Andrew Jackson vs. Henry Clay
Reading: Harry Watson, Andrew Jackson vs. Henry Clay: Democracy and Development in Antebellum America, 1-55.
In the opening sections of this book, Harry Watson (with whom I had the pleasure of studying at UNC-Chapel Hill) provides a sweeping panorama of the economic and political changes that transformed the young U.S. after 1800. Although he focuses attention on the early careers of Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay, he does not neglect to explore how the changes during this period were affecting ordinary Americans. In fact, he shows how Jackson and Clay gained political influence precisely because of the political democratization — for white men only — and economic development that were reshaping everyday life.
Jackson and Clay had much in common, as Watson shows, including their self-conception as Jeffersonian Republicans during their early political careers. Nevertheless, the two men developed a profound dislike for and suspicion of one another. Their primary disagreements, in terms of political policy, centered on the appropriate role of the federal government in promoting economic development. The most polarizing issue, of course, revolved around the Second Bank of the United States, which Jackson eventually helped destroy. Although Jackson deplored the BUS, it’s important to note that he did not oppose capitalism per se. The political debates of the day were a bit more subtle and complex than that.
Watson will cover the disputes between Jackson and Clay in more detail later. For the moment, then, the most salient questions deal with the broader historical context:
- What were the main features of the Market Revolution?
- What kinds of positive and negative impacts did the Market Revolution have on Americans. (Consider, separately, white men, white women, enslaved African Americans, and American Indians.)
- How did American politics change after 1800? How might those changes have been connected with the Market Revolution?
- How did Jackson and Clay, respectively, rise to prominence?
February 21st, 2007 at 5:17 pm
The Market Revolution essentially evolved from the improvements in American technology. Big improvements came in the area of transportation with the introdution of the canal and steamboat. With the invention of these two items came the quicker and vaster transport of goods, such as cotton, and the slaves who picked it. Cotton production rapidly increased in just a matter of a few years, causing a boom in new northern mills. As an overall result, there were many more individuals working in the North (mainly women and children) who spun the abundance of cotton being picked by the booming number of southern slaves. To sum things up, more production in the North meant more toiling tasks in the South.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:08 pm
The Market Revolution brought about many changes in the country but the changes were on a more personal basis then in years past. White men, who had previously been stuck-in-a-rut because the economy was stagnant, began to achieve success when the canals were opened and farming inland became profitable and Southwest plantations began to spring up everywhere. White females, as well as white children, were able to work in the factories and as shoe makers in their homes. The slave population grew as the plantations in the Southwest grew with the demand for cotton hitting an all time high. And Native American’s felt the effects of the Southwest migration when they were forced off their lands to make way for the new plantations. The changes that occurred weren’t just in one part of society, but all of society was affected in the Union.
February 21st, 2007 at 10:05 pm
The Market Revolution was started by the growing commerce of the North and South exporting their products from fields near navigable water. Towns were growing up and merchants would go to these cities to collect different kinds of products such as, flour, rice, and lumber then ship the products over seas in exchange for consumer goods from Europe. Entrepreneurs in the U.S. launched successful expirements in factory production. Their biggest achievement was in the cotton industry. With expanison in the factory industry this created all sorts of opportunity for entrepreneurs in the U.S. America’s economy was changing giving families who had limited economic opportunities to now; have a fresh start and have success by picking up a trade or successfully producing a crop.
February 27th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
I was rather impressed with the political changes that occurred in this tiem period. past-times like the party system and other party activities begin to flourish during the careers of both Clay and Jackson. It struck me as odd that perty systems and the tactics of placeing party friends throughout the system of government in places of power at all levels began in time not too long after the nation was founded. Corruption seems to seep very early into any and all forms of power. In the terms of market revolution the politics change because they began to see people asking and lobbying to special considerations. It was the birth period of speical interest groups. The groups that existed at this time were the gropus pushing for more and better banking to fuel the revolution. Clay tried to use the bank issue to get himself elected to president. Jackson on the other hand claimed that “It wealkty men could grow wealthier by political favoritism, then rival groups of greedy factions would soon be competing for government favor.” To me that is a pretty basic defintion of a special interest group.