The Peoples President

Chapter 13/ Section 1/ Pages 422-425

Equal?

• “all men are created equal” – in fact, only a small percentage of people held political power:– White– Male– Property owners

New voices from the west:

• People moving west were looking for things in their leaders that was different then ever before:– Self made leaders– Value of cooperation and hard work

• When new western states wrote their constitutions, they gave suffrage (the right to vote) to all white men

Limits on the vote:

• As more white men got the right to vote, African Americans in the north began to lose it.

• Other people in the nation also had no voice:– Women– Native Americans– Enslaved peoples

An end to “King Caucus”

• People were chosen to vote in a caucus (small private meeting where candidates are chosen)

• Many people did not like this and put pressure on the government

• In response the began holding nomination conventions (people from each state voted for candidates)

The Candidates:• John Quincy Adams• Henry Clay• William Crawford• Andrew Jackson

The Corrupt Bargain

• No candidate in the election won the majority of the electoral votes

• The House of Representatives had to choose the leader

• They choose Adams• Jackson Supporters claimed this was Corrupt

Split of political parties

• Democrat-republican party began to split over the results of the election:

• National Republicans:– Eastern business owners– Southern Planters– Former Federalists

• Democratic Party– Traces its roots to Jackson

Election of 1828:

• No longer did people choose among hero's of the revolution: Jackson and Adams began to attack each other– Jackson labeled Adams an

Aristocrat– Adams called Jackson a

barbarian and a savage

President from the West:• Jackson won by a landslide• Jacksons supporters believed he represented

the common man• He became a symbol of the growing power of

American democracy