Humanities 8

Lesson Ten:  The Age of Jackson

 

A.  Objectives: To internalize the three main ideas:

  1. President Andrew Jackson brought many changes to the American political system.
  2. Many Native Americans were forced off their lands in the Southeast.
  3. Economic issues had a strong effect on politics and government in the mid-1800s.

 

B.  Standards:

            US8.8.1 Discuss the election of Andrew Jackson as president in 1828, the importance of Jacksonian democracy, and his actions as president (e.g., the spoils system, veto of the National Bank, policy of Indian removal, opposition to the Supreme Court).

            US8.8.2 Describe the purpose, challenges, and economic incentives associated with westward expansion, including the concept of Manifest Destiny (e.g., the Lewis and Clark expdedtion, accounts of the removal of Indians, the Cherokees’ “Trail of Tears”, settlement of the Great Plains) and the territorial acquisitions that spanned numerous decades.

 

C.  Key Vocabulary:
  1. relocate
  2. guerrilla tactics
  3. veto
  4. depression
  5. laissez-faire
  6. favorite son
  7. plurality
  8. mudslinging
  9. landslide
  10. suffrage
  11. bureaucracy
  12. spoils system
  13. caucus
  14. tariff
  15. nullify
  16. secede

 

D.  Focus on Concepts:

    • Adams and Jackson introduced new ways of campaigning in the elections of 1824 and 1828.
    • The United States’s political system changed under Andrew Jackson, becoming more democratic.
    • The fight over tariffs divided the nation and raised the question of states’ rights versus the rights of the federal government.
    • As settlements spread westward, many Native Americans were forced off their lands.
    • Some groups of Native Americans attempted to resist relocation.  Most were eventually taken from their lands by force.
    • President Jackson forced the National Bank to close, and the Panic of 1837 caused economic problems that split the Democratic party.
    • After Harrison’s death, Tyler took the presidency in a direction opposed to the Whigs’ goals, and the Whigs lost power after 1844.

 

E.  Evaluation:

1.  Quiz on chapter 10.