Getting Prepared for the Debate

Thank you to all the groups who shared their documents yesterday, I appreciate that you got it completed in a timely manner.  This will make It easier for me to give you helpful feedback as well as to collaborate with your group more efficiently.

   On Thursday, your rough drafts or outlines are due for the debate.  Openers and Closers you can use this format to create your outline:

I. Opening Sentence


II.  Main Ideas(s)

   These are the topics or ideas that you are going to stress upon in you Opening or Closing, i.e. treaties, use of land, land rights, ect.  Try and have at least 3 Main Ideas that you will mention in your statement.


III.  Final Sentence

A quotes, a note of thanks, something to end your speech on a strong note.


   For the Questioners, I want you to work on writing questions for specific groups.

   For example

       To the Cherokee, "Whiat are some ways that you have become civilized?"

By Thursday, there should be three questions directed at each of the groups

Sharing Group Information

For the Indian Removal Act Debate we are going to be using Googledocs again.  Attempting to make sharing this a little easier, for the First Share have one person from the Group create the Googledocs account but be sure to share it with all the group members and myself.

1.  Log on by using your regular school log in and password at this URL:

docs.apps.wellesley.K12.ma.us

2. Click on the left hand red button which says Create.

3. Next, click on Document.

4. Then, click on "Untitled Document" at the top of the blank document.  A box to rename your google doc will then appear.

5. Name your document this way:  Period # and Group Name.  For example, Period 1, Cherokee

6.  Follow this outline for the document:

  Opener: George

  Closer:   Thomas

 Question/Answer: Teddy

  When you are done writing on your document, click on the blue Share button at the top right hand corner.  When the new box pops up, go to Share With at the bottom and write in Mullady  My name will appear. Be sure to share this with all of your group members 

7.  Finally, edit the Permissions so that all of your group members can contribute to the document.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to e-mail me.

Thank you

Mr. M

Whose Who of the Jackson Era

    This week in class you will be working with your groups on preparing to debate the Indian Removal Act.  In order to develop a better understanding of the Jackson Era it would be useful to identify the following leaders of that time.  Use the format that we have used in class to Identify people and places from the textbook, in your answer be sure to explain how the person is connected to Andrew Jackson and or the Indian Removal Act.  Use the Henry Clay  example to help you form your answers.

    You can use your textbook, notes, class handouts, or sources online to find your answers.
 

Henry Clay: Representative from Kentucky, and Speaker of the House.  Clay used his political influence to help get John Quincy Adams elected in the 1824 Presidential Election.  Clay was a fierce opponent of Jackson, Clay spoke out against the Indian Removal Act.


Identify


Lewis Cass:




Major Ridge:




John Ross:




Samuel Worcester:



Thomas Hart Benton:



John C. Calhoun:



Elias Boudinot:



Chief John Ross:


Sequoyah:



Chief Justice John Marshall:



David Crockett:



Daniel Webster:

Jackson vs. The National Bank

        Alexander Hamilton believed that in order for the United States to become an economic power, the nation needed a strong central banking system.  Hamilton's Plan was very controversial, many Americans did not trust banks, and critics like Thomas Jefferson warned that a strong bank would favor the wealthy and take advantage of the farmers.

     Andrew Jackson did not trust the National Bank of the United States, and when he became President he made it known that he planned on  "killing" The Bank.  The Bank ran on a charter, or a license that needed to be renewed after a certain period of time.  In the past, Congress had consistently renewed the Bank's charter allowing it to grow and become strong.  The President of the Bank, Nicholas Biddle was accused of granting special loans to states that had Congressmen that supported the Bank.  Today, we would say that the Bank acted like a special interest group and was buying votes from members of Congress over the years.

     Biddle asked Congress to renew the Bank's charter ahead of schedule.  This was a political gamble, but Biddle thought he would be successful in having Congress renew the charter. Congress complied and both the Senate and the House renewed the charter.  When Jackson heard of this plan, he shouted, "The Bank is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!"

    Jackson vetoed the Bill as promised, then made a controversial move to finally kill The Bank.  He ordered that all of the nation's gold and paper money be removed rom the National Bank and placed in smaller state banks.  By removing the money from the National Bank, Jackson made it impossible to the N.B. to give out loans making it useless.

   To his supporters, Jackson was a hero to the common man.  Jackson claimed that the state banks would make it easier  for farmers to get a loan and would not favor the rich and wealthy.

His critics claimed that Jackson was acting like a monarch and ignoring the authority of Congress. Without a strong, central Bank, the claimed it would be impossible to support business growth and to get loans for state projects.


