How Did Andrew Jackson Promote Democracy

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.

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.

He believed that the Bank has to be abolished due to several reasons. First of all, the bank concentrated the nation's wealth in a single institution which created an unhealthy for the economy monopoly. Second of all, he believed that the bank favored the wealthy over the common people. The third reason was that the bank had too much control over members of Congress. In other words, the subsidy of the bank to one particular party or the lack of the finance could influence the results of the elections at some point. And the bank also favored northeastern states over southern and western states. Thus, Jackson succeeded in destroying the Bank by vetoing its 1832 re-charter by Congress and by withdrawing U.S. funds in 1833. This action led to federal money being put into state banks who then loaned it out freely leading to inflation. State banks were issuing paper banknotes that were not backed by gold or silver reserves which led to rapid inflation. Moreover, the expansion of credit and speculation took place. As a result, state banks collapsed which was a cause of the Panic of 1837. However, despite the crisis and depression, the liquidation of the Bank was an achievement of Jackson’s presidency and led to trivial of the economy later on.

Andrew Jackson once said, “Democracy shows not only its power in reforming governments, but in regenerating a race of men and this is the greatest blessing of free governments” (BrainyQuotes). Andrew Jackson was very into getting the people involved. He wanted everyone to work and do things together and did not want to run the country himself or let Congress run the country. Andrew Jackson wanted the people to get involved in legislature and know what was going on. Andrew Jackson was a very democratic man because he was for the people and did things to support the oppressed.

The Bank War was a campaign made by Andrew Jackson to destroy the Second Bank of the United States in 1833. Jackson came up with this campaign because he was determined to end the bank. He did this by reducing the bank’s power. Jackson went against what the members of the bank said, he basically made their life miserable. On October 1, 1833, Jackson made a huge change and said that “federal funds would no longer be deposited in the Bank of the United States.” It was a crazy move because why would the federal funds of the country be deposited somewhere else than the country’s own bank?! Jackson deposited the funds throughout different banks in the United States. His plan was to keep those funds in the other banks until 1836, which was when the

Also, the Democratic Party allowed for a more representative government and indicated a shift in power to the West to farmers, shopkeepers, and small-business owners who supported Jackson (Hart et al 260). Jacksonian democracy―the idea that common people should control the government―was also a result of the creation of the Democratic Party. Andrew Jackson’s decision to abolish the bank of the United States benefitted and changed the U.S. Jackson believed that the national bank was to the benefit of the rich, at the expense of farmers, workers, and smaller state banks (Hart et al 263). The bank also did not provide an opportunity for capitalists in the West and other regions (Hart et al 263). In 1832, Henry Clay pushed a bill through Congress to recharter the bank four years earlier than its expiration in 1836. Jackson vetoed the bill, claiming that the bank was an unconstitutional monopoly that existed to make the rich richer (Hart et al 263). Jackson

Jacksonian Democracy describes the time from when Andrew Jackson became the seventh president of the United States in 1829 till the end of his second term in 1837 (Shi and Tindall, 319). He was the first president that didn’t come from a prominent colonial family. His “common man” background lead him to being a popular political figure among the common people. This lead to him and his supporters forming America’s democratic party. A democracy is a system of government where the people or citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body. Andrew Jackson and his supporters greatly supported the idea of democracy. They wanted the common people of America to have more power when it came to

Many have different perspectives on if Andrew Jackson changed politics for the common man, or if it just happened to be a simple trend meant for greater voter participation. Although we may have different ideas I would have to say Andrew Jackson was like most presidents who had their own conflicts. He was just a president who kept somewhat of the same trend just did a couple different tricks.

From being a wild boy who grew up poor in South Carolina and got enlisted in the Revolutionary War at the age of 13, Andrew Jackson became one of the most popular president in the history of the United States. Even though Jackson had the idea of creating a new era of democracy in America, most of his actions did not promote democracy to America. During his presidency, Andrew established “a law which limits appointments to four years” [Document 6]. This allows other individuals to be part of the government officials and prevent past officials to stay for a long time which is a sign of democracy because of it prevents corruption and absolute power. However, he took advantage of this executive power by appointing Samuel Swartout, his fellow friend

Along with rotation, the Jacksonian Democrats reestablished the spoils system. Jackson fired any previous office holder who was not a loyal Democrat. He would then appoint a Democrat to that position. The spoils system and rotation were advances toward greater political democracy, because they showed that one man is just as good as another is.

South Carolina had resorted to the nullification of the tariff controversy of the early 1830s because tariffs increased the prices that southern agriculturists had to pay for manufactured goods.This made it difficult for farmers to buy equipment to harvest their farms and make a profit from it. South Carolina (and the South as a whole) was afraid of federal encroachment on the states rights because they did not want to end slavery. The nullification created tension between Jackson and Calhoun. Jackson thought Calhoun was going against the constitution because Calhoun thought that a state should be able to nullify a law. Jackson saw that nullification was a threat to the survival of the union. The nullification crisis showed that the people

Andrew Jackson, whose presidential term lasted from 1829-1837, was the first president to ever be chosen by the people to lead. Because he was not born into a rich family, people felt that they could relate to him better. He too preferred supporting the common public over the wealthy aristocrats. During Jackson’s period in office he was able to shift the majority of power in the United States to farmers and small businesses in the western part of the country. Jackson vetoed many bills in order to benefit common people and also created the spoils system to balance out his cabinet. Like Jefferson, Jackson was extremely opposed to the Bank of the U.S., believing that it would only make the wealthy even

With the Jackson administration into office, the Second Bank of the United States became threatened. President Jackson had a private prejudice that wasn’t party policy (Schlesinger 74). He hated banks, all banks, but he especially hated the Second Bank of the United States. He viewed all bankers as “little more than parasites who preyed upon the poor and honest working people of America” (Roughshod 2). The reason for his hatred most likely stemmed from his near ruin as a businessman (land speculator, merchant, and slaver trader) when in the 1790s he accepted some bank notes that turned out to be worthless. From then on, he never trusted anything but hard money, or specie (Roughshod 2).

The Nullification Crisis, which transpired under Andrew Jackson’s administration created a controversy not only during its time, but also in the years to follow and ultimately was one of the many causes of the Civil War years later. The Nullification crisis soon developed in the early 1830’s when the state of South Carolina began to have issues with the protective tariff (which was designed to protect the industry in the northern United States by taxing imports). At this point in history, many of the leaders of South Carolina were under the idea that a state did not have to follow a federal law and could “nullify” the law. This was a result that many colonists from South Carolina felt that the protective tax was benefiting the

The Bank of the United States was technically the second bank of the U.S. since the first bank’s charter ended in 1811. The second bank held a monopoly over federal deposits, provided credit to growing enterprises, issued banknotes that served as a dependable medium of exchange, and used a restraining effect on the less well-managed state banks. Jackson didn’t trust the bank and thought it had too much power, so Jackson sought out to destroy it. There were two different groups when it came to opposition, “soft-money” and “hard-money”. Soft money supporters were progressive, they believed in economic growth and bank speculation. They supported the use of paper money and were mainly made up of bankers and allies to bankers. Hard money supporters were against expansion and bank speculation. They supported coinage only and rejected all banks that used paper money, which included the federal bank. Jackson was a hard money supporter although, he felt sympathy to the soft money supporters. Jackson could not legally end the bank before its charter expired. By removing the