Andrew
Jackson began his journey to the White House when he ran for presidency in
1824. Although he won the majority of the popular votes neither Jackson nor his
opponent, John Adams won a majority of the electoral votes. Eventually the
House of Representatives chose John Adams as president and Jackson lost the
election. The loss in 1824 did not keep Jackson from running
again in 1828. He won the election overwhelmingly. Andrew Jackson's election
marked a new presidential era.
During
the time of Jackson's
election there were rising sectional differences between the northeast, south,
and west. They were debating over the sale of public land in the west, federal
spending on internal improvements, and the increasing tariffs. The west wanted
to have more political power and for the land in the west to be sold at low
prices. Meanwhile the northeast wanted better transportation routes to improve
business and for people to stop immigrating west. Then there was the south who
disagreed completely with tariffs because, as they claimed, hurt their economy.
The south was very serious about their dislike for tariffs. Not only did they
hate everything to do with tariffs, South Carolina
even threatened to secede when tariffs were raised in 1828. Fortunately, the
tariff was nullified before that happened.
Around the same time, a huge debate was occurring about the balance of power
between the federal and state government. While Jackson
was a supporter of state's rights, he did not believe that states should
be able to nullify a federal law. This fact added wood to the already burning
fire and made Jackson
and his vice president political enemies. Jackson's
standpoint on states rights also caused him to declare war against the national
bank. When the president of the bank went to renew the bank's charter Jackson
immediately vetoed it. Eventually the bank was forced out of business. Because
of Jackson's
vicious attack against the bank before he left office, the country fell into a
depression when he retired.
