New
Leaders

The End of Caucus Rule

tective tariff. "There is no foundation," said Webster, "for the distinction which attributes to certain employments the peculiar appellation of American industry; and it is, in my judgment, extremely unwise to attempt such discrimination. . . . Let it be remembered that our shipping employed in foreign commerce has at this moment not the shadow of government protection. It goes abroad upon the wide seas to make its own way, and earn its own bread in a professed competition with the whole world. Its resources are its own frugality, its own skill, its own enterprise." But Clay's American System carried the day; the bill was passed, members from the Middle States and the West for the most part supporting the measure and those from New England and the South for the most part opposing it.

NEW LEADERS AND THE END OF CAUCUS RULE

With the expiration of Monroe's second term the "Virginia dynasty" came to an end, and new leaders appeared upon the scene. There was John Quincy Adams, whom we have seen rendering notable service in the management of foreign affairs. There was William H. Crawford of George, a man of wealth, of large experience in public life, and withal a most astute politician. Then there were Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, three intellectual giants who for more than thirty years were foremost in all the great struggles of American politics. Lastly, there was Andrew Jackson, whose reputation as a soldier had led to his securing a place among statesmen.

With the change in leadership there came a change in the method of nominating Presidential candidates. The old plan of nomination by a congressional caucus (p. 211) was falling into disrepute, and other methods were being adopted. Nominations were made by state legislatures, by mass-meetings, by local conventions. By 1824 even the national convention was foreshadowed, for in that year the voters of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, declared in favor of a convention of delegates from all the States of the Union. They acknowledged, however, that the plan was "impracticable from the

immense extent of our country and from the great expense neecssarily incident to an attendance from the extreme parts of the United States." That the caucus system was dead was made plain by the results of the election of 1824, when Jackson, Clay, Adams, and Crawford all came forward as candidates to succeed Monroe. Crawford, who had been nominated by a congressional clique that called itself a caucus received less than one sixth of the electoral votes.

But if Crawford failed of election so did all the other candidates, for when the electoral votes were counted it was found that Jackson had received ninety-nine, Adams eightyfour, Crawford forty-one, and Clay thirty-seven. Since no candidate had a majority it was necessary under the terms of the Constitution for the House of Representatives to decide between the three highest candidates-Jackson, Adams, and Crawford. As a majority of States was necessary to an election (148) some one of the three had to secure the votes of thirteen States. Clay was ineligible for election; but he could throw his strength where he wished, and he threw it to Adams. When the vote of the House was taken, it was found that Adams was the choice of thirteen States, Jackson of seven, and Crawford of four. Thus Adams, having received the necessary majority of States, was declared elected.

EXERCISES AND REFERENCES

I. The great decisions of the Supreme Court: Babcock, 290-308.
2. The federal judiciary: Forman, The American Democracy, 133-

142.

3. The Missouri Compromise: Turner, 149-171.

4. The Monroe Doctrine: Turner, 199-223.

5. The Holy Alliance: Robinson and Beard, 343-362.

6. Old World intervention: Becker, 108-141.

7. A date for the chronological table: 1823.

8. Summarize the history of the Era of Good Feeling.

9. Give an account of Lafayette's visit to the United States in 1824. What were his objections to the protective tariff? What arguments did Clay urge in favor of the American System? Compare the Monroe Doctrine with the policy adopted in 1793 by Washington relating to foreign affairs. Is the Monroe Doctrine still upheld by public sentiment?

10. Hints for special reading: James Schouler, History of the United States, Vol. III; Frederick Trevor Hill, Decisive Battles of the Law; D. C. Gilman, James Monroe.

Sectional
Rivalries

Jackson's
Quarrel

with

Adams

XXIV

THE JACKSONIAN ERA

The sixteen years 1825-41 may fittingly be called the Jacksonian Fra. For when Monroe went out of office leaving the Era of Good Feeling behind him the country entered upon a period of stormy politics, and Andrew Jackson became the overshadowing figure in public affairs. What influence did Jackson have upon the politics of his time? What were the leading events of the Jacksonian Era?

