The Second Party System: The Jackson Era
"Though Adams now misrules the land,
And strives to oppress the free,
He soon must yield his high command
Unto old Hickory"
“He'll fret and fume, he'll shoot and stab,
he'll stamp an' swear "like any drab"
He'll play Jack Cade, hang honest men,
An' after that Calhoun's a comin' "
The above lyrics are from campaign songs (listen to remakes of these songs with the players above) that were written during the dawn of the Second Party System in the United States and they are associated with the aftermath of the disputed election of 1824. The controversial results of this election and the ensuing battles between supporters of Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams divided the once dominant Democratic Republican party. After the disintegration of the Federalist Party following the War of 1812, the United States had returned to what was essentially a one-party system (the Democratic Republicans) with various factions mainly based on sectional interests. The development of the modern Democratic Party can be traced back to the electoral defeat of Andrew Jackson in the Election of 1824.
In the Election of 1824 Andrew Jackson made a surprising run to become the top vote getter of the four leading candidates for president. Historian Sean Wilentz argues that this was unprecedented [1]and I argue that the use of campaign songs contributed to this meteoric rise. Jackson’s campaign leading up to the election of 1824 promoted Jackson as a national figure, more so than his opponents, and the Jackson supporters held large rallies and parades[2] riding a wave of anti-Washington resentment following the economic collapse of
1819.[3] To bolster his image and put his war hero status in front of the public, his supporters used a song by Samuel Woodworth entitled “The Hunters of Kentucky” which reminded voters of one of the most famous (in American’s eyes) battles from the War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans. Jackson’s one sided victory over the British Army lead by General Packenham had made Jackson a national hero in 1815. The
lyrics of “The Hunters of Kentucky” reminded the voters of Jackson’s military glory, as these excerpts show:
THE HUNTERS OF KENTUCKY
I s’pose you’ve read it in the prints, how Packenham attempted
To make old Hickory Jackson wince, but soon his schemes repented;
For we with rifles ready cocked, thought such occasion lucky,
And soon around the general flocked the hunters of Kentucky.
You’ve heard, I s’pose, how New Orleans is famed for wealth and beauty
There’s girls of every hue, it seems, from snowy white to sooty.
So Packenham he made his brags, if he in fight was lucky,
He’d have their girls and cotton bags in spite of old Kentucky.
But Jackson he was wide awake, and wasn’t scared at trifles,
For well he knew what aim we take with our Kentucky rifles;
So he led us down to Cyprus swamp, the ground was low and mucky,
There stood John Bull in martial pomp, and here was old Kentucky
They found at last 'twas vain to fight, where lead was all their booty,
And so they wisely took to flight, and left us all our beauty,
And now if danger e’er annoys, remember what our trade is,
Just send for us Kentucky boys, and we’ll protect your ladies.[4]
After tallying the voting in 1824 the electoral count had Jackson with 99 votes, John Quincy Adams with 84, William Henry Crawford with 41, and Henry Clay with 37, and although Jackson had the highest number of both the popular and the electoral votes he did not have the constitutionally required majority of electoral votes. As was required by the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution, the election was sent to the House of Representatives where the Speaker of the House, Henry Clay (who had received the least amount of electoral votes of the four presidential candidates that year and thus was out of the running), led the process to choose who would become president from the three remaining candidates. Jackson naturally thought he would be chosen, but under Clay’s urging John Quincy Adams was selected. As President-elect, Adams then chose Clay to serve as his Secretary of State (at this time the cabinet position of Secretary of State was seen as the stepping stone to the presidency). The selection of Clay for Secretary of State caused Jackson and his supporters to cry foul and label this the “corrupt bargain.”
After Adams inauguration, Jackson and his supporters became known as the Democrats and built the trappings of a modern political party machine throughout the various states and they kept up the pressure against Adams and the National Republicans (soon to be Whigs) for four years building up into the election of 1828. The Jackson Democrats campaigned with their hero, “Old Hickory”, at a time when the voting requirements were being relaxed in many of the states and universal white male suffrage had arrived. To appeal to this new electorate the Democrats hailed Jackson as the hero of the “Common Man” who was ready to fight the establishment for the good of the people. Campaign rallies, songs, and democratic meetings with feasts and abundant toasts once again became an important factor in creating excitement for the voters.
The campaign song “The Jackson Toast” was written to be sung to the well-known tune “Auld Lange Syne”. The lyrics use the familiar themes seen in campaign songs from the First Party System such as standing up against oppression, patriotic support for the‘true’ candidate, along with contemporary comments on the corrupt results of the election of 1824. The lyrics highlighted key factors that helped Jackson rise to power and reinforced the idea that the 1828 election was an important moment in the growth of American democracy. The first song chosen to be recorded to represent the Second Party System for this project, it was a song the author used in the classroom for many years as he played
guitar with and sang along with his students. The new, revised version of “The Jackson Toast” recorded especially for this project began with a military marching drum beat and a powerful guitar riff to grab the listeners’attention and conjure up images of the military chieftain that Jackson was. The song then continued with a straightforward musical progression similar to the original tune used with this song, “Auld Lange Syne.” The author rearranged the verse, chorus, verse, chorus progression of the original version, changing it to two verses and then the chorus for the sake of brevity and so the song would not be so repetitive. To give the chorus a buildup and emphasis at the end when the singer sang “which patriots all desire,” the author added a Chuck-Berry-style guitar riff that made that phrase stand out. Straightforward but effective, the new melody recreated for modern listeners the pugnacious and celebratory feeling that the original would have had for the supporters of Andrew Jackson:
The Jackson Toast
Though Adams now misrules the land,
And strives t’oppress the free,
He soon must yield his high command
Unto “Old Hickory.”
The lyrics above clearly show that the Democrats felt that John Quincy Adams was not running the country justly and was attempting to take away the rights of free Americans, but he would soon have to give up the Presidency to Jackson. The use of Jackson’s nickname “Old Hickory” reminded voters of Jackson’s toughness (hickory is a very strong hardwood) and his military exploits.
Chorus:
Then toast our Jackson, good and great,
The man whom we admire,
He soon will mount the chair of state,
Which Patriots (all) desire.
The lyrics in the chorus provide evidence that the frequent toasts and songs from meetings and rallies during the First Party System[5]continued during the Second Party System along with the theme that true Americans (patriots) wanted the correct candidate, in this case Jackson to win the presidency.
And though Corruption’s baleful voice
Did formerly prevail –
Once more he’ll be the people’s choice
Though demagogues assail
This verse touches upon one of the key issues that dogged Adams presidency and buoyed Jackson’s campaign, the alleged ‘corrupt bargain’. The lyrics point out that Adams did prevail in 1824 via corruption, but Jackson was the choice of the people in 1824 and will be again in 1828 despite the attacks of political opportunists.
Now Johnny Q. and Henry Clay,
With all the people’s foes,
Are giving, as they pass away,
Their last convulsive throes.
The above lyrics conveyed the Democrats’ idea that Adams and his
Secretary of State Henry Clay were the enemies of the Common Man, but their political power was dying and they were on the way out.
And Liberty will reign once more,
O’er all the brave and free
When Jackson shall her rights restore,
To their first purity.
The concept of liberty carries over from the Revolution through the First Party System and here at the start of the Second Party System. Jackson is portrayed as an honorable soldier (like Washington) who would restore America to its former greatness (like when Washington was President). This concept of the Second Party System as a time period when the “politics of memory” was an important part of the partisan competition was established in a study of campaign pamphlets and speeches by historian Joel Silbey. These lyrics along with the lyrics of many campaign songs (see appendix on website) from the Second Party System corroborate his findings showing this pattern of looking back to the previous era to find the traditional concerns and ‘critical ideological marking points” of the American people.[6]
Let Freemen, then, their goblets fill,
And drink to him whose name
Stands sanctioned by the People’s Will,
First on the role of fame’[7]
The final verse refers to giving a toast to Jackson. Giving toasts in favor of a particular candidate had been an American political tradition since the Colonial period (often with the drinks provided for by the candidate and his supporters)[8] but the participation and feeling of entitlement of the average voter grew dramatically during this era. After Jackson’s victory in1828 the“Common man” literally crashed the inauguration party at the White House ushering in a new era of politics, forever ending the concept of deferential politics that the Federalists and later the Whigs had tried to hold on to.
As the new President in 1825, without a mandate from the people, Adams faced an uphill battle from the very start of his administration and he admitted the election had not resulted “in a manner satisfactory to pride or just desire; not by the unequivocal suffrages of a majority of people; with perhaps two-thirds of the whole people adverse to the actual result.”[9] Nevertheless Adams attempted to implement his program for the nation which had parallels with the previous policies of the Federalists.[10] Unfortunately for Adams, he was so out of touch with the democratic currents in the country at this time that he even admonished the Congress in 1826 not to “slumber in ignorance or fold up our arms and proclaim to the world that we are palsied by the will of our constituents.” Wilentz believes this statement of Adams to be one of the most politically ruinous in the history of American presidential rhetoric.[11] While Adams argued that Liberty was power, the Jacksonian Democrats argued that liberty was threatened by power and to ignore the will of the people was the mark of a tyrant.
