The Jacksonian Era, in the 1820’s and 1830’s, was a very critical period in American history. Many historians have different views on whether the Jacksonian Democrats, Andrew Jackson’s followers and supporters, were guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty and the equality of economic opportunity. Although Jacksonian Democrats view themselves as guardians of all these, they were wrong about most of it. The Jacksonian Democrats did a good job protecting and expanding political democracy and protecting equalty of economic opportunity, but failed to be guardians of the constitution as well as individual liberty.
Andrew Jackson was born along the boarder between North and South Carolina in 1767. Jackson spent most of his life as an orphan, which probably caused him to express the common man’s importance in America. Jackson went on to become a war hero, being the hero of the battle of New Orleans. Jackson’s unjust loss to Adams in the 1824 election shifted his focus to bringing down Adams. This allowed Jackson to go on to win the 1828 election, where he started his presidency.
Jacksons ability to open the rights to vote and increase participation in voting, allowed him to be considered a guardian of political democracy. Jackson strived to support the common man. Believing in this, he made equality one of the governing principles of American society. He allowed al white males to vote and hold offices. This is a crucial step towards democracy and it was this step that really made him a guardian of political democracy. One of Jackson’s goals was to increase political participation. To do this he did not only give more people the right to vote he also encouraged people to vote and...
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...ts were a result of Jackson’s action, which illustrates how Jackson openly striped South Carolina from their constitutional right of freedom of speech. This was wrong on Jackson’s part and it also showed that he did not care for individual Liberty. Jacksonian Democrats consistently made decisions based on their personal needs and even though sometimes it went along with the constitution overall there is no way one could consider them as guardians of the constitution.
The Jacksonian Democrats left a permanent mark on American politics by strengthening the democracy. To make this mark they made unconstitutional decisions that took away Americans individual liberty. Although they did wonders for Americas politics they made decisions thinking about their personal needs Due to this there have always been extremely mixed opinions toward Jackson as a president.
Throughout his presidency, Andrew Jackson was regarded as both a tyrant (Document E) as well a democratic rembrandt. However, by the conclusion of his rule, Andrew Jackson’s America had emerged as a pseudo democracy, strongly supported and advocated for, but falling short and ultimately failing. The drastic reforms during the Age of Jackson brought about radical changes to the young nation that would be felt throughout the country and would set the foundation for politics today. President Andrew Jackson reformed the American voting system, made significant moves against the National Bank, sparked the beginning of democratic reform movements, and most importantly gave the Common Man a voice in the government. These democratic initiatives, however, were not seen everywhere as America was slowly divided by differing views on contentious topics and individualistic ideals. Jacksonian America, did not promote the democratic
These acts even gave a hint at him being an autocrat as aforementioned. When the National Bank Controversy Document one came out, it began to show how he was not a democrat. In this document, he was pictured as being a king which was considered tranny for the newly formed America. In it, he is wielding his veto powers in one hand and has ripped up documents on the floor. He as described as “born to command”. If Jackson was truly a democrat, he would be serving the people and being shown as having more power than them instead of being shown as a tyrant. Since he is being represented in this way, he is obviously not communicating to all of his people and looking out for their best
To begin with , Andrew Jackson was democratic and this can be proven in political ways. Andrew Jackson was a guy that supported the people and the
Andrew Jackson was born in a backwoods settlement in the Carolinas in 1776. His parents, who were Scotch-Irish people. They came to America two years before Andrew was born. His mother was widowed while pregnant with him. At age thirteen, Andrew joined the patriotic cause and volunteered to fight the British. He and his brother were both captured and imprisoned together by the British. Their mother got them released by a prisoner exchange, but his brother died on the long trip home from smallpox. During his independent days, he lived in a tavern with other students.
... points in social reform from Jacksonian Democracy was abolition. The logic was that social reform also applied to slavery and almost more than any other institution. The reasoning behind this was that slaves resisted their own enslavement. Slavery was opposed in the 18th century by Quakers and few other whites, even though the American Revolution with its rhetoric about equal and universal rights called slavery into serious question. The Northern States abolished it and the Southern slave owners (upper south mind you) thought about liberating slaves. However it wasn’t until the 1830s that a number of middle class Norteños (northerners) began to demand immediate emancipation of slaves for their incorporation as equals in the Republic. Just as other social reforms had taken root with mostly radical Norteño Whigs, abolitionism soon found its way to them. This was a basis for the middle class revivals of the 1820s and 1830s.
President Andrew Johnson lifted himself out of extreme poverty to become President of the United States. He was a man with little education who climbed the political ladder and held many different high offices. As a strict constitutionalist, Johnson believed in limiting the powers of the federal government. President Johnson was one of the most bellicose Presidents who “fought” Congress, critics, and many others. President Andrew Johnson faced numerous problems post-Civil War Era including reconstructing the Southern states to combine peacefully with the Union, his battles with Congress, and his career ending impeachment.
