T h e A m e r i c a n Pa g e a n t

Seventeenth edition

CHAPTER 12
The Rise of a Mass
Democracy,
1824–1840

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I . T H E “C O R R U P T B A R G A I N ” O F 1 8 2 4
(SLIDE 1 OF 4)

• 1824 was the last old-style election

• Four new candidates, all professed to be
“Republicans”:
• John Quincy Adams (Mass.)
• Henry Clay (Kentucky)
• William Crawford (Georgia)
• Andrew Jackson (Tenn.)
• Results of campaign:
• The war hero Jackson had strongest personal appeal,
especially in West
• Polled as many popular votes as his next two rivals
combined, but failed to win majority of electoral vote
(see Table 12.1)
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I . T H E “C O R R U P T B A R G A I N ” O F 1 8 2 4
(SLIDE 2 OF 4)

• Under Twelfth Amendment, such a deadlock

must be broken by House of Representatives
• Select among top three candidates
• Clay as Speaker of the House was eliminated
• Clay could throw his vote to whoever he chose
• Crawford, felled by stroke, out of the picture
• Clay hated Jackson, his archrival in West
• Jackson resented Clay’s denunciation of his Florida
foray in 1818
• Only candidate left for Clay was puritanical Adams

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12.1 Andrew Jackson Greets Supporters, 1829

p254
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TABLE 12.1 Election of 1824
Candidat Electoral Popular Popular
es Vote Vote Percentage
Jackson 99 153,544 42.16%

Adams 84 108,740 31.89

Crawford 41 46,618 12.95

Clay 37 47,136 12.99

Table 12.1 p254

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I . T H E “C O R R U P T B A R G A I N ” O F 1 8 2 4
(SLIDE 3 OF 4)

• Clay and Adams:

• Both fervid nationalists and advocates of
American System
• Clay met privately with Adams and assured him of
his support
• Decision day 1825: on first ballot Adams elected
president
• A few days later Adams announced Clay would be
secretary of state

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I . T H E “C O R R U P T B A R G A I N ” O F 1 8 2 4
(SLIDE 4 OF 4)

• Office of secretary of state:

• Considered a pathway to White House
• Three preceding secretaries had become president
• According to Jackson’s supporters, Adams bribed
Clay with post
• Masses of angry common folk denounced
“corrupt bargain”

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I I . A YA N K E E M I S F I T I N T H E W H I T E H O U S E
(SLIDE 1 OF 2)

• John Quincy Adams:

• Ranks as one of the most successful secretaries of
state, yet one of least successful presidents
• A man of scrupulous honor but entered White
House under charges of bargain, corruption, and
usurpation
• Because he won fewer than 1/3 of voters, he was
first “minority president,” having limited popular
support
• Had achieved high office by commanding respect
rather than by courting popularity
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12.2 President John Quincy Adams (1767–1848),
Daguerreotype by Phillip Haas, 1843

p255
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I I . A YA N K E E M I S F I T I N T H E W H I T E H O U S E
(SLIDE 2 OF 2)

• Refused to oust efficient officeholders to create

vacancies for his supporters
• Nationalist views:
• Most people were moving away from post-Ghent
nationalism and toward states’ rights and sectionalism
• Adams, however, remained an adamant nationalist

• In first annual message, he urged Congress to fund

construction of roads and canals
• Renewed Washington’s proposal for national university

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I I I . L A N D A N D T H E “F I V E C I V I L I ZE D T R I B E S ”
(SLIDE 1 OF 2)

• His land policy antagonized westerners

• White settlement in southeast encroached on
land of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes:
• Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and
Seminole
• They controlled large territories in Georgia,
Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi (see Map 12.2).

