Whigs vs Democrats
Jacksonian Democracy & Whig Values
Emerging from the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans in the 1830’s, came a new party, led by the famous Andrew Jackson. This new party derived the same principle of appealing to the average American that their predecessors did. The Jacksonian Democrats took it a step further though, and boasted their dedication to the “common man” by insisting that the government bowed to the will of the people. They were also a proponent of smaller government, and that all positions of the state be elected directly by the populous. The main principle of the Jacksonian Democrats, was “the majority is to govern”, in which Jackson himself also stated that “[the people had the right] of electing their Chief Magistrate” meaning that the electoral college, nor the House of Representatives should have the right to interfere. Not just the president, but all positions in the government should be directly voted in by the people, from Senators to Supreme Justices. The party was favored by the working classes, which included mechanics, laborers, and farmers; which at this point in time, still made up a very large majority of population, especially in the West and South.
Jackson and his followers viciously opposed the bank, vilifying it any chance they could get, as they saw it as a “moneyed aristocracy”; in addition, Jackson warned of the power that money had to corrupt the government and its officials. “This wretched business has introduced a thousand ways of robbing honest labourers of [their] earnings to make knaves rich, powerful, and dangerous.” Jacksonian Democrats opposition to the bank came mainly from it’s western voters, who saw the bank as restriction of speculation, and the “evil force” that foreclosed many western farms, thinking that only New Englanders benefitted from it. One issue that the Jacksonian Democrats didn’t have a defined view on, was slavery. While it had some abolitionists from it’s New England voters, it also had a
Emerging from the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans in the 1830’s, came a new party, led by the famous Andrew Jackson. This new party derived the same principle of appealing to the average American that their predecessors did. The Jacksonian Democrats took it a step further though, and boasted their dedication to the “common man” by insisting that the government bowed to the will of the people. They were also a proponent of smaller government, and that all positions of the state be elected directly by the populous. The main principle of the Jacksonian Democrats, was “the majority is to govern”, in which Jackson himself also stated that “[the people had the right] of electing their Chief Magistrate” meaning that the electoral college, nor the House of Representatives should have the right to interfere. Not just the president, but all positions in the government should be directly voted in by the people, from Senators to Supreme Justices. The party was favored by the working classes, which included mechanics, laborers, and farmers; which at this point in time, still made up a very large majority of population, especially in the West and South.
Jackson and his followers viciously opposed the bank, vilifying it any chance they could get, as they saw it as a “moneyed aristocracy”; in addition, Jackson warned of the power that money had to corrupt the government and its officials. “This wretched business has introduced a thousand ways of robbing honest labourers of [their] earnings to make knaves rich, powerful, and dangerous.” Jacksonian Democrats opposition to the bank came mainly from it’s western voters, who saw the bank as restriction of speculation, and the “evil force” that foreclosed many western farms, thinking that only New Englanders benefitted from it. One issue that the Jacksonian Democrats didn’t have a defined view on, was slavery. While it had some abolitionists from it’s New England voters, it also had a