Author: Lynn Hudson Parsons Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0199837546 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 277
Book Description
The 1828 presidential election, which pitted Major General Andrew Jackson against incumbent John Quincy Adams, has long been hailed as a watershed moment in American political history. It was the contest in which an unlettered, hot-tempered southwestern frontiersman, trumpeted by his supporters as a genuine man of the people, soundly defeated a New England "aristocrat" whose education and political résumé were as impressive as any ever seen in American public life. It was, many historians have argued, the country's first truly democratic presidential election. It was also the election that opened a Pandora's box of campaign tactics, including coordinated media, get-out-the-vote efforts, fund-raising, organized rallies, opinion polling, campaign paraphernalia, ethnic voting blocs, "opposition research," and smear tactics. In The Birth of Modern Politics, Parsons shows that the Adams-Jackson contest also began a national debate that is eerily contemporary, pitting those whose cultural, social, and economic values were rooted in community action for the common good against those who believed the common good was best served by giving individuals as much freedom as possible to promote their own interests. The book offers fresh and illuminating portraits of both Adams and Jackson and reveals how, despite their vastly different backgrounds, they had started out with many of the same values, admired one another, and had often been allies in common causes. But by 1828, caught up in a shifting political landscape, they were plunged into a competition that separated them decisively from the Founding Fathers' era and ushered in a style of politics that is still with us today.
Author: Donald B. Cole Publisher: University Press of Kansas ISBN: 0700616616 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 269
Book Description
The presidential election of 1828 is one of the most compelling stories in American history: Andrew Jackson, hero of the Battle of New Orleans and man of the people, bounced back from his controversial loss four years earlier to unseat John Quincy Adams in a campaign notorious for its mudslinging. With his victory, the torch was effectively passed from the founding fathers to the people. This study of Jackson's election separates myth from reality to explain why it had such an impact on present-day American politics. Featuring parades and public participation to a greater degree than had previously been seen, the campaign itself first centered on two key policy issues: tariffs and republicanism. But as Donald Cole shows, the major theme turned out to be what Adams scornfully called "electioneering": the rise of mass political parties and the origins of a two-party system, built from the top down, whose leaders were willing to spend unprecedented time and money to achieve victory. Cole's innovative study examines the election at the local and state, as well as the national, levels, focusing on New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia to provide a social, economic, and political cross section of 1828 America. He describes how the Jacksonians were better organized, paid more attention to detail, and recruited a broader range of workers-especially state-level party leaders and newspaper editors who were invaluable for raising funds, publicizing party dogma, and smearing the opposition. The Jacksonians also outdid the Adams supporters in zealotry, violence of language, and the overwhelming force of their campaigning and succeeded in painting their opponents as aristocratic, class conscious, and undemocratic. Tracing interpretations of this election from James Parton's classic 1860 biography of Jackson to recent revisionist accounts attacking Old Hickory for his undemocratic treatment of blacks, Indians, and women, Cole argues that this famous election did not really bring democracy to America as touted-because it was democracy that enabled Jackson to win. By offering a more charismatic candidate, a more vigorous campaign, a more acceptable recipe for preserving the past, and a more forthright acceptance of a new political system, Jackson's Democrats dominated an election in which campaigning outweighed issues and presaged the presidential election of 2008.
