Jacksons Presidency

After the War of 1812 was over a major battle in New Orleans occurred. This battle

should never have taken place, however this event made Andrew Jackson famous for an

astonishing victory over the British. In 1824 Jackson runs for president against John Quincy

Adams. The war hero, Jackson, clearly won the campaign by popular vote. But he did not

receive two thirds of the total electoral vote. Since Jackson and Adams were both so close in the

election the House of Representatives had to choose the top three candidates. Henry Clay was

the candidate which was left out, but, he was a speaker of the House and therefore had the power

to have the election won by his favorite candidate. Clay only saw Adams as a correct choice as

the new president. So Clay strikes up a deal with Adams, if Adams makes him the Secretary of

State Clay will make Adams president. As shady as this seems it was not illegal. This event was

the Corrupt Bargain of 1824. Adams won the election, but his presidency for the next four years

was a failure.

Andrew Jackson began his campaign for the election of 1828 right after Adams won in

1825. During the election of 1828 Jackson and Adams attack each others character and previous

wrong doings. Both sides had brought mudslinging to a new low. However Jackson became the

president during this election. Like most presidents before him, Jackson gave his friends jobs,

spoils system was in effect. Jackson defended the spoils system by saying people in office

should have the same ideas and thoughts so he Adams men had to go. Samuel Swartwout, one of

Jackson’s cronies, was a risky person to put into office. Jackson still put him into office as a sort

of tax collector, Swartwout nine years later had stolen around 1 million dollars from the

government. Adams felt the pain from tariffs and now Jackson felt it. Jacksonites had tried to

pass a high tariff bill for Adams to deal with but the bill was not passed until 1828, and it landed

right on Jackson’s lap. This tariff was known as The Tariff of Abominations and the south hated

it. South Carolinians took the lead in protesting against the tariff of 1828. In the same year John

C. Calhoun, the vice president, secretly wrote a pamphlet entitled The South Carolina

Exposition. The pamphlet stated that the tariff was unconstitutional. Also it purposed that the

states should nullify the tariff. A group of South Carolinians known as the “nullies” tried to get a

two thirds vote to rid the 1828 tariff, but then the tariff of 1832 is passed by Congress in

Washington, and the South still does not like this tariff. The tariff of 1832 pared away some of

the worst abominations of 1828, it was still protective and did not meet the southerners demands.

South Carolina has enough votes to get the tariff of 1832 null in void in their state, and even

threatens to leave the union if attempts to collect the customs duties by force are made. Jackson

was not scared and retaliates, the lines had been drawn. For a civil war to be avoided, one side

had to give up, or both had to compromise. Henry Clay comes up with a compromise bill which

Calhoun and the South favored, so Jackson did not need to resort to guns. At the same time

Congress passed the Force Bill, which authorized the president the use of army and navy