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I I I . L A N D A N D T H E “F I V E C I V I L I ZE D T R I B E S ”
(SLIDE 2 OF 2)

• Deemed “civilized” because their ways of life

resembled those of whites
• They practiced agriculture and animal husbandry.
• Some owned slaves.
• Many had adopted Christianity.
• The Cherokee created a written language and
published a newspaper.
• Adams attempted to deal fairly with the
Cherokee but the state of Georgia resisted.

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12.3 Sequoyah (c. 1770–1843) and the Cherokee
Syllabary

p256
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I V. G O I N G “ W H O L E H O G ” F O R J A C K S O N I N 1 8 2 8
(SLIDE 1 OF 2)

• 1828 campaign began on February 9, 1825:

• Day of Adams’s controversial election by House
• And continued for nearly four years
• United Republicans from Era of Good Feeling split:
• National Republicans with Adams

• Democratic-Republicans with Jackson

• Campaign marked by exaggerations and

mudslinging

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12.4 Rachel Jackson

p256
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I V. G O I N G “ W H O L E H O G ” F O R J A C K S O N I N 1 8 2 8
(SLIDE 2 OF 2)

• On election day, electorate split on sectional lines:

• Jackson supporters came from West and South (see
Map 12.1)
• Adams won New England and Northeast

• Middle states/Old Northwest were divided

• When popular vote was converted to electoral vote,

Jackson trounced Adams by 178 to 83
• Jackson’s win represented growing importance of
West

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Map 12.1 Presidential Election of 1828(with electoral vote by
state)

Map 12.1 p257

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V. “O L D H I C KO RY ” A S P R E S I D E N T ( S L I D E 1 O F 2 )

• Carolinian moved “up West” to Tennessee:

• Through intelligence, personality, and leadership,
he became a judge and a member of Congress
• First president from West
• First nominated at formal party convention (1832)
• Second without college education (Washington
was first)

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V. “O L D H I C KO RY ” A S P R E S I D E N T ( S L I D E 2 O F 2 )

• Jackson was unique:

• Had risen from masses but not one of them,
except that he shared many of their prejudices
• A frontier aristocrat, he owned many slaves and
lived in one of the finest mansions in U.S.—the
Hermitage, near Nashville
• Jackson’s inauguration:
• Symbolized ascendancy of the masses
• White House, for the first time, was thrown open

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VI. THE SPOILS SYSTEM (SLIDE 1 OF 2)

• Spoils system—rewarding political supporters

with public office:
• Introduced into U.S. government on large scale
• Jackson defended it on democratic grounds:
• “Every man is as good as his neighbor, perhaps
equally better.”
• Washington needed a housecleaning

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VI. THE SPOILS SYSTEM (SLIDE 2 OF 2)

• Spoils system was less about finding new blood

than about rewarding old cronies:
• Scandal accompanied new system.
• Some, who made large campaign contributions,
were appointed to high office.
• Illiterates, incompetents, and crooks were given
positions of public trust.
• Despite its abuse, spoils system an important
element of emerging two-party order.

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12.5 Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859)

p260
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12.6 Voting in Philadelphia, 1816

p261
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Table 12.2 Voter Turnout by Country, 1840–2008
1840 1900 1960 2008
Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage
of of of of of of
Voting-Age Eligible Voting-Age Eligible Voting-Age Voting-Age
Population* Voters† Population Voters Population Population‡
United 30 (1841) 79 (1841) 34 73 63 58 (2008)
States
United 4 (1842) 58 (1842) 14 (1902) 49 (1902) 77 (1958) 58 (2005)
Kingdo
m
France 7 79 33 (1898) 76 (1898) 68 (1961) 77 (2007)
German – – 26 68 87 72 (2005)
y
Japan – – – – 71 (1958) 67 (2005)
Mexico – – – – – 64 (2006)

Table 12.2 p261

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V I I . T H E T R I C KY “ TA R I F F O F A B O M I N AT I O N S ”
(SLIDE 1 OF 6)

• Problem for Adams and now for Jackson:

• Tariffs protected industry against competition from
European manufactured goods.
• They also increased prices for all Americans.
• Invited retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural
exports abroad.
• Middle states had long supported protectionist
tariffs.
• New Englanders like Daniel Webster abandoned
free trade to back higher tariffs.

