A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 2: Westward Expansion and Civil WarPart 7: John Quincy Adams

QUINCY ADAMS’MAJOR ISSUES

Support for Henry Clay’s ‘American System’

ANDREW JACKSON

• Achieved fame after victory in the Battle of New Orleans, ending the War of 1812.

• Ran for election as President in 1824, promoting what is now called ‘Jacksonian democracy.’

• Favored expanding suffrage (the vote) to all white men, not just white male landowners.

• Promised to increase the settlement of the west by yeoman farmers, believing that it was the destiny of the United States to reach the Pacific.

ANDREW JACKSON

• Promised to reward political supporters with positions of authority in government, a system known as ‘patronage.’

• Generally took a strict constructionist view of the United States Constitution.

• Believed that the federal government should stay out of economic affairs, allowing the economy to run itself.

• Opposed the United States having a national bank.

THE ‘CORRUPT BARGAIN’ OF 1824

• The election of 1824 was a four-way race between John Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford and Congressman Henry Clay. All of them were Democratic-Republicans.

• Adams won the election, despite Jackson’s popularity, because Clay came in last but instructed his supporters to vote for Adams in the Electoral College.

• In return, Adams appointed Clay as Secretary of State. Jackson’s supporters called this a ‘corrupt bargain’ designed to keep Jackson out of the White House.

HENRY CLAY

• House Representative and Senator from Kentucky.

• Strongly opposed Jackson and Jacksonian democracy.

• Known as a great political collaborator and diplomat who could broker compromises between political opponents.

• Was instrumental in brokering the Missouri Compromise of 1820 along with Daniel Webster of Massachusetts and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina.

HENRY CLAY’S AMERICAN SYSTEM

• A high tariff, essentially customs duties, to generate federal revenue and to protect American industries from foreign competition.

• Selling public land at high prices, rather than opening it up to free or government-subsidized settlement, to generate federal revenue.

• Use of revenue from these sources to fund internal improvements (roads and waterways) that would bind the various states together.

• Strengthening of the national bank to stabilize the currency and offset losses from faltering state banks.

THE GREAT TRIUMVIRATE: HENRY CLAY, DANIEL WEBSTER, AND JOHN C. CALHOUN

In a sense, they kept the country politically united,as Webster represented northeastern interests,

Calhoun represented southeastern interests,and Clay represented western interests.

Daniel Webster, Senator from Massachusetts,and John C. Calhoun, Senator from South Carolina, formed a triumvirate of influential dealmakers in the

Congress along with Kentucky’s Henry Clay.

THE FRACTURING OF THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY

When Adams ran for re-election in 1828, he once again faced the overwhelmingly popular Andrew Jackson. Jackson now dominated the Democratic-Republican Party, but he also had many enemies…

THE FRACTURING OF THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY

The remnant members of the Federalist Party who opposed Andrew Jackson joined with the Adams-Clay faction of the Democratic-Republicans, whose members also opposed Jackson.

THE FRACTURING OF THE DEMOCRATIC-REPUBLICAN PARTY

This union of anti-Jacksonians, brought together by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, formed a new political party called the National Republicans. But Adams lost to Andrew Jackson in 1828, and Clay lost to Jackson in 1832…

THE SECOND PARTY SYSTEM (1824-1860)

The Second Party System was characterized largely by the dominance of the Jacksonian Democrats and the Whig Party, and by the disputes between them.

THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN PARTY - John Quincy Adams (1828) - Henry Clay (1832)

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY - Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) - Martin van Buren (1837-1841) - James K. Polk (1845-1849) - Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) - James Buchanan (1857-1861)

THE WHIG PARTY - William Henry Harrison (1841) - John Tyler (1841-1845) - Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) - Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)

A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 2: Westward Expansion and Civil WarPart 7: John Quincy Adams