The election of 1828 was one of great significance due to the precedents and overall tone it established for

future presidential elections. The two candidates for the presidency were Andrew Jackson and John Adams. After losing the previous election to Adams, Jackson retired to his home in Nashville where he met with a group of political advisors known as the Nashville Junto. The Nashville Junto and Jackson formed the first true political party in US history, the Democratic Party. This party was organized all the way down to the precinct level. The members of the party were in charge of campaigning for Jackson and also in charge of gathering supporters that would help in giving voters a ride to the county courthouse in wagons. After the voting was over, there were refreshments offered to Jackson loyalists. Another precedent set by this political party was the creation and use of the New York-Virginia axis strategy. The election of 1828 was also the first election where the common man was allowed to vote. Universal white male suffrage was key in the election of 1828 in that the candidates now had to win over the common man. The realization that the common man was now the target audience lead to the practice of mudslinging. It began with Jacksons supporters claiming that Adams was too British because he took daily baths, slept in silk pajamas, and played chess. Its important to note that in this time period the common man took a bath about twice every year and slept in coarse cloth onesies essentially. In response to this Adams supporters distributed the Coffin Handbill which had rows of tiny coffins that respresented the men that Jackson had killed in duels. The goal was to portray Jackson as a murder but most people of the time partook in duels and in some way this handbill further strengthened Jacksons image to the common man. Jacksons supporters fought back by saying that while Adams was serving as the ambassador to Russia, the Russian Czar saw their nanny and requested alone time with her, to which Adams agreed to make happen. The idea of Adams allowing this seemed disgusting to the American public. When Adams supporters heard about this they began searching into Jacksons past and found something that would have great impact on Jackson. They discovered that Jacksons wife was previously married to another man and then filed for divorce but the divorce was never finalized. Jackson immediately found her former husband and had the divorce finalized. They made her seem like a polygamist and an adulteress. The news went public and when Rachel Jackson got wind of it, she was devastated. She was a devout woman

whom many saw as morally impeccable. She fainted when she heard the news and doctors proceeded to leech her ,which only made her weak condition worse. She died soon after. Jackson blamed Adams for her death. The election of 1828 saw Andrew Jackson become president with John C. Calhoun as vice president. During Jacksons two terms in office he dealt with several issues, which Ill denote, as his four crises. The Nullification crisis began with the Tariff of 1828. The tariff was very unpopular with the south but South Carolina was the one that actually took action. The state legislature asked Calhoun to produce what came to be known as the South Carolina exposition, which claimed that the tariff was unconstitutional because it only affected the southern states. Their protest went unnoticed and Jackson raised the tariff at which point the state legislature passed the South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification in which they declared that they were not going to pay the tariff and no federal troops could enforce customs collection. They also threatened to secede from the Union if Congress did not repeal the Tariffs. Jackson did not stand for this and procured the Force Act. He made it clear that the tariff would be collected one way or another and that the Union had to be preserved at all costs. Calhoun did not share the same view when it came to the preservation of the Union, this lead to growing tensions between the two. Eventually a compromise was made. The compromise Tariff of 1833 was proposed by Henry Clay. As if the tension between Calhoun and Jackson was not enough, it was exacerbated by the Peggy Eaton affair. John Eaton was the secretary of war at the time and he fell in love with Peggy. Peggy was married to a sailor who committed suicide shortly before she married Eaton. Many claimed he committed suicide when he learned of her affair with Eaton. At this period in time, the purity of a woman was of great importance. The wives of other cabinet members would not invite her to dinners or other social events. This angered Jackson very much because it reminded him of the situation he went through with Rachel. This growing tension eventually led to Calhouns resignation. Indian Removal act Tribes had to relocate or they would have to abide by state laws

Court ruled the act to be unconstitutional but Jackson did not enforce their ruling Government hired private contractors to move them out The trail of tears accounted for the death of of the Indians of the five tribes

Bank Act Henry clay wanted to renew the charter for the Second Bank of the United states but Jackson vetoed the charter just before the election. Jackson ordered his Secretary of Treasury to withdraw all the funds from the Second Bank of the United States and deposit them into state pet banks. Jackson had to go through two secretaries of Treasury to get this done but finally he appointed Roger Taney as Secretary of Treasury. Taney did as he was told and withdrew the money. This sparked the Panic of 1837. Many people were left homeless and without food. He succeeded in destroying the Second Bank of the United States.