The Discussion about the Jackson and War - Study Guide | HST 121, Study notes of World History

Download The Discussion about the Jackson and War - Study Guide | HST 121 and more Study notes World History in PDF only on Docsity! HISTORY 121 M01 Lecture 21 Page 1 HST 121 History of the United States till 1877 Lecture 21 TODAY WE WILL BE DISCUSSING THE TOPIC DISCUSSION JACKSON, A POWERFUL PRESIDENT. THIS WILL FOLLOW THE LECTURE IN WHICH WE DISCUSSED THE FACT THAT JACKSON WAS THE CANDIDATE OF THE COMMON MAN. LET'S BEGIN TODAY WITH DISCUSSING THE BANK AT WAR. THE BANK OF THE U.S. WAS A PROPOSAL THAT WENT ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE GEORGE WASHINGTON ADMINISTRATION. ALEXANDER HAMILTON HAD RECOMMENDED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BANK OF THE U.S.. THAT BANK WAS IN EXISTENCE DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JACKSON. THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE BANK OF THE U.S. WAS IN PHILADELPHIA. THE HEAD OF THAT BANK WAS A MAN NAMED NICHOLAS BIDDLE. BIDDLE WAS A CAUTIOUS, CONSERVATIVE BANKER WHO PROBABLY DID A GOOD JOB IN OPERATING THE BANK OF THE U.S.. HE WAS OPERATING A BANK THAT WAS TWENTY PERCENT OWNED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. NOW JACKSON WHO CAME FROM TENNESSEE HAD A WESTERNERS VIEW OF BANKING IN BANKS. IF I USE THE TERM USE CAR SALESMAN YOU HAVE SOMETHING COME TO YOUR MIND. THAT MAY BE VERY UNFAIR. I HAVE A NUMBER OF FRIENDS WHO ARE USED CAR SALESMAN AND ARE FINE PEOPLE. THE TERM BANK AT THAT TIME IN THE WEST MEANT A SCHEMER. JACKSON WAS A WESTERNER. LET ME MAKE SEVERAL COMMENTS ABOUT WHY JACKSON DEVELOPED A HATRED TOWARD THE BANK OF THE U.S.. THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS FOR IT. ONE REASON IS THAT HE WAS FROM THE WEST AND THAT'S THEY WAY WESTERNERS FELT. ANOTHER REASON IS THAT MOST OF THE STOCK WAS HELD BY PEOPLE OF WEALTH FROM THE EAST COAST. THEREFORE IF THE BANK WAS GOING TO MAKE MONEY THAT WEALTH WOULD BE GOING NOT TO THE WEST OR SOUTH. HE FELT THAT THIS WAS AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE THAT WAS GIVEN TO THESE WEALTHY PEOPLE FROM THE EAST COAST. ANOTHER REASON IS THAT HE SAID THE BANK HAD USED IT'S MONEY TO SUPPORT POLITIC IANS RUNNING AGAINST HIM. AND THAT IS TRUE. IN THIS CASE HE WAS THINKING OF HENRY CLAY. HENRY CLAY HAD RECEIVED FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM NICHOLAS BIDDLE. SOME OF THEM RECEIVED LOANS, SOME OF THEM RECEIVED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS. SO THAT WAS A REASON WHY HE WAS NEGATIVE TOWARD THE BANK. ONE LAST REASON IS THAT HE REALLY FELT THAT THE BANK WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. NOW HE WAS DISAGREEING WITH THE SUPREME COURT. HE FELT THAT THE BANK WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. I SUPPOSE IN THIS SENSE HE'S JUST AGREEING WITH JEFFERSON'S POINT OF VIEW. HISTORY 121 M01 Lecture 21 Page 2 SO JACKSON WAS OPPOSED TO THE BANK OF THE U.S.. IN 1832 AT THE END OF HIS FIRST ADMINISTRATION HENRY CLAY DECIDED THAT HE WANTED TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT. HE TRIED TO MAKE THE BANK A MAJOR ELECTION ISSUE. CLAY GOT THE PASSAGE OF A B ILL TO RECHARTER THE BANK IN 1832. ACTUALLY THE CHARTER WASN'T GOING TO RUN OUT TILL 1836 BUT CLAY BROUGHT OUT THIS BILL AND CONGRESS