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It was in the decades of the 1820’s and the 1830’s, often referred to rather broadly as the “Age of Jackson,” that sectional differences began to complicate national life. The Missouri Compromise fight had set the stage. The truce was soon troubled by a series of squabbles over the tariff, which grew to such a degree of intensity that the doctrine of nullification emerged. That storm blew over but it left damage in its wake – the lively discussion over the proposal to annex Texas showed that all was not quiet under the surface and the abolitionists did not exactly throw water on the live embers. During the period the West had a chance to assert itself under Jackson’s leadership and the “common man,” with the frontiers man president as a symbol, began to come into his own. A new political party emerged which for a time seemed likely to unite the states-rights South and the West. Adding to the stress of the time were the distressing economic problems of the Panic of 1837.
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