How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson?
Democracy is defined as the people having a say in the government, whether it be through representatives or directly. When answering the question “How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson?”, I would say that Andrew Jackson was the embodiment of democracy when it came to the people having a say. During his presidential campaign in 1828 Andrew Jackson’s campaign motto was “Let the people have a say!” Jackson believed that rich and powerful people got away with bending the acts of the government to get what they wanted, as shown in document 4. In this document he told Congress “
.It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.”
Document 6 show a perfect example of just how democratic President Jackson was. One of the first things he did when he was elected into office was present the idea to congress that any government elected job be limited to a four year term. “I submit, therefore, to your consideration…(a) law which limits appointments to four years. In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people, no one man has any more… right to (government jobs) than another”(Document 6). This excerpt connects to my thesis statement by showing how President Jackson
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“ It appears that more than a fourth part of the stock is held by foreigners and the (rest) is held by a few hundred of our own citizens, chiefly of the richest class”(Document 4). This quote supports my claim that Andrew Jackson was democratic because he didn’t want another bank being controlled by foreign citizens and rich stockholders. Andrew Jackson was out to eliminate social classes and was all about people saying how they wanted the government to be
In this sense, the Jacksonian Democrats were not guardians of political democracy. In addition to the spoils system, the Jacksonian Democrats had another way in which they controlled Congress. Andrew Jackson gave patronage jobs to his supporters. This ensured that Jackson's vetoes would never be overturned in Congress. This took away power from the representatives that the people had elected. The people could vote in several Congressmen that didn't support Jackson, but they wouldn't have any say on what happened since Jackson gave patronage jobs to his supporters. This took away the voice of the common man, the main value that Jacksonian Democrats stood for. Jacksonian Democrats considered them guardians of political democracy. However, they contradicted their own principles.
Jackson also encouraged the spoils system, which gave jobs in public office to the supporters of the successful political party. Was this democratic of him? As
Jackson’s version of democracy was in fact a democracy. He was not a very wealthy man, he owned a home and some land. Which was more than could be said about most Americans at the time. About ten percent of the Americans living there at that time owned enough land to vote. There was a law, stating that only white males with a good portion of land could vote in the presidential election. Andrew Jackson thought this system was so unfair, he created a new way to govern the citizens of the newly formed United States.
Did Andrew Jackson support the people and their rights? Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He vetoed the National Bank because he said that it only supported the rich and was unconstitutional. Also Andrew Jackson set a land territory west of the Mississippi River for the Indian tribes and adopted a little Native American boy who was left from his tribe. How democratic was Andrew Jackson? Democracy is a form of government where the people have a right to assist in the law making process. Andrew Jackson was democratic in many political, economic, and geographic ways.
One reason why Jackson was not democratic is his use of the spoils system. “King Andrew the first...born to command” (cartoon of Jackson that appeared in the presidential election of 1832). This cartoon shows how he felt like he could do whatever he wanted to further himself. “no one man has any more...right to (government jobs) than another” (Andrew Jackson’s letter to Congress). The spoils system gave government jobs to supporters of the political leader, often leading to fraud and inefficiency. Using power to reward people who are your supporters, rather than due to skill and experience, is wrong. It is also excluding certain people from having a say in the government, and getting what should be theirs, which is not democratic.
Was Andrew Jackson the democratic figure our great nation needed in the mid 1800’s? From 1828 to 1836, Andrew Jackson served as president in the United States of America. During that time, the country was torn in half due to controversies such as the eviction of the national bank, the Indian Removal, and the spoils system. Although some people believed Jackson was fair to the common man, Jackson acted undemocratically during his presidency because he was not fair to everyone and only listened to his supporters.
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
Furthermore, Jackson’s presidency was characterized by use of the spoils system and the systematic rotation of officeholders. These stipulated that federal jobs were strictly given to loyal Democrats and that federal offices could be held for only one term. While these practices were meant to emphasize equal political opportunities and build party loyalty, they inherently promoted government corruption. In fact, the power that Jackson wielded by trading federal positions for party loyalty both overextended his executive power and practiced the same corrupt bargaining of office that the Democrats accused John Quincy Adams of in the election of 1824. Thus, the Jacksonian democrats dealt clear detriments and hypocrisies to the system of popular democracy that they so strongly advocated, despite their encouragement of universal white male suffrage and participation in office.
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.
Jackson firmly believed in quality of economic opportunity, which he showed several times throughout his presidency. He believed the national bank helped the wealthy elite and that state banks would help the common man more. Also by
Jackson also gave government jobs to regular people. This was called the spoils system. He appointed people to federal jobs depending on whether they had campaigned for the Democratic Party. Anyone currently in office who was not a democratic was replaced with a democrat. This was called the spoils system because it promoted a corrupt government. He also believed in rotation in office. He wanted to make it possible for more democrats to have government jobs, so he limited a person's time in office to one term. The spoils system showed how one man was no better than another and helped build a strong two-party system.
During the administration of Andrew Jackson, the United States was a nation of change both politically and socially. American society was a society of opportunity. Americans felt that, given a chance, they could make a better life for themselves. This was the era of the common people, the era of democracy. Andrew Jackson appealed to the American people because he stood for values many regarded with favor. However democratic Jackson may seem, he was more tyrant-like than any of his predecessors. His major offerings to the nation included majority rule and a popular presidency, however offered no benefits to women, African Americans, nor Native Americans. Jacksonian Democracy was
Jackson was the most democratic of any president at that time to come to power. In practically all areas of political application there was the existence of liberal thinking. This was especially apparent in his previously mentioned appointment of officials. Jackson considered the roles of officials fairly simple and could and should be carried out by all people not just the members of the socially and intellectually elite. The belief of complete equality is with out a doubt Jacksonian. Despite this already democratic view, Jackson took it one step further and appointed the illiterate and plain incompetent members of society to office.
Jacksonian Democracy led to the creation of the Modern American political culture that is still used in today’s time period. Andrew jackson was elected in 1828’s presidential election and won due to higher numbers of electoral votes. After his inauguration, he was elected as leader of the democratic party. He brought a lot of changes to the government. One of them was the two party system, in which one party holds the majority of legislation in the government and while the other holds the minority. The jacksonian Democrats failed in achieving individual liberty and as the guardian of the Constitution of the Unites States, But were somewhat adequate in defending the equality of economic opportunity and political democracy.
Jackson 's policies for a small government sparked interests in plantation owners in the south and farmers in the west. Jackson demised the National Bank, in his vision it handed infinite amount of power to the government and place the lower class at a disadvantage. Jackson wanted the power to be with the people not the government;however, the process of this act limited time for the opportunity for social reform 5. The Jacksonian democrats consider that modern infrastructure and industry were mandatory for American prosperity, they felt that the states were responsible to promote market capitalism and sponsor projects. Democrats concluded that modernization should be designed to promote the agrarian vision.2 The Democrats had this vision of owning land;however, lots of Native American Indians still resided in the state of Georgia. Jackson fought against congress to have the indians removed completely because he felt it would be inhumane.