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V I I . T H E T R I C KY “ TA R I F F O F A B O M I N AT I O N S ”
(SLIDE 2 OF 6)

• 1824: Congress significantly increased general

tariff.
• Jacksonites supported an even higher tariff bill,
which surprisingly passed in 1828.
• Jackson inherited political hot potato.
• Southerners hated tariffs and branded 1828 one
“Tariff of Abominations.”

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V I I . T H E T R I C KY “ TA R I F F O F A B O M I N AT I O N S ”
(SLIDE 3 OF 6)

• Southerners were angry because

• Believed “Yankee tariff” discriminated against
agricultural South
• Old South was falling on hard times, and tariff
provided convenient and plausible scapegoat
• Tariffs protected Yankee and middle-state
manufacturers.
• Farmers and planters of Old South felt they were
stuck with paying the bill.

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12.7A and B South Carolina Belle Sewing Palmetto
Cockade

p262
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V I I . T H E T R I C KY “ TA R I F F O F A B O M I N AT I O N S ”
(SLIDE 4 OF 6)

• Deeper issues underlay southern outcry:

• Growing anxiety about possible federal
interference with slavery
• Kindled by congressional debate on Missouri
Compromise
• Fanned by aborted slave rebellion in Charleston in
1822, led by free black Denmark Vesey

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V I I . T H E T R I C KY “ TA R I F F O F A B O M I N AT I O N S ”
(SLIDE 5 OF 6)

• Abolitionists might use power of U.S. government

to suppress slavery in South
• Now the time, using the tariff, to take stand
against any federal encroachments on states’
rights
• South Carolinians took lead in protesting against
“Tariff of Abominations”
• Published pamphlet The South Carolina Exposition

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V I I . T H E T R I C KY “ TA R I F F O F A B O M I N AT I O N S ”
(SLIDE 6 OF 6)

• The South Carolina Exposition:

• Secretly written by John C. Calhoun, one of the top
political theorists produced by America
• Denounced 1828 tariff as unjust and
unconstitutional
• Explicitly proposed that states should nullify it—
that is, they should declare tariff null and void
within their borders

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12.8 John C. Calhoun (1782–1850), by John
Trumbull, 1827

p262
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VIII. “NULLIES” IN SOUTH CAROLINA
(SLIDE 1 OF 5)

• Nullifiers—“nullies”:
• Tried to get 2/3 vote for nullification in South
Carolina legislature
• Blocked by Unionists—“submission men”
• U.S. Congress tipped balance by passing new Tariff
of 1832

• Nullification Crisis deepened:

• South Carolina ready for drastic action

• Nullifiers and Unionists clashed in election of 1832

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VIII. “NULLIES” IN SOUTH CAROLINA
(SLIDE 2 OF 5)

• Nullification Crisis (cont.)

• “Nullies” emerged with 2/3 majority
• State legislature called for a special session
• Delegates, meeting in Columbia, declared existing
tariff null and void in South Carolina
• Threatened to take SC out of union if Washington
attempted to collect customs duties by force

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VIII. “NULLIES” IN SOUTH CAROLINA
(SLIDE 3 OF 5)

• Jackson not a big supporter of tariffs, but he

would not permit defiance or disunion:
• Threatened to invade state and have nullifiers
hanged
• Issued ringing proclamation against nullification
• If civil war was to be avoided, one side would have
to surrender, or both would have to compromise

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VIII. “NULLIES” IN SOUTH CAROLINA
(SLIDE 4 OF 5)

• Henry Clay stepped forward:

• Although a supporter of tariffs, he backed
compromise that gradually reduced tariff
• Compromise Tariff of 1833

