The Whig congressional caucus expelled President John Tyler from the party on September 13, 1841, after he vetoed national bank legislation for the second time in August, revealing that one of the main political principles guiding him was states’ rights ideology and protection of slavery …
John TylerHenry ClayWhig PartyCabinet Membersinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionexecutive-overreachparty-realignmentstates-rights
The Senate voted 26-to-20 on March 28, 1834, to censure President Andrew Jackson for unconstitutionally removing federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States and placing them in state-chartered “pet banks.” The resolution, introduced by Henry Clay, declared that Jackson …
Andrew JacksonHenry ClayRoger TaneyWilliam DuaneU.S. Senateinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionfinancial-deregulationexecutive-overreachdemocratic-erosion
Following Andrew Jackson’s September 1833 removal of federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States, Bank president Nicholas Biddle responds by deliberately contracting credit nationwide to create economic distress and force Jackson to reverse his policy. Biddle raises interest …
Nicholas BiddleSecond Bank of the United StatesAndrew JacksonHenry ClayU.S. Congress+2 morefinancial-manipulationeconomic-sabotagebanking-systemjackson-erainstitutional-corruption
A South Carolina state convention adopts the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 “null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens,” and threatening secession if the federal government attempts to collect tariff duties …
John C. CalhounAndrew JacksonSouth CarolinaHenry ClayU.S. Congressnullificationslave-powerstates-rightssecession-threatconstitutional-crisis+1 more
President Andrew Jackson vetoes legislation to renew the Second Bank of the United States’ charter, four years before its scheduled expiration, delivering a “popular and effective” message declaring the Bank “unauthorized by the Constitution, subversive to the rights of …
Andrew JacksonNicholas BiddleHenry ClayDaniel WebsterSecond Bank of the United Statesfinancial-manipulationinstitutional-corruptioneconomic-policyjackson-erabanking-system
The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as president on February 9, 1825, despite Andrew Jackson winning both the popular vote (152,901 to 114,023) and the highest electoral vote count (99, though short of the required majority). When no candidate achieved an electoral majority in the …
John Quincy AdamsHenry ClayAndrew JacksonWilliam CrawfordU.S. House of Representativesinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionelectoral-fraudpolitical-deceptiondemocratic-erosion
The U.S. House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as president despite Andrew Jackson having won both a plurality of the popular vote (41%) and the Electoral College (99 votes to Adams’s 84), in what becomes known as the “Corrupt Bargain.” The 1824 presidential election …
John Quincy AdamsHenry ClayAndrew JacksonWilliam H. CrawfordU.S. House of Representativeselectoral-corruptionpolitical-dealselite-manipulationdemocratic-erosion
Missouri became the 24th state on August 10, 1821, after Congress resolved a constitutional crisis over the state’s attempt to exclude free Black citizens. The original Missouri Compromise of March 1820 had admitted Missouri as a slave state paired with Maine as a free state, drawing a line at …
CongressJames MonroeHenry ClayDaniel Pope CookWilliam Lowndesinstitutional-capturesystematic-corruptionslave-powerracial-oppressiondemocratic-erosion
Congress passes and President James Monroe signs the Missouri Compromise, federal legislation that balances the desires of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery with those of southern states to expand it. The compromise admits Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state …
Henry ClayJames MonroeU.S. CongressSlave Power advocatesslave-powerinstitutional-corruptionterritorial-expansionlegislative-capturemissouri-compromise
On the last day of his administration, President James Madison vetoes the Bonus Bill, legislation proposed by Representative John C. Calhoun to earmark the $1.5 million revenue “bonus” and future dividends (estimated at $650,000 annually) from the recently established Second Bank of the …
President James MadisonJohn C. CalhounHenry ClayU.S. Congressconstitutional-interpretationinternal-improvementsinfrastructurestates-rightsinstitutional-obstruction
Congress passes the Tariff of 1816, the first explicitly protective tariff in American history, taxing imported goods at a remarkable 25% rate to protect emerging domestic industries from cheap British goods flooding American markets after the War of 1812. The tariff represents the first pillar of …
Henry ClayU.S. CongressNorthern manufacturersSouthern planterseconomic-policysectional-conflictprotectionismamerican-systemregional-extraction