Andrew Jackson and Democracy

Jackson, after the "corrupt bargain" between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, believed that the electoral process needed to change (Remini, p.17). Throughout Jackson's eight year tenure as president there were times when the democratic process was followed and both bad and good outcomes resulted. I will be analyzing the Nullification Crisis of 1832 as well as the Worcester vs. Georgia court case of 1832 from Madison's supposed republican point of view and the more purified democratic worldview of Jackson. .
             .
             The Nullification Crisis in 1832 resulted from a tariff policy which was instituted under the Jackson administration to balance the deficit of the Federal Government. Jackson viewed national debt to only help the creditor class, which often included foreign powers such as Britain and France, which Jackson deemed entirely unacceptable (Remini, p.10). Jackson stated "There must be no distinction between the rich and poor the great and ignoble" (Remini, p.10). He followed this statement by stating that all national debt is to be considered a national curse (Remini, p.11). In 1833, South Carolina at a state convention declared both the tariff of 1828 and 1832 to be unconstitutional and made military preparations to avoid federal intervention military. John C. Calhoun lead the opposition to Jackson's tariff policy, and was the first American to fully develop the idea that the will of the majority can directly hurt the minority factions in society. Calhoun viewed this "Tariff of Abominations" to directly be benefiting the manufacturing-based North while the agricultural exporting based South was suffering severely. Calhoun argued that when the government acts and it might hurt a minority faction that action should simply not be taken, with the exception of morale issues. Daniel Webster during the nullification process quotes James Madison from Federalist Paper 51 "if the majority is united by common interest the rights of the minorities will be insecure," and the Southern states experienced this directly (Federalist 51, p.