   

The Nullification Crisis

In 1830, a tariff was placed on imported goods to America. This additional tax increased the price of products coming to the United States from Europe. Lawmakers who wrote and approved of the tax were hoping to protect Northern factories and businesses. Companies from cities and towns like Lowell were competing against companies from England in the textile market.

For a plantation owner or a yeoman farmer in the South the tariff was an economic burden. Goods from Great Britain were typically cheaper then American made products. A farmer could enter a store and purchase a pair of shoes from England that would cost them (i'm making this number up) $1.00 while shoes from Lynn would cost him $2.00. Once the tariff was in place, the shoes from Britain would end up costing more money then the shoes that were made in the U.S. These protective tariffs would force people from the South to buy goods that were made in the North. Many Southerners objected to the tax because it was costing them to pay more.

Britain would respond to the American tariff with a tariff of their own. The British could place a tax on American goods that were being imported to Great Britain. These goods included: rice, tobacco, flour, cotton, sugar, and indigo. All goods that were being grown in the American South. Once that tax was put in place many British companies started to not purchase goods from America, choosing to buy cotton from China, Egypt, and India. American farmers of the South were now hurt by falling prices in their exports in addition to high prices for manufactured goods.

Vice-President John C. Calhoun was against the tariff and called for the federal government to remove it. Jackson and Calhoun had some heated exchanges regarding the tax. Calhoun would resign the following year and travel back to South Carolina to help lawmakers there plan on handling the issue. Calhoun would find his answer to the crisis by seeing how other states had responded to unpopular federal law.

His answer was the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. During the Presidency of John Adams, the Alien and Sedition Act were passed. Both of these laws were criticized for being unfair and unconstitutional. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison drafted a resolution for Virginia and Kentucky which said that a state had the right to cancel a federal law that was unfair. Since the Alien and Sedition Act were never brought to the Supreme Court, nobody really knew what the answer was. Calhoun felt that the V and K Resolutions were a precedent for other states to follow.

Lawmakers met in Colombia South Carolina and voted to not pay the tariff. Soon other state representatives were being asked by people from South Carolina if they would consider joining South Carolina in breaking away from the Union.  Opponents to nullification kept the Preisdent up to date on the growing crisis.

Washington D.C. was filled with talk of Civil War. Members of the South Carolina State Legislator had reached out to outher Southern states trying to get support for their cause. Jackson began to meet with military advisors to see what would be the best way to defeat South Carolina if they withdrew from the Union. Jackson let in be known publicly that he would not let South Carolina leave the Union. To Jackson the country was not a league, with each state a member that can choose to leave whenever it wanted to. "The Constitution forms a government, not a league."

Ultimately Jackson would win over Calhoun on the issue of Nullification. South Carolina eventually backed down, and Congress voted to lower the tariff shortly after. Calhoun would serve in the Senate until the 1850s becoming a symbol of state's rights. For Jackson the victory would increase his popularity and have him earn high marks with historians decades after his death. The issue over state's rights would not go away however.

The Spoils System

     Following his election in 1828, Andrew Jackson began to change the way government agencies were run.  Since George Washington's Presidency, the Preaident was responsible for appointing  officials to various jobs.  The President appoints federal judges, attorneys, tax collectors, postmasters, custom officers, and many other positions.  When Andrew Jackson became President there were some government officials that had held their position since Thomas Jefferson was elected.

     Jackson saw this lack of government turnover as a sign of corruption.  He believed that new people should have the opportunity to serve.  During his first term, Jackson replaced 900 government officials, roughly 10% of the Federal Government.  The six Presidents before Jackson typically replaced 9 government officials during their terms, Jackson's moves shocked many in Washington. Many  of his new appointments were members of the newly formed Democratic Party, a fact that did not escape his critics.
   
     Jackson's enemies saw these appointments as a threat to liberty, and claimed the President was acting like a conquerer.   They called these appointments "The Spoils System", taken from an old military saying, "to the victor goes the spoils". While his critics looked down on his actions, many later Presidents would follow Jackson's example by appointing loyal party members to government jobs after being elected.

     In 1831, Jackson formed an unofficial group of advisors that met at the White House to assist the President with policy making.  This group included two editors of a pro-Jackson newspaper, his nephew, his business partner from Tennessee, and a political ally from upstate New York. These men were given access to the President and the White House that alarmed members of the President's Cabinet as well as members of Congress. His enemies described this group as the "kitchen cabinet" to highlight how they were not officially appointed  by Congress to advise Jackson.

    Both the "spoils system" and the "kitchen cabinet" became two terms forever linked with the Jackson Presidency.  To his critics these were signs that he acted more like a king than a President, to his supporters these were just signs that he was changing the office of President for the better.

