had accepted
Jackson and the Middle States conservatives were demoralized by the Van
Buren and Ingham activity.

The rough backwoods General had proved a politician too astute for the
oldest heads. He had been able to enlist the services of Northern men
who did not believe in democracy, and he had the loyal support of
Southern leaders who were just then breaking down the power of democracy
in all the older States of their section. He was not less fortunate in
the expression of his opinions on public questions. On the tariff, the
burning question of the time, he had no views; on internal improvements
he had even less to say. Even on the subject of the free distribution of
the public lands he was silent, though most Westerners took his
hostility to the Indians to mean that he would do what was desired.
Jackson was "all things to all men" in 1828, and this discreet attitude
seems to have been effective, though it was to bring trouble when he
became President.

When the vote was counted, it was found that the people had been aroused
as they had not been before since 1800. The cry, "Shall the people
rule?" was answered by Pennsylvania by a vote for Jackson of 100,000 as
against 50,000 for Adams. Virginia gave Jackson as many votes in 1828 as
had been cast for all parties in 1824. And the total vote of the country
for Jackson was 647,276 as against 508,064 for Adams. The General had
won every electoral vote of the South and the West; and both
Pennsylvania and New York had sustained him. New England was solid for
her candidate, and New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland returned Adams
majorities. The lines were drawn, as had been foreseen, just as in the
contest between Jefferson and John Adams twenty-eight years before; and
in general the attitudes of the social classes were the same.

[Illustration: The Presidential Election of 1828]

The second alliance of South and West had been effected, and "the
people" had come to power a second time, only the West was now the
dominant element. How would the West and "the people" use their power?

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

J. S. Bassett's _Life of Andrew Jackson_ (1911) is the best work on that
subject, though James Parton's _Life of Jackson_ (ed. of 1887) is still
the best for a documentary account. The biographies of Henry Clay and
John Quincy Adams in the _American Statesmen_ series are the best for
these men. Of more importance for a view of social and political
conditions of the