Deck 9: Jacksonian Democracy

Question 1

Part of the "democratizing" of politics during the age of Jackson was the

A) direct election of U.S. senators.
B) enfranchisement of women in western states.
C) elimination of property qualifications for voting and holding office.
D) direct election of the president and vice president.

Answer 1

elimination of property qualifications for voting and holding office.

Question 2

Prior to the "democratizing" of politics during the age of Jackson, presidential candidates were usually chosen by a

A) national convention.
B) state legislature.
C) congressional caucus.
D) national electoral commission.

Answer 2

congressional caucus.

Question 3

During John Quincy Adams' presidency, the politician who prepared for the next election by relying on his military reputation and portraying himself as losing the presidency in 1824 due to the "corrupt bargain" was

A) Henry Clay.
B) William Henry Harrison.
C) John C. Calhoun.
D) Andrew Jackson.

Answer 3

Andrew Jackson.

Question 4

In the election of 1828,

A) Andrew Jackson defeated John Quincy Adams in a contest disgraced by character assassination on both sides.
B) Henry Clay was chosen president when the election was thrown into the House of Representatives.
C) Andrew Jackson lost because of the "corrupt bargain" between Clay and Adams.
D) the negative political campaigns depressed voter turnout.

Question 5

Who does the text describe as "the symbol for a new democratically oriented generation"?

A) Martin Van Buren
B) Henry Clay
C) Andrew Jackson
D) John C. Calhoun

Question 6

The basic concept underlying the "spoils system" was that

A) candidates must campaign viciously to "spoil" the chances of their opponents.
B) party workers must be rewarded with political office after a successful campaign.
C) there was no need to take into account the wishes of the average voter.
D) government positions should not be "spoiled" by turning them into political plums.

Question 7

One of the "fundamental tenets of Jacksonian Democracy" was that

A) educated and virtuous people should be elected to office.
B) long-term stability for government employees improved government services.
C) expert knowledge was the key to a democratic government.
D) ordinary Americans could do anything.

Question 8

Jackson's advisers who did not hold regular cabinet appointments were called the

A) Locofocos.
B) Tennessee Regulars.
C) Old Hickories.
D) Kitchen Cabinet.

Question 9

Jackson's view of the presidency differed from his predecessor's primarily in his belief that the

A) scope of federal authority should be expanded at the states' expense.
B) president was the direct representative of all the people and the embodiment of national power.
C) federal government should engage in a vigorous program of internal improvements.
D) advice of experts was crucial to sound presidential decisions.

Question 10

The 1830 debate between Senators Daniel Webster and Robert Hayne focused on

A) the doctrine of states' rights as opposed to national power.
B) the constitutionality of the Second Bank of the United States.
C) the "corrupt bargain" during the election of 1824.
D) Jackson's policy of Indian removal.

Question 11

In response to the espousal of the states' rights doctrine on the Senate floor by South Carolinian Robert Hayne, which of the following argued that the Constitution was a compact of the people and that the Union was indissoluble?

A) John C. Calhoun
B) John Tyler
C) Thomas Jefferson
D) Daniel Webster

Question 12

Daniel Webster's "Second Reply to Hayne"

A) helped to prevent the formation of a West-South alliance.
B) resulted in his impeachment as a senator.
C) was a rousing defense of states' rights.
D) made him a hero among those in the West.

Question 13

Other than Jackson's personal popularity, the main campaign issue in the presidential election of 1832 was

A) nullification.
B) Jackson's Indian removal policy.
C) the spoils system.
D) the Bank of the United States.

Question 14

Nicholas Biddle realized that he could use the Second National Bank as a

A) rudimentary central bank.
B) mechanism to undermine President Jackson.
C) monopoly to enrich foreign investors.
D) means to thwart the political ambitions of Henry Clay.

Question 15

________ was a leading enemy of the Second National Bank of the United States.

A) Daniel Webster
B) Nicholas Biddle
C) Henry Clay
D) Andrew Jackson

Question 16

The senator who pushed for renewal of the Bank of the United States charter in 1832 to provide himself a campaign issue against Jackson was

A) Henry Clay.
B) John C. Calhoun.
C) Martin Van Buren.
D) John Eaton.

Question 17

Jackson defended his veto of the charter of the Second National Bank on the grounds that it was

A) too weak to help stabilize the economy.
B) unable to attract foreign investors.
C) dominated by speculators in western land.
D) unconstitutional, despite the Supreme Court.

Question 18

Of the second Bank of the United States, who believed that it was making "the rich richer and the potent more powerful"?