• Congress also passed Force Bill—authorized

president to use army and navy if necessary to
collect tariff duties

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VIII. “NULLIES” IN SOUTH CAROLINA
(SLIDE 5 OF 5)

• Facing civil war within and invasion from without,

Columbia convention:
• Repealed nullification of tariff
• Then nullified Force Bill

• Neither Jackson nor nullies won clear-cut victory

in 1833
• Clay was true hero

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I X . I N D I A N R E M O VA L ( S L I D E 1 O F 6 )

• Jacksonians committed to expansion west:

• Meant confrontation with 125,000 Native
Americans who lived east of Mississippi
• Federal policy toward Indians varied:
• 1790s, U.S. government recognized tribes as
separate nations and agreed to acquire land only by
formal treaty.
• Many white settlers broke treaties.

• Many other whites felt respect and admiration for

Indians and believed they could be assimilated.

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I X . I N D I A N R E M O VA L ( S L I D E 2 O F 6 )

• In 1878, the Society for Propagating the

Gospel among the Indians was founded.
• The federal government appropriated $20,000 to
promote literacy, agriculture, and vocational
instruction among Indians.

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I X . I N D I A N R E M O VA L ( S L I D E 3 O F 6 )

• Cherokees of Georgia made remarkable efforts to

learn the ways of whites:
• Missionaries opened schools.
• 1808: Cherokee National Council legislated a
written legal code.
• Some Cherokees became prosperous cotton
planters and even slaveholders.
• “Five Civilized Tribes”—Cherokees, Creeks,
Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles

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I X . I N D I A N R E M O VA L ( S L I D E 4 O F 6 )

• Georgia moved to take Cherokee land.

• Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cherokees.
• Jackson, wanting to open Indian lands to whites,
refused to recognize Court’s decision.
• Jackson proposed to remove remaining eastern
tribes.
• Emigration was supposed to be voluntary, but
Jackson's policy uprooted >100,000 Indians.

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12.9 The “Trail of Tears”

p264
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I X . I N D I A N R E M O VA L ( S L I D E 5 O F 6 )

• Indian Removal Act—1830:

• Remove all Indian tribes living east of the
Mississippi (see Map 12.2)
• Heaviest blow fell on Five Civilized Tribes
• Many died during forced migration, most notably
Cherokees along notorious Trail of Tears
• Bureau of Indian Affairs established in 1836

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Map 12.2 Indian Removals, 1830–1846

Map 12.2 p265

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12.10 Black Hawk and His Son Whirling Thunder, by
John Wesley Jarvis, 1833

p265
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12.11 Jackson the “Great Father”

p266
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I X . I N D I A N R E M O VA L ( S L I D E 6 O F 6 )

• Indian resistance in Black Hawk War (1832) in

Michigan Territory crushed.
• In Florida, Seminole Indians joined with runaway
slaves and retreated into Everglades.
• For seven years (1835–1842) waged guerrilla
war that took lives of 15,000 soldiers.
• Seminole resistance broken in 1837 when whites
seized Chief Osceola through treachery.

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X . T H E B A N K WA R ( S L I D E 1 O F 5 )

• Jackson did not hate all banks and businesses,

but he distrusted monopolistic banking and over-
big businesses.
• U.S. government minted gold and silver coins,
but no paper money:
• Paper money printed by private banks
• Value fluctuated with health of bank and amount
of money printed

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X . T H E B A N K WA R ( S L I D E 2 O F 5 )

• Bank of the United States:

• Most powerful bank
• Acted like a branch of government
• Principal depository for government funds
• Controlled much of government’s gold and silver
• Its notes were stable
• As source of credit and stability, it was important
and useful part of nation’s expanding economy

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X . T H E B A N K WA R ( S L I D E 3 O F 5 )

• The Bank was a private institution:

• Bank president Nicholas Biddle had immense and,
to many, unconstitutional power over nation’s
finances.
• To some, bank seemed sin against egalitarian
credo of American democracy:
• Bank won no friends in West because of
foreclosures.
• Profit, not public service, was its first priority.

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X . T H E B A N K WA R ( S L I D E 4 O F 5 )

• Bank War erupted in 1832:

• Charter not to end until 1836, but Clay pushed
renewal to make it an 1832 election issue.
• If Jackson signed it, he would alienate his western
followers.
• If he vetoed it, he would presumably lose
presidency by alienating wealthy and influential
groups in East.
• The recharter bill slid through Congress, but was
killed by scorching veto from Jackson.

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X . T H E B A N K WA R ( S L I D E 5 O F 5 )

• Supreme Court had declared bank constitutional

in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
• Jackson’s veto reverberated with constitutional
consequences:
• Vastly amplified power of presidency
• Argued he vetoed because he personally found
bank harmful to nation
• Thus claimed for president a power equal to 2/3 of
votes in Congress

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TABLE 12.3 Presidential Vetoes, 1789–1837 The early presidents were
cautious in their use of the veto, deferring to Congress as the
supreme legislative authority. Andrew Jackson vetoed more
legislation than the six previous presidents combined. Some
later presidents would veto hundreds of bills.
President Regular Veto Pocket Veto Total
George 2 0 2
Washington
John Adams 0 0 0
Thomas Jefferson 0 0 0
James Madison 5 2 7
James Monroe 1 0 1
John Quincy 0 0 0
Adams
Andrew Jackson 5 7 12

Table 12.3 p. 267

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12.12 In Mother Bank’s Sickroom

p268
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X I . “O L D H I C KO RY ” WA L LO P S C L AY I N 1 8 3 2
(SLIDE 1 OF 3)

• Clay and Jackson were candidates in 1832.

• For first time, a third party entered field—
newborn Anti-Masonic party:
• Became political force in New York and spread to
middle Atlantic and New England states
• Anti-Masons appealed to long-standing suspicions
of secret societies
• Since Jackson was a Mason, the Anti-Masonic party
was also anti-Jackson

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X I . “O L D H I C KO RY ” WA L LO P S C L AY I N 1 8 3 2
(SLIDE 2 OF 3)

• Anti-Masons attracted support from evangelical

Protestants seeking to use government to effect
moral and religious reforms.
• Another novelty of 1832 was national nominating
conventions (three of them) to name candidates.
• Anti-Masons and National Republicans added
formal platform, publicizing positions on issues.

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X I . “O L D H I C KO RY ” WA L LO P S C L AY I N 1 8 3 2
(SLIDE 3 OF 3)

• Advantages for Clay and National Republicans:

• Ample funds, including $50,000 in “life insurance”
from Bank of the United States
• Most newspapers editors criticized Jackson

• Yet Jackson, idol of the masses, easily defeated

the big-money Kentuckian.

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12.13 Fistfight Between Old Hickory and Bully Nick,
1834

p269
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X I I . B U RY I N G B I D D L E ’ S B A N K ( S L I D E 1 O F 3 )

• Its charter denied, Bank of the United States due

to expire in 1836.
• Jackson decided to kill it sooner by removing all
federal deposits:
• He proposed depositing no more funds
• Gradually shrunk existing deposits by using them
to defray day-to-day expenses of government

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X I I . B U RY I N G B I D D L E ’ S B A N K ( S L I D E 2 O F 3 )

• Death of Bank of United States left financial

vacuum and started lurching boom-bust cycle.
• Surplus federal funds placed in state institutions
—the so-called pet banks.
• Without central control, pet banks and “wildcat”
banks were often fly-by-night operations.