Adams’ out of touch statements were used against him in other campaign songs that promoted Jackson in 1828 including “The Vicar of Bray” and the song “John Adams’Son, My Jo, John”. These songs (found in the Appendix on the website) attempt to situate Adams on the wrong side of history and connect him directly to the undemocratic Federalists of an earlier age at a time when the American democracy was expanding with universal white male suffrage.
The lyrics examined so far from the early years of the Second Party System have been songs written in support of Jackson but the supporters of Adams in1828 had their songs too and would not go down without a fight. An associate of Henry Clay named Charles Hammond traveled to Kentucky and Tennessee to dig up ammunition to use against Jackson. This led to some of the dirtiest politics seen since the Federalist and Democratic Republican battles decades earlier. The campaign became ruthless and apparently anything was fair game including Jackson’s mother (alleged prostitute), wife (alleged adulteress and bigamist) and, of course, Jackson himself.[12] Hammond and his partners published a book in 1828 compiling their accusations and arguments against Jackson. Included in this book was “Groanings” (see appendix) which was a song that predicted the reaction of Jackson after his presumed defeat in the Election of 1828 portraying him as a simpleton and a violent bigot. Adams' supporters constantly portrayed Jackson as a violent and dangerous man, a military chieftain who was unfit for the presidency of a free people. With letters, pamphlet’s and the infamous“Coffin Hand Bill,” they laid out the case that Jackson was a tyrant and a murderer.[13]
The following song “Little Wat Ye Wha’s A-Comin”demonstrates the negative campaign tactics used by Adams supporters which have become so popular in modern politics but have their roots in the Early Republic. The lyrics warned voters that they did not realize the national catastrophe that awaited them if Jackson was elected. The
author selected it to be the fourth song recorded for this project because it was relatively simple lyrically and the phrasing worked well with a style he thought would effectively communicate the meaning of this song to a young, modern audience (like students). The first time he read the lyrics to “Little Wat Ye Wha’s A-Comin,” they reminded him of something the American Punk Rock pioneers “The Ramones” would sing: repetitive, kind of goofy, and straightforward. So that is how he
wrote the music, with clunky, simple, repetitive guitar chords. To make this song work with this style, he rephrased the lyrics slightly to get a repetitive Ramones Punk Rock vocals feel. He accomplished it by repeating “Little WAT, Little WAT, Little WAT, Little WAT!” comparable to the Ramones’ infamous “Beat on the brat, beat on the brat, beat on the brat with a baseball bat!” Once again he changed the lyrics from the original verse-chorus to verse-verse-chorus more
commonly found in modern rock music:
LITTLE WAT YE WHA’S A-COMIN
Little wat ye wha's a comin', little wat ye wha's a comin'
Little wat ye wha's a comin' murder wi' gory han's a comin'
Fire's a comin', swords a comin' pistols, guns an' knives are comin'
Nero's comin' Hero comin' forbye the second section's comin'
The lyrics begin with the idea that voters who support Jackson don’t realize what will happen to the country if Jackson is elected (Little Wat Ye Wha’s A-Comin is a Scottish phrase meaning you think you know but you really don’t realize what is going to happen) and then the song simply shows the violence and anarchy that the Whigs feel would occur if Jackson was elected.
He'll fret and fume, he'll shoot and stab,
he'll stamp an' swear "like any drab"
He'll play Jack Cade, hang honest men,
An' after that Calhoun's a comin'
Jackson was portrayed by the Whigs (National Republicans) as a military man with a violent past and violent temper who was unfit to be the leader of a free people. The image of Jack Cade who led a violent rebellion in 15th century. England was mixed with the reminder that while serving in the army Jackson had a number of soldiers in his militia court-martialed and then hung under his command. The final line stated that John Calhoun, the staunch states’ rights and pro-slavery Senator from South Carolina, would eventually take over after Jackson was sure to inspire anti-Jackson votes in New England.
Little wat ye wha's a comin', little wat ye wha's a comin'
Little wat ye wha's a comin', martial an' lynch's law are comin'
Slavery's comin', knavery's comin, plunder's comin', Blunder's comin'
Robbing's comin' Jobbing's comin', an' a' the plague o' War's a-comin'
The lyrics continue with the theme that Jackson would lead the nation as a military commander using martial law and lynching opponents. The verse ends with the images of anarchy, corruption, and war on the horizon if Jackson won.