Author: Charles River Charles River Editors Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN: 9781986068765 Category : Languages : en Pages : 74
Book Description
*Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading George Washington, the first President of the United States, warned against the formation of political parties, but it did not take long for American politicians to ignore him and draw a line in the sand regarding the power of the federal government and that of the individual states. That said, the line ebbed away among the bloodshed of the War of 1812, and until the election of 1828, American politics experienced the so-called Era of Good Feelings, during which Americans took heed of Washington's words and set aside party lines for a supposed new era of political cooperation. Following the tradition begun by his predecessors, James Monroe refused to run for a third term in office in 1824, leaving the White House wide open in the most regionally divisive election in American history. It began with John Quincy Adams, who was the favored candidate of the New England states. They recognized and respected his lifelong service to his country, as well as his experience and intellect. On the other hand, Southern voters favored Henry Clay, the acclaimed Speaker of the House who helped broker the Missouri Compromise, and they believed "The Great Compromiser" had the skills needed to continue to navigate the increasingly turbulent waters surrounding slavery. Meanwhile, William Crawford had the support of former presidents Jefferson and Madison but was in very poor health. Finally, Andrew Jackson had made quite a name for himself in the famous Battle of New Orleans and was the darling of the rugged people settling the expanding American West. All of the candidates were members of the Democratic-Republican Party, though Adams appealed to the former Federalists in New England thanks to his famous father. Not surprisingly, when Election Day rolled around, no candidate gained a majority in the Electoral College. While Jackson had won a plurality of the popular vote and electoral votes, he did not have the necessary majority of electoral votes needed to secure the presidency. In keeping with the rules laid down by the 12th Amendment, the House of Representatives had to choose between the top three candidates: Jackson, Adams and Crawford. Clay came in fourth and would never be president. However, he remained Speaker of the House and thus had tremendous influence over who would. While Clay disagreed vehemently with Adams over the issue of slavery, the two men agreed on most other matters, including higher tariffs and the need for internal improvements in America's roads and waterways. Thus, he threw his support behind Adams, who was chosen president by the House with the first ballot, cast on February 9, 1825. Having won the most votes, Jackson was already upset that he was not given the presidency, but when John Quincy Adams appointed Henry Clay to be his Secretary of State after Clay had played kingmaker in the House and thrown his support behind Adams, the Jacksonian Democrats were enraged. With accusations that the two had reached a corrupt bargain behind closed doors, Adams was already tainted before he could even start governing the nation. To understand the context of Jackson's accusations, it's necessary to remember that during this era, the office of Secretary of State, not Vice President, was seen as the conduit to the presidency. Adams had been in politics for most of his adult life, but his contemporaries and historians were both puzzled by the fact that he either refused to play politics or did not know how. Some have speculated that he did not like being president, while others have pointed to the Jacksonians also refusing to play ball due to their displeasure with the election results.
Author: Charles River Charles River Editors Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN: 9781986068758 Category : Languages : en Pages : 44
Book Description
*Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading George Washington, the first President of the United States, warned against the formation of political parties, but it did not take long for American politicians to ignore him and draw a line in the sand regarding the power of the federal government and that of the individual states. That said, the line ebbed away among the bloodshed of the War of 1812, and until the election of 1828, American politics experienced the so-called Era of Good Feelings, during which Americans took heed of Washington's words and set aside party lines for a supposed new era of political cooperation. Following the tradition begun by his predecessors, James Monroe refused to run for a third term in office in 1824, leaving the White House wide open in the most regionally divisive election in American history. It began with John Quincy Adams, who was the favored candidate of the New England states. They recognized and respected his lifelong service to his country, as well as his experience and intellect. On the other hand, Southern voters favored Henry Clay, the acclaimed Speaker of the House who helped broker the Missouri Compromise, and they believed "The Great Compromiser" had the skills needed to continue to navigate the increasingly turbulent waters surrounding slavery. Meanwhile, William Crawford had the support of former presidents Jefferson and Madison but was in very poor health. Finally, Andrew Jackson had made quite a name for himself in the famous Battle of New Orleans and was the darling of the rugged people settling the expanding American West. All of the candidates were members of the Democratic-Republican Party, though Adams appealed to the former Federalists in New England thanks to his famous father. Not surprisingly, when Election Day rolled around, no candidate gained a majority in the Electoral College. While Jackson had won a plurality of the popular vote and electoral votes, he did not have the necessary majority of electoral votes needed to secure the presidency. In keeping with the rules laid down by the 12th Amendment, the House of Representatives had to choose between the top three candidates: Jackson, Adams and Crawford. Clay came in fourth and would never be president. However, he remained Speaker of the House and thus had tremendous influence over who would. While Clay disagreed vehemently with Adams over the issue of slavery, the two men agreed on most other matters, including higher tariffs and the need for internal improvements in America's roads and waterways. Thus, he threw his support behind Adams, who was chosen president by the House with the first ballot, cast on February 9, 1825. Having won the most votes, Jackson was already upset that he was not given the presidency, but when John Quincy Adams appointed Henry Clay to be his Secretary of State after Clay had played kingmaker in the House and thrown his support behind Adams, the Jacksonian Democrats were enraged. With accusations that the two had reached a corrupt bargain behind closed doors, Adams was already tainted before he could even start governing the nation. To understand the context of Jackson's accusations, it's necessary to remember that during this era, the office of Secretary of State, not Vice President, was seen as the conduit to the presidency. Adams had been in politics for most of his adult life, but his contemporaries and historians were both puzzled by the fact that he either refused to play politics or did not know how. Some have speculated that he did not like being president, while others have pointed to the Jacksonians also refusing to play ball due to their displeasure with the election results.