Andrew Jackson Questions

       The "Corrupt Bargain", that is what the Presidential Election of 1824 is mostly remembered for, the belief that Henry Clay used his influence in the House of Representatives to get John Quincy Adams elected as President. When Adams appointed Clay to be the new Secretary of State after taking office, many Americans were convinced that the government was corrupt and that election was stolen.
      As President, Adams had some successes: the national debt was reduced from $16 million to $5 million, the Cumberland Road was constructed, and a tariff was passed to protect Northern industries.  All of these success would not matter though in the election of 1828.
     The 1828 Presidential Election was a very messy one, both candidates found themselves and their families attacked on their morals and their  virtues.  John Q. Adams was accused of being a compulsive gambler, an atheists, and to have worked as a pimp for the Czar of Russia.  Jackson was accused of being the next Napoleon, a gambler, and a man who was living in sin.  The picture above is from a "Coffin Ad", that was used to describe how Jackson had ordered the execution of some of his soldiers during the War of 1812.  Despite the negative mudslinging, and relying on strong "grass roots" support, Jackson won the election in a landslide.

For H.W. Please answer the following questions using your notes and handouts.


 1. Andrew Jackson's military success made him a national hero to many Americans but some people saw Jackson a threat to democracy.  Why were some of Jackson's critics scared of electing a military hero to the Presidency?


2. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote of the election of 1824 but did not become President.  Explain how John Quincy Adams was able to become President.  How was this viewed by most
Americans?





3.  Jackson's supporters claimed that if he was elected, Andrew Jackson would be a true representative of the people.  What are two facts that would go against this claim that Jackson was "A Man of the People"?




4.  Why were more Americans able to vote in the Election of 1828 than the Election of 1824?  How did this benefit Jackson?

Here is the powerpoint from today.

Andrew Jackson: War Hero and Slave Master

         When the War of 1812 broke out Andrew Jackson was elected to be the leader of the Tennessee militia.  Jackson was eager to fight against the British who he blamed for the deaths of his mother and two brothers during the American Revolution.  Jackson's militia was ordered to fight against Creek Indians who were allies with the British and attacking American settlements across the South.


           In 1814, Jackson and his militia units were accompanied by members of the Cherokee and Choctaw tribes his forces had grown to 2,600 men.  On March 27th, Jackson and his army attacked the Creek forces that were encamped at Horseshoe Bend.  Cherokee warriors set fire to Creek buildings in order to distract the Creeks, while Jackson ordered the settlement bombarded from across the river.  After two hours of cannon fire, Jackson ordered his men to charge the barricades.  Once inside the camp, the battle became a massacre, and all the 1,000 Creek warriors were killed as well as several hundred women and children.  After the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, the United States gained 23 millions acres of land from the Creek in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.


   
      In December of 1814, Jackson was sent to bolster the defenses of the port city of New Orleans that was under threat of attack from the British. With the assistance of Jean Lafitte, Choctaw Indians, and the free black population of New Orleans, Jackson created an effective and successful defensive strategy to protect the city.  On January 8, 1815, the British launched an attack on the city, thinking that the U.S. troops would flee the battlefield as they had done in previous battles during the war.  The Americans were well hidden behind walls and trenches and held their ground during the battle.  British had over 2,000 casualties while Jackson lost 8 men and 13 were wounded.
        The American victory occurred weeks after the British and the Americans had already signed a treaty ending the war, but it made Jackson a celebrity and a national hero. In the 19th century, a popular engraving of the battle was made and sold across the country making Jackson a household name.





   When the war was over, Jackson returned to his plantation the Hermitage.  On his plantation, Jackson bred horses, and grew cotton and corn.  Over the years, Jackson had made a fortune investing money in  selling land recently acquired from Native Americans.  There were over 140 slaves on the Hermitage, and Jackson was a slave master that encouraged his slaves to see him as a father, master, and provider.   Jackson believed that people of African descent were put on earth to labor for white people.  His supporters would claim that Jackson was a true representative of the average American and ignore the fact that Jackson had more in common with the rich planter class than the middle class.


Here is the handout that goes with today's class.

Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil, and The Presidency

  I was born for a storm and a calm does not suit me.

                        ~ Andrew Jackson




  Andrew Jackson was one of our nation's most successful and most controversial Presidents.  He had fiercely loyal supporters who would do anything for him and enemies that did everything in their power to destroy him.   Jackson is our driving force behind our Conflict in the West Unit.  In order to have a better understanding of Jackson's Presidency we are going to look at Jackson's early years and the origins of his political views.

In class we are going to be viewing segments of the PBS Documentary Good, Evil, & The Presidency.  Here is a link to the documentary online.     Today we watched the sections: Introduction and Wild Young Man.

Today's handout that goes with the Video.