+Extensions for quick download

The American Presidential Election of 1828

mr. beat presents presidential elections in American history the 11th presidential election in American history took place from Friday October 31st hey that's Halloween to Tuesday December 2nd 1828 uh-oh we got a rematch four years prior after a four-way split with no majority candidate John Quincy Adams was handed the election by the House of Representatives Andrew Jackson who finished second in the House vote thought the election was Shady accusing Henry Clay of a corrupt bargain to get Adams elected president so that clay could be his Secretary of State just a few months after Jackson's defeat the Tennessee legislature already Rinat Adhemar president setting the stage for a rematch there was no nominating caucus even held Jackson's supporters who called themselves quote Democrats were rabid they treated Jackson like a rock star for the next three years Jackson's support grew and grew his supporters also called Jacksonians won more seats in Congress in the 1826 elections meanwhile the Jacksonians criticized John Quincy Adams for seemingly everything their criticism peaked after Adams signed into law the tariff of 1828 which increased tariff rates above 60% critics called it the tariff of abominations as it ended up hurting the economy of several southern states needless to say a distinct shift developed southerners began to largely support Jackson while support for Adams was mostly only in northern states President Adams was renown aided by the endorsement of multiple state legislators and partisan rallies there was no caucus for his nomination either supporters of Adams called themselves national Republicans secretary of the Treasury Richard rush officially ran as Adams running mate wait what the heck wasn't John Calhoun his vice president yes but Calhoun had decided to run for re-election as Jackson's running mate interestingly enough both campaigns were incredibly nasty mudslinging was frequent and Andrew Jackson was certainly an easy target I mean the man was involved in the slave trade participated in a massacre of Indians and had murdered multiple men and duels however things got particularly nasty when supporters of Adams started talking trash about Jackson's wife Rachel they even said Jackson's mom was a prostitute so it got personal people also said vicious things about Adams saying he had surrendered an American girl to the Russian czar when he was the minister to Russia and then he abused public funds to buy gambling devices which turned out to be just a chess set and a pool table by 1828 pretty much all white men could vote and nearly every state chose its electors through popular vote Jackson's supporters organized a remarkable grassroots campaign that took advantage of this and brought out many first-time voters Jackson and supporter Martin Van Buren took this campaign and created the modern Democratic Party a fitting title as true democracy was actually becoming more of a reality and here are the results Andrew Jackson got his revenge winning the election and becoming the seventh president of the United States he received 178 electoral votes and won 56 percent of the popular vote John Quincy Adams received 83 electoral votes getting 40 3.6 percent of the popular vote Adams won almost the exact same states his dad did in the election of 1800 John Calhoun was re-elected vice president becoming the second of two vice presidents to serve under two different presidents Jackson's election officially signaled a political movement toward a greater voice for the common man known as jacksonian democracy historians also called the election of 1828 the beginning of the second party system as two new political parties the Democratic Party and a new party called the Whig party would dominate American politics for the next 26 years tragically Rachel Jackson became ill and died shortly after the election she had been having chest throughout the campaign and was deeply upset by the personal attacks directed at her and her husband after her death Jackson accused the Adams campaign of causing her to die after the results of the election were announced a large mob entered the White House damaging lots of stuff in it while doing so in horrifying Adams and his staff who had escaped through the back door large punch bowls were set up to lure the crowd back outside on March 4th 1829 after Jackson was sworn in as president Jackson again opened the white house to the public and it turned into a crazy huge party with more than 20,000 people showing up this was a perfect example of how the times had dramatically changed John Quincy Adams had represented the old status quo the last of the aristocratic elitist and dignified of the presidents Jackson on the other hand represented the new guard the working-class dirty smelly average Joe ready to take the country for himself I'll see you for the next election buddy

Loading