the partisan conflicts preliminary to the overthrow of the Adams faction in 1828.
During the suspension of commerce by the War of 1812, huge amounts of capital were withdrawn from trading ventures and diverted to manufacturing establishments, with the result that gradually New England and the Northern coast States ceased to be free-trade regions, and became desirous of a protective tariff policy, while the South arrayed itself on the side of free trade. Upon the return of peace, the new manufacturing establishments were not firmly enough established to compete successfully with the foreign manufacturers, and accordingly in 1824 an act was passed for the purpose of giving the control of the home market to the wool manufacturers. This failing of its purpose, a national convention of protectionists at Harrisburg, Pa., in July, 1827, advocated a strongly protective policy, and in 1828 a tariff framed in accordance with these views became law. The South denounced this measure as being sectional legislation, intended to benefit New England and the Middle States at the expense of the South, and the doctrine of Nullification (q.v.), which had been promulgated in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 (see Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions), and had been revived in South Carolina in 1827, began to be widely accepted in the Southern States. Adams's administration was further marked by the expenditure by the National Government of some $14,000,000 for ‘internal improvements;’ by the rapid immigration to the West, greatly promoted by the opening of the Erie Canal; and by the debates in Congress over the advisability of sending delegates to the Panama Congress (q.v.). In 1828 the Democratic candidate for President, Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, received 178 electoral votes to 83 cast for John Quincy Adams; and John C. Calhoun was reëlected Vice-President, having 171 electoral votes. The accession of President Jackson was the beginning of a new era in political practice. A radical change was typified by the discontent with the existing methods, which led to the more direct participation of the public at large in political affairs through the rise of the nominating convention and through the practice of choosing Presidential electors by popular vote. This marked departure toward practical democracy was emphasized by the striking influence which the new Western States and their ideals and standards of life now secured over national politics.
XI. and XII. Administration of Andrew Jackson (1829-37). Cabinet.—Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren, New York, March 6, 1829; Edward Livingston, Louisiana, May 24, 1831; Louis McLane, Delaware, May 29, 1833; John Forsyth, Georgia, June 27, 1834. Secretary of the Treasury, Samuel D. Ingham, Pennsylvania, March 6, 1829; Louis McLane, Delaware, August 8, 1831; William J. Duane, Pennsvlvania, May 29, 1833; Roger B. Taney, Maryland, September 23, 1833; Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, June 27, 1834. Secretary of War, John H. Eaton, Tennessee, March 9, 1829; Lewis Cass, Michigan, August 1, 1831; Benjamin F. Butler, New York, March 3, 1837. Secretary of the Navy, John Branch, North Carolina, March 9, 1829; Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire, May 23, 1831; Mahlon Dickerson. New Jersey, June 30, 1834. Attorney-General, John M. Berrien, Georgia, March 9, 1829; Roger B. Taney, Maryland, July 20, 1831; Benjamin F. Butler, New York, November 15, 1833. Postmaster-General,[1] William T. Barry, Kentucky, March 9, 1829; Amos Kendall, Kentucky, May 1, 1835.
The bold, decisive, and impetuous character of President Jackson was shown in a general removal of those, down to small postmasters and tidewaiters, who had held office under the late Administration, and in the appointment of his own partisans. The administration was distinctively one of conflict, the chief issues being the United States Bank and the tariff; and Jackson was swayed throughout, to a considerable extent, by the influence of a group of friends, who became known collectively as the ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ (q.v.). South Carolina declared the high protective tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 to be unconstitutional, and therefore null and void, and threatened to withdraw from the Union if an attempt were made to collect the duties on foreign importations. The President prepared to execute the laws by force; Calhoun resigned his office of Vice-President, and in the Senate, to which he was promptly sent, asserted the doctrine of State rights, including the right of secession. (See Nullification.) A collision seemed imminent, but the affair was settled by a compromise bill, introduced by Henry Clay, providing for a gradual reduction of duties until 1842, when they were not to exceed 20 per cent. ad valorem. As an incident of this controversy, though nominally occasioned by a resolution calling for an inquiry into the sale of Government lands, occurred the famous debate (January, 1830) in the Senate between Daniel Webster (q.v.), of Massachusetts, and Robert Y. Hayne (q.v.), of South Carolina, in which the two opposing views regarding slavery, nullification, and the true interpretation of the Constitution were advocated and discussed with such eloquence, learning, and enthusiasm as to make the debate a landmark in the constitutional development of the United States. The same period witnessed the rise of the Anti-Masonic Party, based on opposition to Free Masonry and to secret societies generally. See Morgan, William; Anti-Masons.
The President was a pronounced opponent of the national bank, the existence of which under its second charter was to continue to 1836. Jackson early raised the issue of its constitutionality, whereupon the friends of the bank introduced and carried through both Houses a bill for its continuation. This was vetoed, and its supporters were unable to carry the bill over the veto. The question, however, was made the chief issue in the campaign of 1832, in which the decisive triumph of Jackson was taken by him to be a vindication of his policy and an assurance that he represented the popular will more accurately even than did Congress. The result was still further to strengthen his position and to increase his influence over Congressional action. In the election of 1832 he received 219 electoral votes, as against only 49 for Henry Clay, 11 for John Floyd, of Virginia, and 7 for William Wirt, of Virginia. Martin Van Buren was elected Vice-President, receiving 189 votes.
The Cherokee Indians in Georgia, who had
- ↑ The Postmaster-General first came to be a regular member of the Cabinet in Jackson's administration.
- Vol. XIX.—46.
