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 South and the East are: the _Debates_ of the constitutional conventions of Massachusetts (1820), New York (1821), Virginia (1829), and North Carolina (1835), and _The Memoir of John Quincy Adams_, in twelve large volumes, which covers minutely the period of 1825 to 1848. This work appeared in 1874-76. It is a remarkable record of a remarkable man. J. B. McMaster's _History of the United States_ (1900-13) is a life of the people which no library can afford to be without, and J. Schouler's _History of the United States under the Constitution_ (revised ed. 1894-99) is equally good, giving a fuller account of the political and constitutional development of the country. A. B. Hart's _The American Nation_ (1904-08) is a fuller cooeperative work by the leading scholars of the United States. The volumes which bear upon the period in hand will be cited in succeeding chapters. Special studies of importance are: C. H. Ambler's _Sectionalism in Virginia_ (1910); D. F. Houston's _Critical Study of Nullification in South Carolina_ (1896); W. A. Schaper's _Sectionalism in South Carolina_ (1900); and H. M. Wagstaff's _States Rights and Political Parties in North Carolina_ (1906). CHAPTER II THE WEST Tens of thousands of eager people witnessed the inauguration of Andrew Jackson on March 4, 1829; they crowded the streets, stood upon the house-tops, and peered out from every open window; they jostled the attendants at the White House and overturned the bowls and jars which contained the ices and wines intended for the entertainment of the new President and his friends. "The people have come to power," said a chastened admirer of Henry Clay as she watched sadly the wreckage of the dainties which dainty hands had prepared, and as she looked with dismay upon the wearers of rough and dirty boots striding over costly carpets where hitherto only gentlemen and ladies had trod. It was a happy occasion to the unthinking but honest democrats[2] who gloried in the success of their "hero," but a sad warning to the more refined who had been accustomed to see things done in due form and stateliness. [Footnote 2: This term is used to indicate those who believed in democracy, not those who called themselves Democrats. The distinction will be observed throughout the book.]