N. ADMINISTRATION OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS (1825-29). Cabinct.—Secretary of State, Henry Clay, Kentucky. March 7, 1825. Secretary of the Treasury, Richard Rush, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1825. Secretary of War, James Barbour, Vir ginia, March 7, 1825; Peter B. Porter, New York, May 26, 1828. Secretary of time Yary, S. L. South ard, continued. William Wirt, continued. Postmaster-General, John McLean, continued.
A new division of the American people into parties dates from the beginning of this ad ministration. The party previously known as Republican or Democratic-Republican soon took the name of Democratic (see DEMOCRATIC . while the Clay and Adams factions, which had been identified with the doctrine of loose construction. after taking the name of National Republican, changed it eventually to that of Whig (see WHIG PARTY) , by which the party con tinued to be 1:110W11 for some twenty-five years. The basis for the new party division lay largely in the factional differences between the followers of Adams and those of Jackson. and one result of this was the prolonged controversy throughout the administration of Adams and the develop ment of especially bitter relations between the factions of the leaders, which continued through out the two terms of Jackson. Owing to the determined obstruction which was made by the opponents of the Administration, few of its meas ures were carried, so that the net results of the four years' work were comparatively slight, and the period became distinguished chiefly by the partisan conflicts preliminary to the over throw of the Adams faction in J828.
During the suspension of commerce by the War of 1812, large amounts of capital were withdrawn from trading ventures and diverted to manufacturing establishments, with the result that gradually New England and the Northern coast States ceased to be free-trade regions. and became desirous of a protective tariff policy, while the South arrayed itself on the side of free trade. Upon the return of peace, the new manufacturing establishments were not firmly enough established to compete successfully with the foreign manufacturers, and accordingly in 1824 an act was passed for the purpose of giv ing the control of the home market to the wool manufacturers. This failing of its purpose, a
national convention of protectionists at Harris burg, Pa., in July, 1827, advocated a strongly protective policy, and in 1828 a tariff framed in accordance with these views became law. The South denounced this measure as being sectional legislation, intended to benefit New England and the Middle States at the expense of the South, and the doctrine of Nullification (q.v.), which had been promulgated in the Kentucky Resolu tions of 1798( see VIRGINIA AND KENTUCKY RES°. LutioNs), and had been revived in South Caro lina in 1827, began to be widely accepted in the Southern States. Adams's administration was further marked by the expenditure by the Na tional Government of some $14,000,000 for 'in ternal improvements;' by the rapid immigration to the West, greatly promoted by the opening of the Erie Canal; and by the debates in Congress over the advisability of sending delegates to the Panama Congress (q.v.). In 1828 the Democratic candidate for President, Andrew Jackson, of Ten nessee, received 178 electoral votes to 83 east for John Quincy Adams; and John C. Calhoun was reelected Vice-President, having 171 electoral votes. The accession of President Jackson was the beginning of a new era in political practice. A radical change was typified by the discontent with the existing methods, which led to the more direct participation of the public at large in political affairs through the rise of the nominat ing convention and through the practice of choosing Presidential electors by popular vote. This marked departure toward practical democ racy was emphasized by the striking influence which the new Western States and their ideals and standards of life now secured over national politics.