November 17, 2011 We are going to start with Andrew Jackson.

Not long after his departure he was seen as unsucceslful, and a failure, but his strident nationalism, one of his defining charechteristics as being the great Nationalist who strengthened the United States. That is how he remained for most of the 20 th Century. He was against the bank of America. He was showed as Charl lepasta- cant be all bad. But his most notable act was the Indian Removal Act(?). This removed thousands of Native Americans, and put them through the death march. This was regarded as a good thing, and it relates to Manifest Destiny. This is the idea that it was a duty for white americans to reach the pacific. By they time of Jacksons elections, there are 2 parties. Democrats/Whigs. These two parties are different, the Whigs are the republicans, who were the federalists, ie madisons American system. The irony, is that Jackson, who believed in states rights was because he made the national government. So he is elected in 1828, but gets office in 1829. So he starts off inheriting the Tariff of 1828. South Carolina calls it a tariff of abomination. This sounds old, but they say that they want to do Nullification. Calhoun backs this legislation, and says states rights, this is an equal contract. The federalist government isnt the controller. States can nullify, just like congress can create. This sounds anachronistic, and the constitution backs us up. However, there were deferncer. One is that the consititution was understood as a contract. This is the most pure form of the southern argument; a state can nullify what it joined. The idea undermines the federal government, if its not stronger than it cannot do anything at all. Jackson says that he is going to take his army, and he isnt a supporter for the tariff. Henry clay, who orchestrated the first compromise, he makes another one here. The tarrif is reduced in the south, to a negligible sum. Soutehrnors pay less. At the same time south Carolina pretends to nullify the force act, which said that congress has the right to enforce the tariff. So south Carolina and the federal government saves face. (1833) all of these compromises just put of the inevitable, this si the introductions to the civil war, nothing is settled things are just compromised. What is interesting is that in retrospect this was seen as a victory for Jackson, if its broken down it seems that Jackson won, because he ordered in the troops. The main Jackson thing is the relationship between state and indian. We start to lose negotiation, and starts becoming dictorial, yet we still see treaties that protect Indians. One fo the most radical changes is the steamship, the Mississippi is forcing Indians out of the lands around the river. The first tribes to be removed had been the most engaged in following the peaceable solution. These are the Chaerokee who even had delegations in congress. Many sought citizenship, yet they occupied the crucial zone. There were dissenting voiced, and many come from American churches. The ones that christainize

the most were angry at was a quite cold and pragmatic policy. Jackson could care less, he doesnt distinguish between tribes, he callse them all squatters and savages. The supreme court agrees under John marshal, and from Georgia to ohklahoma they are kicked out. This is called the trail of tears. There is resistance, and this begins in florida under Osceola, and he was a Seminole leader, and this became the Seminole War. One of the ironic results is that by this point there ahd been several decades since an American engagement and it creates a new generation of indian killer heroes. The objections are pretty much local. Than there is the Bank of The United States. By the 1830s it was pretty conservative, and it was a mainstay of the wig party. Its perceived as a behemoth, people have to have a share in the treasurey, there should be more than one bank. What made this even better (for Jackson) is that Nicholas Biddle runs the bank, and he hates him. Hes from pennsalyvania, and he is making politics personal. Jackson does believe the bank is evil. His argument is that the bank has too much power because it controls the fiscal destiny of the united states. He wants to anaalite it, and that is pretty intense. So he makes the destruction of the bank a political election. He wins, and feels obligated to do what he claimed to. He takes all fo the money out of the bank. All of the state banks were founded by democratic party leaders. There is the expression, to the victor goes the spoils. If you supported Jackson, and he won, you could make a bank and you would makes lots of cash. This is called cronyism on an unimaginable scale. They started calling Jackson king Jackson. He uses lots of congress, and lots fo executive acts to get his will. The question is how far can an executive order extend? Jackson isnt corrupt, there is no evidence that he profited, those surrounding him made tons of money, as did other party leaders. Local banks arent as conservative, they speculate, and that creates the Panic of 1837. This leads to an almost collapse of the economy. So we have to take a step back and ask how successful he was as a president? We can make the case both ways. He did what he wanted. He tmoved the Indians. He opened the land up. Van Buren inherits the issues, and cant get reelected. We will conclude with the 1840s. there is the story of the Amistad, the slaves fought free. The came to the US. The question was, did the US have the right to hold them slaves, and they decided they didnt. this si the first time that the supreme court reckoned with slavery as a legal problem. Are all Africans., by virtue of being Africans

slaves, or do they have to be made slaves. The government takes the side of the slaveowners. Amistad Case