Author: Lynn Hudson Parsons Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0199718504 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 277
Book Description
The 1828 presidential election, which pitted Major General Andrew Jackson against incumbent John Quincy Adams, has long been hailed as a watershed moment in American political history. It was the contest in which an unlettered, hot-tempered southwestern frontiersman, trumpeted by his supporters as a genuine man of the people, soundly defeated a New England "aristocrat" whose education and political résumé were as impressive as any ever seen in American public life. It was, many historians have argued, the country's first truly democratic presidential election. It was also the election that opened a Pandora's box of campaign tactics, including coordinated media, get-out-the-vote efforts, fund-raising, organized rallies, opinion polling, campaign paraphernalia, ethnic voting blocs, "opposition research," and smear tactics. In The Birth of Modern Politics, Parsons shows that the Adams-Jackson contest also began a national debate that is eerily contemporary, pitting those whose cultural, social, and economic values were rooted in community action for the common good against those who believed the common good was best served by giving individuals as much freedom as possible to promote their own interests. The book offers fresh and illuminating portraits of both Adams and Jackson and reveals how, despite their vastly different backgrounds, they had started out with many of the same values, admired one another, and had often been allies in common causes. But by 1828, caught up in a shifting political landscape, they were plunged into a competition that separated them decisively from the Founding Fathers' era and ushered in a style of politics that is still with us today.
Author: David S Heidler Publisher: Basic Books ISBN: 046509757X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 435
Book Description
The story of Andrew Jackson's improbable ascent to the White House, centered on the handlers and propagandists who made it possible Andrew Jackson was volatile and prone to violence, and well into his forties his sole claim on the public's affections derived from his victory in a thirty-minute battle at New Orleans in early 1815. Yet those in his immediate circle believed he was a great man who should be president of the United States. Jackson's election in 1828 is usually viewed as a result of the expansion of democracy. Historians David and Jeanne Heidler argue that he actually owed his victory to his closest supporters, who wrote hagiographies of him, founded newspapers to savage his enemies, and built a political network that was always on message. In transforming a difficult man into a paragon of republican virtue, the Jacksonites exploded the old order and created a mode of electioneering that has been mimicked ever since.
Author: David Preston Publisher: ISBN: Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
In the high-stakes rematch of 1828, two titans of American politics clash in a battle that will determine the nation's fate. John Quincy Adams, the embattled incumbent, faces Andrew Jackson, the fiery populist and war hero, in an election riddled with political machinations and deep-seated animosities. As accusations of corruption and backroom deals surface, the country teeters on the brink of chaos. Jackson's supporters cry foul, decrying Adams' victory as a stolen triumph, igniting a powder keg of regional tensions. The South, seething with anger and feeling betrayed, edges closer to secession, threatening to fracture the young nation. Follow the tumultuous journey through the eyes of Jackson and his loyal allies, including the legendary Davy Crockett, as they navigate assassination attempts, fierce debates, and the underhanded tactics of their opponents. Experience the charged atmosphere of Nashville, where citizens rally and protest, and the tense corridors of power in Washington, where every move could spell disaster or victory. 1828 captures the political shenanigans and raw emotions of a country on the precipice. Will the Union survive the election's fallout, or will the United States be torn asunder? This gripping historical narrative delves into the dramatic events that shaped a pivotal moment in American history, exploring the resilience of a nation facing its most profound crisis yet.
Author: Lynn Hudson Parsons
Author: Donald B. Cole
Author: Charles River Charles River Editors
Author: Florence Weston
Author: Charles River Charles River Editors
Author: Lynn Hudson Parsons
Author: Edwin Williams
Author: David S Heidler
Author: Anna Mary Killion
Author: David Preston