Interpret the Evidence
Why, according to the Anti-Jackson convention in Richmond, was Andrew Jackson unfit for president (Document 9.10)? How does it characterize Jackson’s political and military experience? How does it describe Jackson’s supporters? Does the convention seem enthusiastic about Adams?
What was the purpose of the coffin handbill (Document 9.11)? How would you describe the imagery and Binns’s rhetoric? How does Binns describe the soldiers who were executed?
How does the Trenton Convention characterize Jackson’s background (Document 9.12)? How does it portray Jackson as different from Adams? How does it describe the campaign tactics of Adams’s followers?
What kind of person was Adams, according to the Albany Convention (Document 9.13)? How did the convention criticize Adams’s background? How does it portray Jackson differently?
Why do you think George H. Steuart and John V. L. McMahon linked themselves so closely to Jackson (Document 9.14)? What do you think was the intention of the drawing of Jackson? Why would the artist use a Thomas Jefferson quote?
Put It in Context
What prominent themes can you identify across these campaign documents? What qualities do the documents suggest voters most valued in a candidate?
The election of 1828 is often called the first modern presidential campaign. In what ways are the themes and images presented here still prevalent in political campaigning today? How are they different?