A) Nicholas Biddle
B) Daniel Webster
C) Henry Clay
D) Andrew Jackson

Question 19

Jackson's most powerful weapon against the Bank of the United States was the

A) power to remove Bank officers.
B) ability to withdraw government revenues from the Bank.
C) Specie Circular, which required the Bank to redeem its notes in gold.
D) loyal backing of prominent National Republicans such as Daniel Webster.

Question 20

Jackson's attitude toward nullification was to

A) oppose it because John C. Calhoun supported it.
B) support it because it was a Southern doctrine and he was a Southerner.
C) oppose it because of his devotion to the Union.
D) oppose it as being divisive in practice, but support it as being correct in principle.

Question 21

The conflict between Jackson and Calhoun was sharpened by their strong disagreement over the

A) Peggy Eaton controversy.
B) Maysville Road.
C) Second National Bank.
D) Webster-Hayne debate.

Question 22

Like fellow Westerners, President Jackson

A) did not favor internal improvements.
B) preferred that local projects be left to the states.
C) believed that the federal government should maintain all surpluses.
D) thought congressional power should be interpreted broadly.

Question 23

Jackson's policy toward the Native Americans was to

A) give them citizenship.
B) respect their culture and traditional homelands.
C) place them on reservations in each state.
D) remove them to lands west of the Mississippi.

Question 24

About the removal of tribes, who wrote in Democracy in America about "the frightful sufferings that attend these forced migrations"?

A) John C. Calhoun
B) Black Hawk
C) John Marshall
D) Alexis de Tocqueville

Question 25

The Native American nation forced to move from Georgia as a result of Jackson's policies was the

A) Seminole.
B) Cherokee.
C) Sac.
D) Choctaw.

Question 26

Jackson opposed John Marshall's rulings about the Cherokee Nation in Georgia because he

A) was hoping to appease his southern supporters.
B) believed no independent nation could be allowed to exist within the United States.
C) was a strong advocate of states' rights.
D) hated Native Americans and wanted to destroy them completely.

Question 27

How did white Southerners react to northern criticisms of slavery?

A) Whites in the "new" South of Mississippi and Alabama (outnumbered by slaves three to one) feared criticisms of slavery might lead to rebellion.
B) A significant minority of pro-Unionist Southerners agreed with the criticisms.
C) Most Southerners continued to view slaves as always docile, happy, and childlike.
D) Radical South Carolinians were convinced that both the protective tariff and the agitation against slavery were examples of tyranny of the majority.

Question 28

The southern political thinker who most prominently justified southern resistance to the Tariff of 1828 was

A) John Tyler.
B) John C. Calhoun.
C) Andrew Jackson.
D) Henry Clay.

Question 29

South Carolina's challenge to the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 is called the

A) Cotton Controversy.
B) Tariff War.
C) Abomination Crisis.
D) Nullification Crisis.

Question 30

"The laws of the United States must be executed. I have no discretionary power on the subject…Those who told you that you might peaceably prevent their execution deceived you…Disunion by armed force is treason. Are you really ready to incur its guilt?" This was the response of Andrew Jackson to the actions of

A) South Carolina.
B) New York.
C) Mississippi.
D) Georgia.

Question 31

The outcome of the Nullification Crisis convinced the radical South Carolina planters that

A) Jackson could not be trusted to keep his promises.
B) Calhoun was not firmly committed to nullification.
C) nullification and secession could succeed only with the support of other states.
D) the government of the United States was an absolute tyranny.

Question 32

During 1835 and 1836, as a result of the creation of the "pet" banks,

A) economic stability and prosperity resumed.
B) the money supply shrank dramatically and plunged the country into a depression.
C) the Bank of the United States retained all government deposits.
D) the money supply increased rapidly and fueled wild speculation in land.

Question 33

President Jackson issued the ________ in 1836 to require purchase of public land in gold or silver.

A) Homestead Circular
B) Public Domain Act
C) Specie Circular
D) Hard Currency Order

Question 34

What effect did Jackson's economic policies have on the business cycle?

A) They exaggerated the swings of the economic pendulum through the impact of their ill-considered policies on public thinking.
B) They successfully stimulated the economy and ended the Panic of 1837.
C) They were successful examples of the workings of the free marketplace and of the success of laissez-faire economics.
D) The federal government was so weak that they had almost no effect.

Question 35

Which of the following caused panic in the country in the spring of 1837?

