Topic: Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. In light of the following documents and your knowledge of the 1820's and 1830's, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonians' view of themselves? Andrew Jackson began a whole new era in American history. Amongst his greatest accomplishments were evoking the "common man" to be interested in government and tailoring democracy to satisfy the same "common man's" needs. Of course, Jackson could not go about making such radical changes without supporters, but that never surfaced as a problem. Jacksonian Democrats, as they came to be called, were great in …show more content…
The Jacksonians arose from these issues and others, as is evidenced in writings of the time, such as "The Working Men's Declaration of Independence" by George Henry Evans. They began to call the public's attention to an oppression by the upper class through many different issues of the time, which was looked down upon by some, such as Daniel Webster in response to Jackson's bank veto. This dealt with the Bank War which was the primary economic dealing of the time in which President Jackson vetoed the recharter of the Bank of the United States. He did so because he found the bank unconstitutional and thought that it was a near-monopoly that only benefited the rich. This stirred public support and brought the class issue to the forefront for many people. Although some looked upon Jackson's decision on the Bank as a bad one, the Jacksonians supported him because they saw it as an attempt to support equality and eliminate a monopoly in the hands of the elite rich. Another such instance that dealt with monopoly and equality of economic opportunity was the Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge case in 1837. In it, Chief Justice Taney ruled that new enterprises could not be confined by the implied privileges of old charters, in an effort to allow for competition and free enterprise. Political democracy was one of the resurfacing interests during the Jacksonian Era. Jacksonian Democrats saw it as their duty to protect the government run
Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. In light of the following documents and your knowledge of the 1820's and the 1830's, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonian's view of themselves.
In conclusion in many political, economic, and geographic ways Andrew Jackson was democratic throughout his life. Andrew Jackson supported the people and their rights through the many events that happened in his political
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
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 1820’s and 1830’s were decades full of events that accentuated the diversity of ideas and views on many topics. For instance, the Second Great Awakening brought forward many competing views on religion, some more radical than others. The many denominations that sprouted from this change were a direct result of the rise in the American idea of personal freedom and liberty, something that the Democratic Jacksonians viewed themselves as the non-disputable champions of. Although there were many negative impacts on individual freedom over the time the Jacksonian Democrats held power in the fledgling government, the Jacksonian’s view of themselves as the defenders of democracy and the Constitution is to a great extent misplaced because of their
Jacksonian democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity." In light of the documents and your knowledge of the 1820s and 1830s, to what extent do you agree with the Jacksonians' view of themselves?
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.
Jacksonian Democrats believed that they were protecting individual liberty, political democracy, the equality of economic opportunity, and upholding the rights of the Constitution of the United States. In my opinion, the Jacksonians were, to some extent, guardians of the United States. However, the Jacksonians did have their flaws.
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
Moreover, Andrew Jackson greatly facilitated the transfer of power from “the few” to “the many” in the US. In Jackson’s Bank Veto Message to Congress in July of 1832, he stated that the rich were monopolizing the country’s domestic exchange by “bending the acts of government to their selfish purposes.” (Document 4). Jackson argued that with so much money and power, the corrupt rich were influencing the government to allow them domination over the many people who could not match their authority. The few, selfish rich citizens felt no duty or responsibility to their country so they committed great evils to promote their own status. For this reason, Jackson wanted the Bank of the United States vetoed so that this corruption could be ended at once and the rich would not be able to use the Bank for their egotistic intents. The BUS had been standing since Alexander Hamilton proposed it in the early 1800s, so it was outlandish for Jackson to propose its veto, but he was truly doing it for the people. The following day after Jackson’s message, Daniel Webster issued a reply to it. In his reply, Webster claimed that Jackson was controlling the poor and arousing them against the rich (Document 5). While this does seem like an immoral action for one to
The major accomplishments of Jackson during his presidency pertain to his rural upbringing and democratic beliefs. To name a couple of Jackson’s memorable accomplishments and decisions not
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.
Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy both have roots dating back to the Era of Good Feelings, when James Monroe created a golden climate of liberalism and national unity. As a result of the War of 1812, Monroe spoke of his policies and beliefs and in 1817, peace, liberty, prosperity, and progress flourished throughout the nation (Garraty 200). The Era of Good Feelings came to an end because of the “corrupt bargain” in 1824. The transition from Jeffersonian to Jacksonian Democracy involved scandalous events that undermine the authority of the president and the government itself. Each Democracy had different views: politically, socially, economically and religiously. Jackson’s idea of democracy, furthermore, is an accurate representation
A period of nearly 30 years are associated with the Presidency of Jefferson, his successors and his ‘democracy’ from 1801 until Andrew Jackson’s election in 1828. A vision of a united, equal America, limited government and natural aristocracy ruled the Jeffersonian style of democracy. However, with the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828, a new form of democracy, differentiating in multiply ways to the Jeffersonian America, engulfed the American political and social scene. Jacksonian Democracy, a dream of the common man, the use of the Presidential veto, and Anglo-Saxonism as well other elements dominated this form of democracy and era. Despite this, many
The Democrats wanted to limit the role of government in the market and wanted to resolve the tensions among the Northeast, West, and South. Also they wanted to do away with the national bank (Jackson put a lot of money into city and state bands as a result) and sell land at low rates and leave internal improvement basically to the states to deal with. The proposed government of the democrats was one centered in local affairs (one of the most important was slavery). Jackson therefore wanted weak central government within a permanent union. However soon came up the issue of Nullification with South Carolinas attempt to nullify the tariff of 1828.