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X I I . B U RY I N G B I D D L E ’ S B A N K ( S L I D E 3 O F 3 )

• Jackson tried to rein in runaway economy:

• Authorized Treasury to issue Specie Circular—
1836 decree required all public land be purchased
with “hard,” or metallic, money
• Drastic step slammed brakes on speculative boom
• Contributed to financial panic and crash in 1837

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X I I I . T H E B I RT H O F T H E W H I G S ( S L I D E 1 O F 3 )

• New parties:
• 1828 Democratic-Republicans adopted name
“Democrats”
• Whigs created by Jackson’s opponents
• Hated Jackson and his “executive usurpation”

• First emerged in Senate, where Clay, Webster, and

Calhoun joined forces in 1834 to pass a motion
censuring Jackson for his single-handed removal of
federal deposits from Bank of the United States

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12.14

p271
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X I I I . T H E B I RT H O F T H E W H I G S ( S L I D E 2 O F 3 )

• Others who joined Whigs:

• Supporters of Clay’s American System, southern
states’ righters, northern industrialists and
merchants, and many evangelical Protestants
• Whigs saw themselves as conservative but were
progressive in support of active government
programs and reforms:
• Internal improvements (canals, railroads,
telegraph lines) and support for institutions
(prisons, asylums, public schools)

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X I I I . T H E B I RT H O F T H E W H I G S ( S L I D E 3 O F 3 )

• Other issues for Whigs:

• Welcomed market economy
• By absorbing Anti-Masonic party, they blunted
Democrat’s appeal to common man
• Whigs claimed to defend common man and
declared Democrats were party of cronyism and
corruption

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X I V. T H E E L E C T I O N O F 1 8 3 6 ( S L I D E 1 O F 2 )

• Martin Van Buren of New York:

• Jackson’s choice as successor in 1836
• Jacksonites supported Van Buren without enthusiasm

• Whigs’ strategy—run several favorite sons:

• Each with different regional appeal, hoping to
prevent one candidate from getting majority
• Deadlock would be decided by U.S. House, where
Whigs would have a chance
• Whigs’ favorite son was General William Henry
Harrison of Ohio, hero of Battle of Tippecanoe
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X I V. T H E E L E C T I O N O F 1 8 3 6 ( S L I D E 2 O F 2 )

• Whigs’ scheme failed:

• Van Buren, dapper “Little Magician,” gained office
by popular vote of 765,483 to 739,795.
• Comfortable margin of 170 to 124 votes (for all
Whigs combined) in Electoral College.

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X V. B I G W O E S F O R T H E “L I T T L E M A G I C I A N ”
(SLIDE 1 OF 2)

• Van Buren, eighth president, first one born under

American flag:
• Statesman with wide experience in legislative and
administrative life
• In intelligence, education, and training, he was
above average for presidents since Jefferson

• He labored under severe handicaps:

• As a machine-made candidate, he incurred
resentment of many Democrats
• Inherited Jackson’s numerous and vengeful enemies

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X V. B I G W O E S F O R T H E “L I T T L E M A G I C I A N ”
(SLIDE 2 OF 2)

• His four years overflowed with toil and trouble:

• Two short-lived rebellions in Canada in 1837 caused
incidents along northern frontier and threatened
war.
• Antislavery agitators condemned possible
annexation of Texas.
• Jackson bequeathed to Van Buren a searing
economic depression.

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XVI. DEPRESSION DOLDRUMS AND THE
I N D E P E N D E N T T R E A S U RY ( S L I D E 1 O F 4 )

• Panic of 1837:
• Caused by rampant speculation.
• Speculative craze spread from western lands and
wildcat banks to canals, roads, railroads, and
slaves.
• Jackson’s actions, including Bank War and Species
Circular, gave additional jolt.
• Failures of wheat crops deepened distress.

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XVI. DEPRESSION DOLDRUMS AND THE
I N D E P E N D E N T T R E A S U RY ( S L I D E 2 O F 4 )

• Financial problems abroad hurt America’s

economy when two big British banks failed.
• Hardship was acute and widespread:
• Hundreds of American banks collapsed.

• Commodity prices dropped, sales of public lands fell

off, customs revenues dried up.
• Factories closed and unemployed workers increased.

