Andrew Jackson And The Influence Of The Jacksonian Democracy

Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. However, the Jacksonian Democrats were in a catch 22. In order for them to protect the interests of the common man, they at times had to violate the very things for which they stood. By doing this, the Jacksonian Democrats stressed the importance of the power of the common man, at times by violating their own principles.

The impact of the reforms that happened during the Jacksonian Era had strong political foundations. Before the 19th century, women had no rights to vote and only white males that had sufficient property could. However, at the start of year 1815, many states have accepted white, property-less males the right to vote. All states, but one, continued following this trend up to the year 1850. The effect was an influx of popular candidates into local and national positions. More importantly, Jackson was elected President in 1828, after losing the election in 1824 known as “corrupt bargain of 1824”. He was known as the man of the people. His accomplishments in

Looking at the ballots of 1828 and 1832, Andrew Jackson was clearly labeled as a Democratic Republic, a party founded by Thomas Jefferson. These Democrats supposedly believed in the ideas of a limited central government, states’ rights, and protection of the liberty of individuals. However, based on these principles, tyrannous “King Andrew I” may not be as democratic as one may think. Jackson shifted the Presidency to a more personal style, by vetoing anything that disagreed with his own beliefs, rather than the beliefs of the people. Through the Indian Removal Act, the Spoils System, and the Bank War, Andrew Jackson revealed himself to be a non-democrat who cared more about himself than the people. And among these people, natives and slaves were given the least liberties out of all the racial groups in America at the time.

Andrew Jackson wrote a letter to Congress on July 10, 1832, saying the “rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes" (Doc. F). Jackson is talking about the national bank in this letter to Congress and it was very well known from his close friends that he had “always been afraid of banks... [and called bankers} ‘“vipers and thieves’” (Shi, Tindall, 324). He thought that the national bank caused the government to have too much control over the people, but the way

Jacksons democracy mirrored an agricultural and industrial society. He believed that all people should be able to manage the government. Jackson wanted to expand his democracy beyond the political aspects to make sure the social and economic parts were added, and during his time in office, many reforms came about. Women's rights, abolition of slavery, care for the mentally unstable, and free education were some of the reforms that appeared during his time in office. Although Jackson didn't directly make the reforms, the attention that was given to the common man allowed the reforms to happen. While Jackson’s democracy reflected on agricultural and an industrial society, Jefferson’s reflected just an agricultural society. His democracy feared the consequences of industrialization, which is why he stuck to an agricultural society. Jefferson thought that the well educated and elite should rule their government, but did provide education for the poorer who wanted to work in office. His democracy limited itself chiefly the political powers. Jackson and Jefferson both had a different taste in democracy, which is what made them so

The Jacksonian Democrats were very important in the revolutions in political democracy that took place during this period. During this period universal white male suffrage took place and was the first step towards the revolution of the common man in politics. Also, Jackson's acceptance and support of the two-party system helped create a more democratic America in which people with similar views could unite in their support of a singular candidate. Many "working men" of this time period had felt they had been taken advantage of and misrepresented by tyrannical aristocrats who treated them poorly (A). Jackson used this to his advantage with emotionalized speeches exploiting class differences. However, it should be said that during this time period the amount of voters increased dramatically which means that more Americans were involved in American politics (D). Jackson's use of the "Kitchen Cabinet" kept his knowledge of critics and the wants and needs of the people up

The Jacksonian democracy of the 1820s-1830s is often associated with an expansion of the political influence, economic opportunities, and social equality available to “the common man,” a concept of the masses which President Andrew Jackson and his newly founded Democratic party came to represent. The new administration certainly saw gains for the majority; namely, public participation in government increased to unprecedented levels, and several economic decisions were made to favor the people over monopolies. Beginning with their exaggerated portrayal of the “corrupt” 1824 election however, the Jacksonian democrats also left a legacy of substantial miscalculations

In his veto message, Jackson wrote, "It is to be regretted that rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes." This was true, since the bank was used to provide for the interests of the rich and not the common men such as the small farmers and urban workers.

In addition to creating a more democratic country, Jackson also tried to establish equal economic opportunity for the people of America. The best example of this is the vetoing of the charter of the Bank of the United States. The bank was a huge monopoly. It was ran by aristocrats, most of which were from England. Nicholas Biddle, who was the president of the bank, often used funds from the bank to lend money to the members of Congress, thus wining their support.

Andrew Jackson started the Democratic-Republican Party. Many of his followers were from the East Coast. He was probably the most popular president to date because he thought of himself to be a friend of the “common man”. The newly created Democratic Party reached out to the common people and in return they got involved in the party. Jackson like Jefferson believed too strong of central government would jeopardize the people’s freedom and liberty. He continued Jefferson’s fight against the Bank of the United States. A bank ran by the Federal government would hurt the East Coast at the expense of the rest of America. Issues like the Bank of the United States created sectionalism in America. Most policies Jackson issued made sectionalism more evident.

Jacksonian Democracy was a political movement toward a better democracy for the common person. This movement was led by Andrew Jackson, who jumpstarted the development of the Democratic Party. During his term, his goal was to lessen the power granted to the federal government and give more power to the states. Along with the ideas that Indians and African Americans should have no part in the American economy, and banks should be uninvolved came the Democratic Party. Andrew Jackson on Native Americans, Second Annual Message (December 6, 1830) addressed congress in a plea for Indian Removal. Although rights and privileges were expanding for some groups, they came at the expense of others. Improvements seemed to only benefit more white men than it already did before. The morals and ideas imbedded in the foundation had not yet all made a

One piece of evidence is a quote from the passage, “The present bank of the United States… enjoys an exclusive privilege of banking… almost a monopoly of foreign and domestic change.”(Document 4) This quote is important to answering the question because with this quote, Jackson vetoed the bank making it more democratic and able to use for everyone no matter what money class they were in. Another piece of evidence from Document 4 is another quote which states, “It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.” This quote is important because it shows Jackson wants the common people to have more power, unlike the wealthy who have always had more freedom. Jackson is presented as more democratic in Document 4 by his belief that the bank does not accurately describe or represent the American

The Jacksonian Era, 1820's to the 1830's, was a period of conflict, especially when it came to democracy. During this Era, Jacksonian Democrats had created a more democratic America and this resulted in them viewing themselves as guardians of the constitution, political democracy, individual liberty and equality of economic opportunity. However, although Jacksonians believed that they were the guardians of these principles, they were more important to their development rather than to their up keeping.

With the rise of Andrew Jackson as president in 1828, there were many changes in the government. The people who believed in his ideals were called Jacksonian Democrats. The Jacksonian Democrats indeed were the protectors of the US Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and economic equality.

The corrupt bargain is well known, however there is no way to prove that it actually took place. Even though Henry Clay threw his support behind John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson was able to win the election in 1828 and 1832. Jackson had different ideas compared to what the American were used to, as a result, two political parties emerged. The Jacksonian Democracy, whose ideas correlated with Andrew Jackson, and the Whigs, whose wanted tariffs and internal improvements (Document H). When Jackson became president, many new ideas came into play. The Jacksonian Democracy disagreed with several American customs, including the Bank of the United States. However, the Jacksonian Democracy protected the political democracy of white male suffrage, protected the glorified liberty of the individual, and protected the economy from the Bank of the United States. Therefore, the Jacksonian Democracy was a guardian of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity.