AP US Essay

Jill Chipman November 28, 2008
Section 3 13-16 Essay

Choice 1: How did TWO of the following contribute to the reemergence of a two party system in the period 1820 to 1840?
~ Major Political Personalities ~ States’ Rights ~ Economic Issues

A distinct two party system began to form in the period of 1820-1840. This change began to form because of several reasons including Major Political Personalities as well as economic issues. For example, a strong Sectionalist leader John C. Calhoun faced issues with the Tariff of Abominations and how it unfairly taxed his region. In his South Carolina exposition he denounced the tariffed and called for the secession of any state who agreed. This led a division between those who supported States rights and those who did not. Conflicts such as this arouse frequently during this time period and allowed for two distinct parties to be formed. Major Political Personalities such as Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford, and John Quincy Adams were all candidates for president in 1824. This is where the first split began. All four candidates were from the Republican Party. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but failed to win the majority of the Electoral College. According to the constitution, the top three candidates would be voted on in the House of Representatives. Clay is thus eliminated (as he received the 4th amount of votes). Clay used his power as speaker of the House to throw his support to John Quincy Adams. Shortly after Quincy Adams’ election he placed Clay in the position of Secretary of State, a known stepping stone to the presidency. Jackson called foul play, and many of Jackson’s followers called the Election of 1824 a “corrupt bargain.” When election time came again in 1828 Jackson went as a democrat while Quincy Adams went as Republican. Democratic Jackson won the election. Jackson faced many crises during this time which made him many friends as well as many enemies. The Tariff of 1828, which sought to drive up tariffs on many southern products, was widely disliked by the south but adored by the north and could be seen in the bickering between Daniel Webster (Pro-Tariff) and John C. Calhoun (Anti-Tariff). Calhoun advocated a complete nullification of the bill in South Carolina. Jackson responded immediately by threatening to send in armed forces to collect the taxes if South Carolina’s actions demanded it. Jackson also made enemies with his Indian Removal Act. Jackson went directly against Supreme Court Rulings. Even though Jackson made many enemies during his first term he was re-elected to a second term and defeated Clay in the Election of 1932. Known in this election was the emergence of the Anti- Masonic Party. The Anti- Masonic Party was an Anti-Jackson Party; they despised the order of the Jackson Party, as well as Jackson himself, a Mason. A major part of this election was the Bank of the United States; this will be discussed in a later paragraph. During Jackson’s second term a long term party developed; the Whigs, the Whigs stood for everything that was anti-Jackson. They despised the executive “abuse” of Jackson (He used the veto power more than any of the other presidents…combined). The Whigs wanted reform and a national bank with paper currency. President Jackson did not run for re-election in 1936 as he was too old. However, by this point in time; two distinct parties had formed. On one side were the democrats. The Jacksonian Democrats glorified the individual, while still maintaining that the privileged should belong in government. They also held onto the ideas of states rights and federal control in matters regarding society and economics. The Whigs however, favored a natural balance in society as well as the community over the individual; they were incredible anti-Jackson. Whigs also favored a national bank, tariffs, internal improvements, and moral reforms. Both had many similarities including having mass participation and remaining loyal to American ideals. However, a primary division of the two parties came because of economic issue. The primary issue that arose and led to two political parties was the Bank of the United States. After the election of Jackson to a second term in 1832 a problem arose. The Bank of the United States was due to expire in 1936, thus the Bank needed to be re chartered. A Bank war erupted in 1832 when two sectionalist leaders Daniel Webster and Henry Clay fought over the re chartering of the bank. Clay wished for Jackson to approve the bill as vetoing the bill would harm those in the East who supported the Bank. However Webster was not in favor of the Bank and wanted it to be eliminated. Jackson was whole-heartily against the re chartering as he said the Bank of the United States as monopolistic with Nicholas Biddle controlling an unconstitutional amount of the Bank’s wealth and power, Jackson also saw it as beneficial to a select group of the wealthy and kept the finances in one central unit. Jackson decided the Bank of the United States would not be re chartered. Jackson began removing funds from the Bank in the hopes that it would slowly dissolve. Jackson placed these removals into smaller state “pet banks”. Several smaller “wildcat” banks also formed and issued their own paper money. This wildcat money led to overspeculation of land in the west and forced Jackson to issue a Specie Circular ordering that all land be purchased with metallic money. Jackson left office shortly after this and left his successor Van Buren to pick up his mess. The Panic of 1837 was caused by overspeculation in land to the west, this craze spread to every other sector of the economy. To stop the crisis Van Burn had the Independent Treasury formed in 1840. The Independent Treasury would keep all government funds locked away in vaults. The Whigs, who took control after Van Burn in 1846 created the Federal Reserve System (after repealing the Independent Treasury Act) which is used to control the amount of money in circulation and keep a certain amount in the central government. A major politically party formed because of the Bank of the United States and the troubles precipitating from it; the Whigs. The Whigs stood for a strong national bank in control of every aspect while Jackson and the Democrats believed in central government supervision of state banks. This became a primary distinction between the two political parties and led to the re-emergence of the two party systems in the mid 19th century. In summation economic issues and Political Personalities led to distinct two party systems of Whigs and Democrats. The primary economic issue was the Bank of United States and those who supported the bank (Whigs) and those who favored Jackson’s states’ banks (Democrats). Political Personalities included Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun. These leaders, who tended to be sectional leaders (Clay and Calhoun, the other was Webster) led to distinct parties which ended up forming the two major political parties of the mid 1800’s; The Jacksonian Democrats (Democrats) and The Whigs.