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12.15 The Long Bill

p272
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XVI. DEPRESSION DOLDRUMS AND THE
I N D E P E N D E N T T R E A S U RY ( S L I D E 3 O F 4 )

• Whigs proposed active government remedies:

• Expanded bank credit, higher tariffs, and subsidies
for internal improvements
• Van Buren spurned these ideas
• Van Buren’s “Divorce Bill:”
• Separate government from banks altogether

• By establishing a so-called independent treasury,

government would lock its surplus money in vaults

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XVI. DEPRESSION DOLDRUMS AND THE
I N D E P E N D E N T T R E A S U RY ( S L I D E 4 O F 4 )

• Van Buren’s divorce scheme never popular

• After prolonged struggle, Independent Treasury Bill

passed in 1840
• Repealed in 1841 by Whigs, scheme reenacted by
Democrats in 1846
• Continued until Republicans instituted network of
national banks during Civil War

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XVII. GONE TO TEXAS (SLIDE 1 OF 4)

• In 1821 Mexicans won independence.

• New regime granted huge tract of land to
Stephen Austin in 1823:
• Promised (1) he would bring 300 American families
to Texas who would be Roman Catholics
• (2) Settlers would be properly Mexicanized
• Two stipulations largely ignored

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XVII. GONE TO TEXAS (SLIDE 2 OF 4)

• Texan Americans about 30,000 by 1835:

• Most law-abiding, but some left States just ahead
of sheriff.
• Among settlers were Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie.
• A latecomer was ex-governor of Tennessee, Sam
Houston.
• Pioneer individualists who came to Texas were not
easy to push around.

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XVII. GONE TO TEXAS (SLIDE 3 OF 4)

• Friction increased between Mexicans and Texans:

• Slavery, immigration, and local rights
• Slavery was particularly touchy topic.
• Mexico emancipated its slaves in 1830 and
banned further importation of slaves into Texas,
as well as further colonization by troublesome
Americans.
• Texans refused to honor these decrees.
• Kept their slaves, and new settlers kept bringing
more slaves into Texas.

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XVII. GONE TO TEXAS (SLIDE 4 OF 4)

• Austin went to Mexico City in 1833 to negotiate

differences:
• Dictator Santa Anna jailed him for eight months.
• Explosion came in 1835, when Santa Anna:
• Wiped out all local rights

• Started to raise an army to suppress upstart Texas

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12.16 Samuel (“Sam”) Houston (1793–1863)

p273
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X V I I I . T H E LO N E S TA R R E B E L L I O N
(SLIDE 1 OF 5)

• In 1836 Texas declared independence:

• Named Sam Houston commander in chief

• Santa Anna with 6,000 men swept into Texas:

• Trapped 200 Texans at Alamo in San Antonio,
wiping them out after 13 days.
• Band of 400 Texans were defeated at Goliad and
then butchered as “pirates.”

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12.17 The Battle of the Alamo, 1836

p274
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X V I I I . T H E LO N E S TA R R E B E L L I O N
(SLIDE 2 OF 5)

• All these operations delayed Mexican advance

and galvanized American opposition:
• Slain heroes Bowie and Crockett became
legendary in death.
• Texan war cries: “Remember the Alamo!”
“Remember Goliad,” and “Death to Santa Anna”

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X V I I I . T H E LO N E S TA R R E B E L L I O N
(SLIDE 3 OF 5)

• Houston’s small army retreated to east:

• Lured Santa Anna to San Jacinto, near site of city
that bears Houston’s name (see Map 12.3)
• 1,300 Mexicans vs. 900 Texans
• On April 21, 1836, Houston, taking advantage of
Mexican siesta, wiped out Mexican force and
captured Santa Anna
• Facing 30 bowie knives, Santa Anna signed two
treaties

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Map 12.3 The Texas Revolution, 1836

Map 12.3 p275

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X V I I I . T H E LO N E S TA R R E B E L L I O N
(SLIDE 4 OF 5)

• Santa Anna agreed to:

• Withdraw Mexican troops
• Recognize Rio Grande as southwestern boundary
of Texas
• After his release, Santa Anna repudiated treaties
because had been extorted under duress
• Americans overwhelmingly favored Texans even
though in 1819 U.S. recognized Spanish control
of Texas in exchange for Florida.

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12.18 Lorenzo de Zavala (1788–1836)

p276
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12.19 West Side Main Plaza, San Antonio, Texas, by
William G. M. Samuel, 1849 (detail)

p277
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X V I I I . T H E LO N E S TA R R E B E L L I O N
(SLIDE 5 OF 5)

• In 1837, departing President Jackson extended

recognition to Lone Star Republic
• Texas petitioned for annexation in 1837:
• United States hesitated because of slavery issue.
• Most settlers to Texas from South and Southwest.
• Many Texans were slaveholders and admitting
Texas to Union meant greatly enlarging American
slavery.

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X I X . LO G C A B I N S A N D H A R D C I D E R O F 1 8 4 0
(SLIDE 1 OF 2)

• Democrats nominated Van Buren

• Whigs nominated only one candidate this time:
• Ohio’s William Henry Harrison, believed to be
ablest vote-getter
• Whigs published no official platform
• Whigs, as result of a Democratic editor’s insult,
adopted hard cider and log cabin as symbols

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12.20 Harrison and Tyler Campaign Kerchief, 1840

p278
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X I X . LO G C A B I N S A N D H A R D C I D E R O F 1 8 4 0
(SLIDE 2 OF 2)

• Harrison was from one of the FFVs (“First Families

of Virginia”).
• Harrison won by surprisingly close margin of
1,274,624 to 1,127,781 popular votes but an
overwhelming electoral margin of 234 to 60.
• Whigs sought to expand and stimulate economy.
• Democrats favored retrenchment and an end to
high-flying banks and aggressive corporations.

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12.21 A and B Martin Van Buren Gags on Hard Cider

p279
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XX. POLITICS FOR THE PEOPLE

• 1840 election demonstrated two major changes in

politics since Era of Good Feelings.
• First, triumph of populist democratic style:
• By 1840s, aristocracy was tainted and democracy
was respectable.
• Politicians forced to curry favor with voting masses.

• Wealthy and prominent had to forsake social

pretensions and cultivate common touch if they
hoped to win elections.

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12.22 The Verdict of the People, by George Caleb
Bingham, 1854–1855

p280
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X X I . T H E T W O - PA RT Y S Y S T E M ( S L I D E 1 O F 3 )

• Second dramatic change was formation of

vigorous two-party system:
• Jeffersonians so successful in absorbing Federalist
programs that true two-party system never
emerged.
• Idea still prevailed that parties = conspiracy and
faction and injured health of virtuous republic.

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X X I . T H E T W O - PA RT Y S Y S T E M ( S L I D E 2 O F 3 )

• Both parties grew out of Jeffersonian

republicanism:
• Each laid claim to different aspects of inheritance.
• Democrats glorified liberty of individual and
guarded against inroads of “privilege” into
government.
• Whigs triumphed natural harmony of society and
were willing to use government to realize
objectives.
• They berated leaders who appealed to self-interest.

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X X I . T H E T W O - PA RT Y S Y S T E M ( S L I D E 3 O F 3 )

• Democrats clung to states’ rights and federal

restraint in social and economic affairs.
• Whigs favored renewed national bank, protective
tariffs, internal improvements, public schools, and
moral reforms (e.g., prohibition, end to slavery).

• Separated by real differences in philosophy and

policy, but had much in common:
• Mass-based, “catchall” parties mobilized as many
voters as possible.
• Social and geographic diversity within each
encouraged compromise and avoided creation of
sectional parties.
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