He made the Native Americans feel unwelcomed in their own country by taking their land and shipping them off were they would not bother a white man. Jackson also changed the voting system to benefit his own needs while in office. He was also overwhelmed by the amount of power he possessed and eventually succumbed to the temptations of selfishness. Although President Andrew Jackson was certainly not democratic, he allowed future presidents to learn from his mistakes so that history does not repeat itself. His time as president offered guidance to the true democracy America uses today in its
Andrew Jackson was like no other president before him. The previous presidents had one thing in common, they were all part of the founding fathers or in John Quincy Adam’s case was the son of a founding father. However Jackson was a plantation owner from the west who had no connections with the government. He also had different views from other presidents that made his presidency unique. Two things that separated Andrew Jackson’s presidency from previous presidencies were he reached out to the common people and he was disapproving of the Bank of United States.
Topic: Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity.
Jackson’s spoils system opened government positions to only his supporters and he had little tolerance for
However, critics of Jackson and democracy called him “King Andrew I” because of his apparent abuse of presidential power [vetoing]. These critics believed he favored the majority so much that it violated the U.S. constitution, and they stated he was straying too far away from the plan originally set for the United States. Because of the extreme shift of power to the majority, the limiting of rights of the few [merchants, industrialists] and the abuse of power under Jackson’s democracy, the foundational documents set in the constitution was violated, and the work of the preceding presidents were all but lost. During the construction of the new Constitution, many of the most prominent and experienced political members of America’s society provided a framework on the future of the new country; they had in mind, because of the failures of the Articles of Confederation, a new kind of government where the national or Federal government would be the sovereign power, not the states. Because of the increased power of the national government over the individual states, many Americans feared it would hinder their ability to exercise their individual freedoms.
First off, after Jackson was elected, voting restrictions for women and African Americans increased; in some instances voting rights were nullified completely. A map of the United States, shows the various voting qualifications proceeding Jackson’s election. A quote paired with the map recalls “but although voting was democratized for white men, restrictions for free African American male voters grew tighter, and women were excluded completely.” The voting qualification map, illustrates the overwhelming increase in voting restrictions across the nation. Andrew Jackson was solely an advocate for the white American male. Secondly, Jackson pitted the poor Americans against the wealthy. Daniel Webster, a member of congress in 1832, conveys how Jackson's intentions were simply not democratic . In a message from Daniel Webster to Andrew Jackson, Webster states “president Jackson’s message extends the grasp of the chief executive over every power of the government...It manifestly seeks to inflame the poor against the rich, it wantonly attacks whole classes of people.” This message describes how Andrew Jackson was dividing the public and going against the principles of democracy. The quote also interprets the means of how Jackson was causing tension between the poor and the wealthy. Furthermore, Andrew Jackson forced the Native Americans off of their sacred land. The Cherokee Nation gave their statements of despair, as they were unwillingly exiled from their homes. In a letter to congress from the Cherokee Nation, the Cherokee state the excruciating and painful situation as “we wish to remain on the land of our fathers. “We have a perfect and original right to remain without interruption or molestation… The far greater part of our Nation is badly supplied with food and water. All our neighbors would speak a totally different language than
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in a log cabin on a poor farm (195). His father died before he was born, and he was forced to grow up fast (1). His mother wanted him to become a Presbyterian minister, so he read three chapters of scripture daily and was sent to study under a Presbyterian minister (5). Jackson became an orphan by the young age of fifteen (195). Jackson grew to be six feet tall and
During The Jacksonian Era many different views and ideas were predominant about the United States. The Jacksonian Democrats were a loose coalition of different peoples and interests pulled together by a common practical idea. That idea was that they all were followers of President Andrew Jackson. Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as guardians of the Constitution when in fact they were not. When dealing with politics and ideas within the Democratic Party of the time the Jacksonians proved to be both guardians and violators of the Constitution. Individual liberty is another area in which the Jacksonians were advocates to different sides of the topic at different times. The Jacksonians also proved to be champions for equality of economic opportunity. The Jacksonians demonstrated themselves to be, not the proponents they thought they were, but instead violators of the US Constitution.
It is agreeable that the Jacksonian Democrats perceived themselves as strict guardians of the United States Constitution. It is not agreeable with how they went about preserving the political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity they stood for. While trying to create this balance, Jackson used tactics favorable only to his opinion. Jackson’s main idea was to rid of aristocracy, giving the power to the poorer classes, standing against rich white men. The flaw in their scheme was that the people who came up with this idea were all rich white men.