JACKSON'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST ADAMS

At the time John Quincy Adams entered upon his duties as President (March, 1825), the tide that had been running so strong toward nationalism (p. 252) was ebbing, and troublous waters of sectionalism were beginning to rise. The interests of the North were clashing with the interests of the South, while the West was being neglected and treated with indifference by both the North and the South. The result was that the repose the country enjoyed in the days of Monroe was being disturbed by the rivalries and jealousies of geographical sections; an era of "hard feelings" was following in the wake of the "Era of Good Feeling."

John Quincy Adams.

These bickerings and cross-purposes of sectionalism made the position of Adams difficult enough, but his embarrassments were multiplied by the personal hostility of Andrew Jackson. For no sooner had Adams taken his seat than he found himself the object of Jackson's enmity; and it may be said that the administration of Adams was little else than a

political battle with Jackson and his friends. Adams appointed Henry Clay as secretary of state, and this appointment was at once declared by Jackson's friends to have been Clay's reward for the support he gave Adams in the contest for the Presidency. A corrupt bargain, said the Jackson men, had been made; Clay had helped Adams because Adams had promised to give Clay the highest place in his cabinet. As a matter of fact no evidence has been found to substantiate Jackson's charge. Adams was as honest and as straightforward as any man that ever sat in the Presidential chair, and he was wholly incapable of making a corrupt bargain of any kind. He appointed Clay simply because he thought the Kentuckian would give strength to his cabinet. But Jackson believed that a bargain had been made, and he openly charged Clay with purchasing a cabinet position by making a President.

Candi

date

of the

People

It was not only the alleged bargain between Clay and Adams The that caused Jackson to be dissatisfied with the result of the election of 1824; Jackson had received more electoral votes than any other candidate, and he felt that he was the people's choice. Whether or not he actually was the choice of the people in 1824 cannot be determined, for in some of the States the electors were not yet chosen by a popular vote. But Jackson, feeling that by the election of Adams the will of the people had been defeated, resolved that the people should have their will and that he should be their leader. Early in 1825 he resigned his seat in the Senate and announced himself as Presidential candidate for election in 1828. He at once began a campaign in which for the first time in our history a direct appeal was made to the voters for their support.

Jackson's

As we shall see presently, the campaign of Jackson resulted character in the organization of a new political party and in bringing about a revolution in American politics. What were the characteristics of the man who was to exert such a powerful influence upon his time? "Jackson," says Professor Burgess, "was ignorant and unschooled, indeed, but virtuous, brave, and patriotic beyond any cavil or question; faithful and devoted in his domestic life, absolutely unapproachable by pecuniary

inducements; the best of friends and the most implacable of enemies; quick, hasty in forming his judgments and tenacious beyond expression in holding to them; earnest, terrible in the

inflexibility of his purposes; unflinching and recklessly daring in the performance of what he felt to be his duty; hostile to all gradations of power and privilege; the military hero of the country and a martyr to the persecutions of the politicianshere were certainly qualities to raise the enthusiasm of the masses if not of the classes."

The entrance of such a strong personality into politics was bound to produce a division of parties on personal lines. Soon the old Republican party found itself split into a Jackson party

and an anti-Jackson party. The Jackson men claimed to be Democrats of the old Jeffersonian type, and they called themselves Democrats, but in reality they were simply zealous and devoted followers of their chief. They rallied around Jackson not as a political thinker or even as the leader of a particular party, but as the man whom they trusted and whom the nation could trust. The anti-Jackson men under the leadership of Adams and Clay soon began to call themselves National Republicans, but they, too, cared little for party names or party principles; their only aim was to prevent Jackson from coming into power.

The Jackson men, of course, early directed their attacks against Adams with the view of discrediting his administration and rendering it unpopular. This was not difficult to do, as Adams himself was a very unpopular man. While faithful to duty he was at the same time so cold and stiff in his manner that it has been said of him that at every step he took he made