A) the reelection of Andrew Jackson
B) the inability of banks to make specie payments
C) the rise of the radical Locofoco party
D) the purchase of Florida from Spain

Question 36

Of whom was he speaking when Alexis de Tocqueville said, "Far from wishing to extend Federal power, [he] belongs to the party that wishes to limit that power."?

A) Thomas Jefferson
B) John C. Calhoun
C) Henry Clay
D) Andrew Jackson

Question 37

An underlying principle commonly agreed upon by Jacksonians was

A) increased government regulation of the economy.
B) respect for professional experts in government.
C) elimination of slavery and the slave trade.
D) suspicion of special privileges and large business corporations.

Question 38

The Jacksonians who championed giving the "small man" his chance were the

A) Locofocos.
B) Know-Nothings.
C) Barnburners.
D) National Republicans.

Question 39

The new political coalition which emerged to challenge Democratic control in the 1830s was called the

A) Federalists.
B) Republicans.
C) Bull Moose party.
D) Whigs.

Question 40

The unifying principle of the Whig party was

A) support of Henry Clay as a political leader.
B) opposition to "King Andrew" Jackson.
C) desire to return to property qualifications for voting and holding office.
D) rejection of strong government.

Question 41

The Whig party's strategy in the election of 1836 was to

A) run several candidates in the hope that the House of Representatives would decide the election.
B) nominate Henry Clay because of his strong opposition to Jacksonian policies.
C) boycott the Electoral College and appeal to the voters.
D) nominate William Henry Harrison because he could appeal to Jackson supporters.

Question 42

Martin Van Buren's response to the Panic of 1837 was to

A) inflate the currency.
B) reestablish the National Bank.
C) push for federal funding of internal improvements in order to create jobs.
D) reject government interference in the economy.

Question 43

Martin Van Buren's chief goal as president was to

A) end the Panic of 1837 by active government intervention in the economy.
B) find an acceptable substitute for the state banks as a place to keep federal funds.
C) increase the tariff in order to protect New England's "infant industries."
D) institute federal funding for a national transportation network.

Question 44

President Van Buren attempted to "divorce" the government from all banking activities through the

A) "pet" banks network.
B) Independent Treasury Act.
C) Specie Circular.
D) Third National Bank.

Question 45

In the election of 1840 the Whig's presidential nominee, who was a former military hero whose political opinions were largely unknown, was

A) William Henry Harrison.
B) Martin Van Buren.
C) James K. Polk.
D) Zachary Taylor.

Question 46

Over what issue did Davy Crockett split with President Jackson, eventually costing him his congressional seat?

A) the Second National Bank
B) hunting rights on federal land
C) removal of Indians from the South
D) cheap land for frontier farmers

Question 47

Immediately after Harrison's inauguration,

A) Clay emerged as the power behind the throne, directing the naive and weak-willed Harrison.
B) Harrison died, was succeeded by the doctrinaire John Tyler, and the political climate of the country changed dramatically.
C) Harrison became a surprisingly strong chief executive, modeling himself on Jackson.
D) Harrison died and was succeeded by John Tyler, who was easily manipulated by Webster and Clay.

Question 48

A major characteristic of the new politics of Jacksonian democracy was increased voter turnout.

Question 49

Despite his public image as a common man, Jackson was actually a wealthy land speculator.

Question 50

Andrew Jackson argued that the spoils system should be replaced by a civil service to protect government workers from arbitrary dismissal.

Question 51

Nicholas Biddle's policies during the 1820s were disastrous for both the Bank of the United States and for the state banks.

Question 52

Many critics of the Bank of the United States accused it of monopolizing public funds in the interests of the rich.

Question 53

Banks which received government deposits denied to the Bank of the United States were known as "pet" banks.

Question 54

As a result of Jackson's reaction to the Supreme Court's ruling in Worcester v. Georgia, extreme states' rights supporters in the South were convinced that he would not oppose the doctrine of nullification.

Question 55

The Nullification Crisis ended peacefully because South Carolina embraced Jackson's Force Bill.

Question 56

Fortunately, Jackson's and Van Buren's policies toward banking had no long-term consequences for America's currency.

Question 57

Describe the controversy surrounding the Second Bank of the United States during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Explain the points of view of those who defended the Bank and of those who attacked it.

Question 58

Explain the causes of Indian removal initiated under Jackson. Summarize how it was carried out.

Question 59

Summarize the events of the Nullification Crisis. Explain the constitutional issues that were involved. Describe how this crisis was settled.

Question 60

Evaluate how Andrew Jackson's legacy affected both his followers and his political opponents.

Question 61

What is the definition of the following key term:
-second party system: