Jacksonian Democracy Dbq

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 ratification of the US Constitution in 1787 sparked a ferocious and spiteful debate between two large groups of people, those who supported the ratification and those who did not. Both sides were very passionate about their ideas yet they were so divergent, as one believed that the ratification could create a more powerful, unified country, while others worried about the government gaining perhaps too much control. The supporters and opponents equally had various strong reasons in their beliefs regarding the ratification of the US Constitution, the most common for the supporters being that the current government was heading badly, and a ratification would fix all the mistakes made originally and set the course for a successful government. On the other hand, the biggest concern for the opponents was that the ratification would give the government too much power, and there would be no controlling force to keep the government in its place.

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

The Jacksonian Democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that believed greater democracy for the common man. Andrew jackson the leader of the philosophy brought about many changes in the government. Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States constitution, individual liberty, political democracy, and equality of economic opportunity. They were somewhat able to protect political democracy and equality of economic opportunity, but they were not guardians of the constitution or individual liberty.

The United States Constitution was ratified and made law September 17, 1789. For Americas yet-to-be history the Framers knew the Constitution had to have a way to grow and change with the people, and their needs. This paper will cover the amendment process, the need for the Bill of Rights, how the Bill of Rights has affected America, what the Bill of Rights have granted American’s, discuss the later amendments, and what effect the later amendments have had.

The Constitution is the framework of America’s government as well as the supreme law of the United States. It was written and signed during the Philadelphia Convention on September 17, 1787. In the Constitution there are various amendments that outline the powers and duties of the government, the state’s rights, and the rights of the people, and the process of amending and ratifying the document (Sidlow, Henschen 26). Even though there have been new laws issued by the government, they have failed to be successfully passed as an amendment. Proposing and ratifying an amendment is not an easy or short process. The difficulty of amending the Constitution is due to the various steps before the ratification of an amendment.

After the failure of the Articles of Confederation, the founders believed it was necessary to hold a National Convention to revise it in order for it to become the Constitution. After the signing of the Constitution, two groups were created. The Anti-federalists who composed a series of essays one known as An Old Whig V (1787) suggests that an inclusion of a Bill of Rights would be more effective in clarifying the limits of the government, while others, the Federalists, opposed to it. To understand the effects of ratifying a Bill of Rights in the Constitution, both sides must be analyzed. This paper examines An Old Whig V’s arguments against the Federalist, mainly letters from Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, to propose that the inclusion of a Bill of Rights allows citizens to verbalize their right of protection in regards to the occasion of being shown in the Constitution.

In modern America, many citizens hold to the notion that the Constitution was adopted unanimously, without debate or disagreement. Not only is this not the case, the debate and disagreement that took place during the institution of the governing articles for the newly formed country are ultimately responsible for the system we have in place today as the concerns and counterpoints raised in the discussion were more crucial to the successful continuance of stability in the nation than any unanimous decision. Given the apparent import of such discussion, it is therefore prudent to examine the original points of contention to determine their merit and to further ensure that the concerns originally raised have been addressed sufficiently.

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

Despite the outcome I fully believe that the election of 1828 did in fact, create a democratic revolt of the people because of the social and political backlash that the election created. The election of Andrew Jackson as President in 1828 marked the beginning of an era known as Jacksonian Democracy or the Age of the Common Man. The changes in politics during Jackson's presidency provided various social and economic changes.

The Jacksonian Democratic Party and the Whig Party each, exemplified different beliefs on the role of the federal government in the economy and towards westward expansion in the 1830s and 1840s. However, the Jacksonian, laissez faire supporting Democrats and the economic nationalistic Whig party shared almost no beliefs except for the removal of American Indians in the areas their supporters wished to settle. The lack of similarities is because the Whigs formed their own party to oppose President Jackson’s strong-armed leadership style and policies which earned him the nickname “King Andrew.” The Jacksonian Democratic Party evolved out of the Democratic-Republican Party in the early 1800s, the core of its membership was composed of farmers, immigrants, and white Southerners. The Whigs formed in 1834 and lasted for 20 years, they were the major political party that opposed Andrew Jackson. The Whigs were created based upon the Federalist beliefs in a strong federal government and adopted many Federalist and National Republican policy ideas, including federal funding for internal improvements, a central bank, and high tariffs to protect the growth of manufacturing enterprises. Overall, the Jacksonian Democratic agrarian Party and the industrialization supporting Whig Party had different beliefs toward the role of the federal government in the economy and towards westward expansion.

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.

There had been a swing in sentiment in American politics, and ordinary men realized they had the opportunity to get involved in politics, become leaders and achieve power. As the 19th century began, the Republicans had gained a substantial following, and with the weakening of the Federalist Party, the country entered a period of one-party Republican rule. When Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky used his influence to secure the 1924 election of John Quincy Adams as president, the country became politically divided and the supporters of Andrew Jackson emerged as the Democratic Party. Jacksonian Democrats believed in strict construction and wanted a limited role for the federal government. Their ideology was aimed primarily at voters who felt damaged

They called themselves National Republicans. The others stood for states' rights, tariffs that were for revenue only, and an independent treasury. They took the name Democrats and elected Andrew Jackson to the Presidency in 1828 and 1832. Those who opposed Jackson questioned his dissolution of the Bank of the United States, his internal improvement policies, his stand against South Carolina during the nullification crisis, and his policies on rotation in office and the spoils system. By the election of 1836 the National Republicans and others opposed to Jackson's policies had come together to form a new party, the Whigs. Since Jackson believed in a strong executive