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Wilentz portrays President John Quincy Adams as weak-willed and lacking a certain charisma that defined most presidents at the time. There is a definite truth to Robbie’s assertion that, “The 1824 election, won by John Quincy Adams, resulted in an almost stagnant presidency, an exception for the time period.” However, I wouldn’t quite say it was a “stagnant” presidency, as this new Era of Bad Feelings was also filled with much political turmoil and shifting powers in American government. One of the most evident examples of Adams’ ineffective presidency was his failure to stand up to Governor Troup and the Georgia legislature. He simply submitted to the Georgians as they forced the Creeks and Cherokees off their legally occupied land. Not only did this conflict make Adams seem weak, it also made the federal government appear powerless, something the South used to their advantage when advocating stronger state governments. “In the first menacing assertion of what came to be known as southern state-rights sectionalism, Adams permitted the nation to surrender to state” (Wilentz, p. 139). John Quincy Adam’s presidency was not stagnant during this time, for there was a greater development of southern sectionalism and much more tension between federal government and country democratic movements.
As Andrew Jackson assumed presidency, another issue emerged alongside state-rights and would become the main catalyst in the split between North and South. Beginning with the Missouri Compromise, the question over slavery’s constitutionality in America was more apparent in national affairs than ever before. “The nub of the matter was, as ever, political: either American democracy could tolerate slavery or it could not” (Wilentz, p. 165). By removing the Cherokee Indians from their land, Andrew Jackson inadvertently reinforced the notion that whites were superior to nonwhites, which included blacks as well. This was also demonstrated by the fact that he owned slaves himself. The issue of slavery in national affairs gave rise to an abolitionist movement led by free blacks in the North. However, as the abolitionist movement grew, it only further threatened the national unity of the country. “The rise of the abolitionist radicals aggravated divisions within the North and the South as well as between them” (Wilentz, p.179).