the slogan, “Tippecanoe and Tyler,
too.” To attract western voters, the
Whigs adopted the log cabin as their party’s symbol. They used it to such an extent that the
effort to elect Harrison became known as the log cabin campaign. It
worked, and William Henry Harrison became the first Whig president.
Harrison Campaign Poster: 1840
President
Harrison was inaugurated on March 4, 1841, but, one month later, he was the
first president to die in office. Vice President
John Tyler was sworn in as the new chief executive. The Whigs soon discovered that President
Tyler did not share many of their goals for the country. For example, he vetoed their bill passed by
Congress to re-charter the Bank of the United States and was a strong supporter
of states’ rights. At the same time, congressmen who were members
of the Whig Party usually put the interests of their section, North, South or
West, ahead of the party’s aims. After
the presidential election of 1844, the Whigs would once again find themselves
out of power.
Go to Questions 18 through 20.
What
Happened Next?
Throughout
the Jacksonian Era, the expansion of the American frontier advanced steadily
westward. By 1840, it had reached the
Missouri and Arkansas Rivers. Many
Americans crossed the Great Plains in search of new lands to settle and
established homes in Oregon, Texas, Utah and California. This resulted in disagreements with the
nations that also claimed these lands.
Most U.S. citizens, however, believed that it was their national destiny
to occupy the entire North American continent.
Before examining how this philosophy impacted the history of the United
States, review the names and terms found in Unit 25; then, answer Questions 21
through 30.
Go to Questions 21 through 30.
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| Unit 25 Andrew Jackson |
| Unit 25 Trail of Tears |
| Unit 25 What's the Big Idea? Worksheet |