He'll fret &c
Little wat ye wha's a comin', little wat ye wha's a comin'
Little wat ye wha's a comin', JUGGERNAUT himsel' is comin'
Little wat ye wha's a comin', little wat ye wha's a comin'
Little wat ye wha's a comin', if John Quicy not be comin'
The song ends with the warning an all powerful destructive force ‘Juggernaut’ is coming if John Quincy isn’t elected. Unfortunately for the Adams supporters, the attacks and smears of the anti-Jackson politicians did not catch on with the voters and Jackson’s campaign song writers replied to these accusations by addressing them directly in songs like“Huzza! for General Jackson”. Some of the lyrics are excerpted below:
HUZZA! FOR GENERAL JACKSON
Come all who are our country's friends,
And unto these few lines attend,
Perhaps before you reach the end
You'll find something for to mend,
But listen to my story.
I hope we shall be like the sun
A steady course to always run,
In freedom's cause as we began,
And be united all as one,
And never turn a Tory.
The lyrics portrayed Jackson as the defender of freedom and a unifying force that was opposed to Great Britain and British influence, putting him in line as a direct descendant of the Jeffersonian Republicans. The opponents were seen as trying to build a federal faction in the lyrics below:
Our opposition party say,
If Jackson should but gain the day,
There will be war without delay,
And proselytes they gain this way,
To build their fed'ral faction.
But all who are for liberty,
Their deepest plans can sometimes see,
But always let our motto be,
"We're determin'd to be free,"
Huzza! for Gen'ral Jackson.
There's some who at our party rail,
Call us the rag-tag and bob-tail,
But we have one within our pale,
Who we are sure will never fail,
To vote for Genral Jackson.
TheJackson Ticket they do say,
Is blood and carnage, by the way
Of slander, yet we hope we may
Join with our southern friends and say,
Huzza! for Andrew Jackson.[14]
When the returns from 1828 came in, it showed that indeed the “southern friends” had joined with the West to elect Andrew Jackson with a 178 to 83 margin of victory in the Electoral College. Adams did well in New England but Jackson’s victory was largely caused by a threefold increase in the popular vote with Jackson receiving over 56 percent of those voters.[15]
With its victory, the Democratic Party would control the White House for the next 12 years and a new era of politics was ushered in. The Whigs would finally achieve their goal and win a presidential election in 1840 with the most famous “singing campaign” in presidential campaign history when William Henry Harrison and John Tyler were victorious. The victory of “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!,” of course, was accomplished by running a military hero, with a populist appeal, and more rallies, drinking, and singing than the nation had ever seen, causing the Democrats to bemoan“they have at last learned from defeat the art of victory! We have taught them how to conquer us!”[16]
Images: John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams, Library of Congress- American Memory Collection:
Andrew Jackson Cartoon
[1]Sean Wilentz, The Rise of American Democracy- Jefferson to Lincoln. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005, 251.
[2]Wilentz, The Rise of American Democracy, 248.
[3] Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America: 1815 – 1848 (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2007), 207.
[4]“The Hunters of Kentucky”. Library of Congress American Memory Collection.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?amss:2:./temp/~ammem_7BKp:: Accessed April 7/2012.
[5]Richard C. Spicer, "Popular Song for Public Celebration in Federal Portsmouth, New Hampshire,"Popular Music & Society 25, no. 1/2: 1 ( March, 2001)
[6] Joel H. Silbey. The American Party Battle: Election Campaign Pamphlets, 1828 – 1876 (Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1999), 4.
[7] Silber, Songs America Voted By, 32.
[8] Charles S. Sydnor, American Revolutionaries in the Making: Political Practices in Washington’s Virginia,
(New York: The Free Press, 1965) 53.
[9] Wilentz, The Rise, 256.
[10] Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 252-254.
[11] Wilentz, The Rise, 260.
[12]Wilentz, The Rise, 306.
[13]Vera Brodsky Lawrence,Music for Patriots, Politicians, and Presidents: Harmonies and Discords of the First
Hundred Years ( New York: MacMillan Publishing Co, 1975),238-239.
[14] Unknown author, Library of Congress, American Memory, American Singing: Nineteenth Century Song Sheets, under “Huzza
for General Jackson,” http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/amss:@field(DOCID+@lit(as105670) (accessed February 21, 2012)
[15]Howe,What Hath God Wrought, 280-281.
[16] Robert Gray Gunderson, The Log-Cabin Campaign(Lexington, University of Kentucky Press, 1957), 108.