Thursday, July 28, 2011

Corrupt Bargain-1824

After the votes were counted in the U.S. presidential election of 1824, no candidate had received a majority of the Presidential Electoral votes, thereby putting the outcome in the hands of the House of Representatives. To the surprise of many, the House elected John Quincy Adams over rival Andrew Jackson. It was widely believed that Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House at the time, convinced Congress to elect Adams, who then made Clay his Secretary of State. Supporters of Jackson, who won a plurality of those popular votes which had been counted (though not necessarily of all votes) as well as the greatest number of electoral votes, denounced this as a "corrupt bargain." This is a clear example of sectionalism within the government. It's obvious that the election of 1824 was "bought," and this outraged Jackson so much so that he began a campaign of revenge against Adams in the campaign of 1832 which he won by a landslide. Jackson vs. Adams is the beginning of a new political era, where there is a shift in parties and the Jacksonian Democrats evolve. This entire Corrupt Bargain of 1824 clearly shows a divide between the vicious political parties of the 19th century.