PASSED IT. AT THAT POINT THE PRESIDENT VETOED THE BANK BILL. THUS IN 1832 ONE OF THE MAJOR ISSUES OF THAT ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN WAS THE ISSUE OF THE BANK AND HOW JACKSON HAD TREATED THE BANK. CLAY THOUGHT THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD SUPPORT THE BANK. IT TURNED OUT THAT HE WAS WRONG AND LOST THE CAMPAIGN. JACKSON WAS ELECTED FOR A SECOND TERM. I KNOW THAT SOME OF YOU ARE FROM ST.LOUIS. YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN A LITTLE SIDE STORY ABOUT THIS ELECTION. IN THE 1830'S WE WERE STILL FIGHTING DUALS. WOMEN HAD ENOUGH SENSE NOT TO DO THIS BUT MEN WERE STILL RUSHING OUT TO DEFEND THEIR HONOR. IN 1832 NICHOLAS BIDDLE HAD A BROTHER WHO OPERATED A BRANCH OF THE BANK OF THE U.S. IN ST. LOUIS. WELL OF COURSE THOMAS BIDDLE WAS SUPPORTING HENRY CLAY. THERE WAS A MAN RUNNING FOR CONGRESS IN ST. LOUIS NAMED SPENCER. SPENCER SAID SOME VERY STRONG THINGS ABOUT THE BANK AND NICHOLAS BIDDLE. THOMAS BIDDLE SAID SOME VERY NEGATIVE THINGS ABOUT JACKSON AND THE PEOPLE WHO WOULD SUPPORT HIM. SPENCER CHALLENGED THOMAS TO A DUAL. AT THAT TIME THE PREFERRED PLACE TO FIGHT A DUAL WAS HALFWAY BETWEEN ST. LOUIS AND EAST ST. LOUIS. DO YOU KNOW WHERE THAT IS? THERE WAS AN ISLAND AT THAT TIME. IT WAS CALLED BLOODY ISLAND, IT WAS JUST USED FOR DUALS. SO THEY WENT OUT THERE. NOW THOMAS WAS AN OLDER MEN WHO DIDN'T HAVE VERY GOOD EYESIGHT. THAT IS A BURDEN. SO SPENCER GAVE THE CHALLENGE. THOMAS SAID YES. AND THEN BIDDLE SAID PISTOLS AT FIVE FEET. NOW THAT GIVES A LITTLE BIT OF HELP TO THE OLD MAN WITH BAD EYES. SO THEY WENT OUT THERE THAT MORNING. THE TWO MEN LINED UP AND THEY STOOD BACK TO BACK, MARCHED AND THEN THE SIGNAL WAS GIVEN AND EACH ONE KILLED THE OTHER. IT WAS A LITTLE MISSOURI EPISODE IN THAT ELECTION OF 1832. NOW JACKSON WON THE ELECTION. HE WON IT WITH A NEW VICE PRESIDENT. CALHOUN HAD RESIGNED. CALHOUN DIDN'T WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH JACKSON. CALHOUN HAD RESIGNED AND JACKSON PICKED A LITTLE ROTUND MAN FROM NEW YORK STATE NAMED MARTIN VAN BUREN TO BE HIS PRESIDENT. PROBABLY THE BANK ISSUE HELPED JACKSON. IT HELPED HIM IN THE WEST. SOME OF THE CRITICS CHARGED SEVERAL THINGS. I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU FOUR THINGS THAT THE CRITICS CHARGED JACKSON WITH. NUMBER ONE. HISTORY 121 M01 Lecture 21 Page 5 GROUPS AFFECTED. IN THE PUBLIC MIND THE CHEROKEES ARE PERHAPS EXCLUSIVE. MANY PEOPLE ARE UNAWARE OF OTHER GROUPS THAT WERE AFFECTED BY REMOVAL. WHEN THE JEFFERSONIANS FIRST MOVED INTO POWER IN THE 1800'S A FEW INDIAN GROUPS MOVED WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VOLUNTARY. THIS REMOVAL TOOK PLACE WHEN SETTLERS STARTED PUSHING WEST AGAIN AFTER THE WAR OF 1812. WHEN THE JACKSONIANS CAME INTO POWER THEY TURNED REMOVAL INTO A NATIONAL POLICY WITH THE INDIAN REMOVAL ACT OF 1830 AND THEN TURNED THEIR ATTENTION TO SOME OF THE LARGER TRIBAL GROUPS IN THE SOUTHWEST. THE CREEKS WERE THE FIRST TO BE AFFECTED FOLLOWED BY THE CHEROKEES AND THEN OTHERS. WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS INDIAN REMOVAL POLICY? WELL FIRST REMOVAL POLICY OPENED UP A GREAT EXPANSE OF THE LAND BETWEEN THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. CONSEQUENCES FOR INDIAN GROUPS WERE OFTEN QUITE DISASTROUS. MANY TIMES INDIAN GROUPS WOULD RESIST FORCED REMOVAL OFTEN LEADING TO BATTLES. SO MANY PEOPLE WOULD LOSE THEIR LIVES IN TRYING TO RETAIN THEIR HOMELANDS. IN ADDITION TO THAT INDIVIDUAL CASES SUCH AS THE CHEROKEES WERE INVOLVED. INDIVIDUAL INDIANS WOULD LOSE PROPERTY, HOMES, HOMELANDS. THAT SAYS NOTHING ABOUT THE LOSS OF LIFE. THE TRAIL OF TEARS HAS AN ESTIMATED LOSS OF LIFE AT OVER ONE THOUSAND. THANK YOU DR. FOR COMMENTING ON THIS TRAGIC PART OF AMERICAN HISTORY DURING THE JACKSON YEARS. MY PLEASURE LET'S TURN TO ANOTHER TOPIC. THAT TOPIC IS TOO MUCH MONEY. SPEAKING TO COLLEGE STUDENTS I REALIZE THAT YOU AREN'T TROUBLED BY THIS A LOT. AS AMERICANS YOU AREN'T TROUBLED BY THIS EITHER. IT IS AMAZING THAT THERE WAS A TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY WHEN WE ACTUALLY HAD TOO MUCH MONEY. IT CAME DURING JACKSON'S SECOND TERM. I WANT TO MAKE REFERENCE TO JACKSON'S APPROACH TO MONEY. I WILL POINT TO THREE IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS DURING THIS TIME. WE'VE ALREADY DISCUSSED THE FACT THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAD ENCOURAGED THE BUILDING OF A ROAD THAT WE CALL THE NATIONAL ROAD. IT BEGINS OUT HERE IN MARYLAND AND GOES ACROSS OVER INTO OHIO, INDIANA, AND ILLINOIS. LATER IT IS COMPLETED AND GOES ALL THE WAY TO ST. LOUIS. NOW THAT NATIONAL ROAD WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE LIVING BEYOND THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS. FROM TIME TO TIME THE CONGRESS ADOPTED PIECES OF LEGISLATION TO EITHER BUILD A SECTION OF THAT ROAD OR TO DEVELOP A FEEDER ROAD INTO IT. HISTORY 121 M01 Lecture 21 Page 6 IN THE YEAR 1830 A PIECE OF LEGISLATION WENT TO CONGRESS CALLED THE MAYSVILLE ROAD BILL. NOW THE MAYSVILLE ROAD WAS IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY. IT WAS SAID TO BE A FEEDER ROAD TO THE NATIONAL ROAD. OW YOU KNOW HOW JACKSON DISLIKED CLAY AND HOW CLAY DISLIKED JACKSON. THERE WASN'T MUCH LOVE LOSS BETWEEN THE TWO OF THEM. CLAY WAS FROM KENTUCKY. CLAY WAS SUPPORTING THE MAYSVILLE ROAD. JACKSON HAD BEEN LOOKING FOR AN ISSUE WHERE HE COULD EXPRESS HIMSELF ON THIS WHOLE MATTER OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. HE FOUND IT IN THE MAYSVILLE ROAD BILL. IN THE YEAR 1830 HE VETOED THE MAYSVILLE ROAD BILL. THAT IS CALLED THE MAYSVILLE VETO OF 1830. HE SAID THAT HE WAS SUSPICIOUS OF SUCH A LARGE EXPENDITURE FOR INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. HE THOUGHT IT MIGHT GO TO SOME WEALTHY PEOPLE AND HE JUST COULD NOT ACCEPT THAT LARGE EXPENDITURE FOR THIS PROJECT. HE DIDN'T SAY SO BUT OF COURSE IT DID MEAN THAT CLAY WOULD LOSE THE CREDIT FOR THAT BILL. NOW BY DOING THIS JACKSON EXPRESSED ONCE AGAIN THAT HE WAS PRESIDENT AND HE COULD HALT ANY PROJECT THAT HE WANTED TO, PARTICULARLY IF HE HAD ANY SUSPICIONS ABOUT IT. THE SECOND THING THAT I WANT TO SAY UNDER THIS TOPIC OF TOO MUCH MONEY IS TO DISCUSS THE DISTRIBUTION POLICY. IN THE YEAR 1835 THE U.S. HAD PAID OFF ALL OF ITS DEBTS. WE HAD NO MORE NATIONAL DEBT. IT WAS A GLORIOUS DAY. WE WILL NOT SEE THAT DAY VERY SURE AGAIN. I'M FEARFUL THAT YOU AND YOUR GRANDCHILDREN WILL BE PAYING VERY DEARLY IN THE FUTURE TO TRY TO MAKE INTEREST PAYMENTS ON THE HUGE NATIONAL DEBT. BUT IN 1835 WE HAD PAID OFF THE ENTIRE DEBT. THE QUESTION WAS WHAT WOULD THEY DO NOW? THERE WERE SOME PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH WHO SAID TO CUT THE TARIFF. THE SOUTH ALSO SAID WE OUGHT TO CUT DOWN ON SOME OTHER EXPENDITURES. BUT THE SOUTH SAID CUT THE TARIFF. THE WEST SAID LETS GIVE LAND AWAY IN THE WEST. WELL THERE WAS ENOUGH SECTIONAL DIFFERENCE ON THESE PROPOSALS THAT NEITHER ONE OF THESE TWO WOULD FLOAT. HENRY CLAY SAID TO TAKE THE EXTRA MONEY IN THE TREASURY AND DISTRIBUTE IT TO THE STATES. THAT PASSED. WE HAVE THEN THE FIRST DISTRIBUTIONS THAT BEGIN IN 1836. THIS DISTRIBUTION POLICY WAS ADOPTED IN 1836. NOW WHAT THIS DID WAS STIMULATE SPENDING IN THE STATES. IT DID SOME GOOD THINGS. IT HELPED THE BUILDING OF ROADS AND CANALS. IT ALSO STIMULATED SPECULATION AND INFLATION AND BECAME A PROBLEM. HISTORY 121 M01 Lecture 21 Page 7 A THIRD POLICY UNDER TOO MUCH MONEY IS THE SO CALLED SPECIE CIRCULAR OF 1836. JACKSON WAS ALWAYS SUSPICIOUS OF PAPER MONEY. MANY BANKS WERE PRINTING LOTS OF PAPER MONEY. IN PART JACKSON HAD ENCOURAGED THIS WITH HIS PET BANK DEPOSITS. JACKSON AT THAT POINT DECIDES TO ISSUE THIS SPECIE CIRCULAR. THAT SPECIE CIRCULAR DECLARED THAT THE U.S. TREASURY WOULD ONLY ACCEPT HARD MONEY IN PAYMENT FOR WESTERN LAND. IT WAS SO EASY TO GET THIS CHEAP PAPER MONEY THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WAS GETTING LOTS OF. HE WAS AFRAID THAT IT WASN'T WORTH MUCH. SO NOW THEY WOULD ACCEPT SPECIE, GOLD OR SILVER. BY THE WAY DURING JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION THEY ESTABLISHED A LAND OFFICE DOWN HERE ON THE SQUARE IN SPRINGFIELD AND BUY LAND OUT OF IT. I'M SURE THAT PEOPLE DOWN HERE AGREED WITH JACKSON. NOW THAT HAD TWO RESULTS. ONE IS THAT IT REALLY CUT DOWN ON LAND SALES. THE OTHER THING IT DID WAS MAKE PEOPLE SUSPICIOUS OF ALL PAPER MONEY. I'M SURE EVERYONE GOT LOOKING IN THEIR BILLFOLD AND WONDER ABOUT IT. PEOPLE BEGAN TO TRY TO PAY PAPER MONEY AND GET BACK GOLD AND SILVER. JACKSON SEEMED TO BE QUESTIONING THE VALUE OF THE PAPER. SO THOSE ARE THREE WAYS IN WHICH JACKSON LOOKED AT MONEY. NOW I'D LIKE TO GO TO THE NEXT TOPIC WHICH IS POLITICAL GIANTS. I'M NOT GOING TO SAY A LOT HERE. THIS WAS A TIME OF UNUSUALLY STRONG, SECTIONAL SPOKESMEN. PEOPLE WHO BECAME NOTED FOR THE FAT THAT THEY SPOKE FOR ONE SECTION OF THE COUNTRY OR ANOTHER. I PARTICULARLY WANT TO EMPHASIZE THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE WEST. THAT SPOKESMAN WAS SENATOR THOMAS HART BENTON FROM MISSOURI. THIS WAS NOT THE THOMAS HART BENTON WHO DID THE MURALS AROUND THE STATE. THIS WAS THE GREAT NEPHEW OF SENATOR THOMAS HART BENTON. SENATOR BENTON WAS SENATOR FROM 1820 UNTIL 1850. HE WAS A STRONG MAN. HE WAS A VERY VOCAL MAN. HE WAS AN ELOQUENT SPEAKER. HE HAD AN EGO THAT WENT ALONG WITH IT. I LOVE THE STORY OF THE 11 YEAR-OLD BOY FROM DOWN HERE WHO HEARD IN 1849 THAT SENATOR BENTON WAS COMING TO ST. LOUIS TO SPEAK AND WHO WALKED TWO HUNDRED MILES. AFTER HE HEARD HIS SPEAK THE MAN WHO WAS PRESIDING AT THE SESSION TOOK THE BOY AND SAID SENATOR THIS LITTLE BOY HAS WALKED OVER TWO HUNDRED MILES JUST TO HEAR YOU SPEAK. THE SENATOR LOOKED DOWN AT THE LAD AND SID YOU DID RIGHT. HE WAS AN ELOQUENT SPEAKER AND HE KNEW IT. BENTON BECAME THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE WEST. HE SUPPORTED SUCH THINGS AS LOW LAND PRICES, IMPROVED ROADS, IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS. BENTON SPOKE FOR THE WEST.