Preview

Democracy and Jacksonian Democrats

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
812 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Democracy and Jacksonian Democrats
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 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?

AP AM HISTORY DBQ 4 - (An A+ Essays Original Paper, written by Zoo Patrol)
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.

Unlike previous presidents, Andrew Jackson represented the common men. He and his followers did not support the aristocrats, but instead favored the interests of farmers and urban workers. When they gained power, the Jacksonian Democrats brought about great advances in creating a more democratic and economically equal society.

One of the most important changes that Jackson brought was a much more democratic society. You no longer had to be a rich landowner to be allowed to vote. Most of the states removed any religious or property qualifications for holding office. The number of voters increased nearly by seven times during Jackson's presidency.

By 1832, nearly all states adopted a new system for choosing for choosing its electors. Before Jackson's presidency, the electors were chosen by state legislatures. Now all the states in the Union, except South Carolina, had adopted a more democratic method of allowing voters to choose their state's electors. Also, during Jackson's

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jacksonian Democrats

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The 1820's and 1830's were times where the Jacksonian Democrats dominated politics in the United States. Jacksonian Democrats saw themselves as guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. With a few exceptions, Jacksonian Democrats did indeed live up to these goals and values. Jacksonian Democrats followed some of the values of Thomas Jefferson in that they were more interested in commoners and farmers. Jacksonian Democrats kept the United States together through the 1820s and 1830s and successfully protected the rights stated in the Constitution except on the issue of Indian removal.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Topic: The Jacksonian Period (1824-1848) has been celebrated as the era of the “common man.” To what extent did the period live up to its characterization? Consider TWO of the following in your response.…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    DBQ Jacksonian Democracy

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages

    During Jackson’s time in office (1829-1837) he lead the nation at a very critical period and made many reforms in law to strengthen the nation. From 1816-1826, Americans were starting to obey the law of the land. In Document B, Flint reflected on this particular decade. Around 1816 there was more violence, but by the time Flint stated “I have never experienced anything that resembled insult..,” that was near the end of decade when more people started to respect each other. Jackson presented “general equality of condition among the people” according to Document D. This article indicates that the common men were satisfied with Jackson’s contributions. . In Document A, McCartney stated that Jackson was “the imbodiment of the true spirit”. This demonstrates that the people of American felt Jackson stood for everything America had to the best of his ability. Many wanted to pay tribute to his legacy at his funeral.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    DBQ: Jacksonian Democracy

    • 764 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the 1820's and 1830's, the Jacksonian Democrats believed they were protecting many aspects of freedom for the American people and I agree with their beliefs to a limited extent. The Jacksonian Democrats were successful in maintaining the political democracy during this time. However, they were completely defeated in their attempt at establishing and preserving individual liberty. While, they were successful in some aspects of guarding the equality of economic opportunity.…

    • 764 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jacksonian Dbq

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty and equality of economic opportunity. However their view of themselves wasn’t how they actually were. While they did feel strongly about the common man and the constitution they were also concerned with their own interests which are shown in the Indian Removal. The Jacksonians were overall what they thought of themselves to be but they did have some other intentions.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Andrew Jackson DBQ

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jackson was a man of many faces, and many of his views were not democratic. First, Jackson was not democratic for economic reasons, such as the Bank veto. Second, Jackson was not democratic for political reasons, such as implementing the Spoils system. Third, Jackson was not democratic for social reasons, such as being pro-slavery. Jacksonian views are not democratic.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Edward Pessen, the author of the book, Jacksonian America: Society, Personality, and Politics talks about “the Jacksonian era” or “Common Man” which begin in 1820s, where the supporters of Jackson began to form the modern Democratic Party in the America for both Americans and foreign people. “For not only did Americans themselves observe their fellow countrymen but an army of European, mainly English, visitors swarmed over this country during the Jacksonian era.” (Pessen 2). Andrew Jackson, who was the seventh president of the United States, believed that Washington ignored people’s aspiration in 1824. Starting of the chapter two, Pessen describes different writers’ perspective towards Andrew Jackson. For example: some people saw him as a hero, while others saw him as a villain. Some saw him as a people’s warrior, while others saw him as a president who ruined the political system and didn’t care about people’s wishes. Lastly, many think that he crippled the nation; however, all of the followings are true.…

    • 936 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jacksonian Democracy Dbq

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages

    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 in policies and acts of hypocrisy that conflicted with their claimed intents to promote and protect popular democracy. In particular, the dangerous implications of various political and economic policies, along with the deliberate disregard of social inequality, are aspects of the Jacksonian age that most clearly demonstrate discrepancies between Jacksonian ideals and realities.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jacksonian's viewed themselves as guardians of the constitution, political democracy, individual liberties, and equality of economic opportunity. Many of his followers from that time tended to agree but a lot of people today look back and disagree with each of these assumptions. I believe that he was a keeper of the constitution and political democracy. Depending upon your outlook, Jackson was a guardian of individual liberties, even with his oppression of African American slaves, Indians, and women. His equality of economic opportunity was more towards the common man that the elite but gave that common man a larger chance for equality with the elites without allowing the elites a greater chance to increase their wealth.…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Question: In what ways were the late nineteenth-century Populists the heirs of the Jacksonian-Democrats with respect to overall objectives and specific proposals for reform?…

    • 685 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Politically, Jackson had many true democratic beliefs, such as universal male suffrage. He had lowered the voting qualifications so all white males, regardless of property ownership, could vote. Also, as shown in the Methods of Electing Presidential Electors chart (Document 1), the number of states using voting from the people were rising compared to the number who used the legislature. In 1816, before Jackson’s influence, all admitted states had selected electors through the legislature, and nearing the end of Jackson’s presidency in 1836, all states but one used selection by the people. Another example of Jackson’s democratic beliefs would be The Spoils System he established, which replaced corrupt federal employees with supporters in public office. Jackson says in his letter to Congress (Document 6) “The duties of all public offices are…so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify…no one man has any more…right to (government jobs) than another.” This was meant to give all men the right to run for office, which is a basic democratic idea, but the opposing side should also be recognized that it could be undemocratic if uncontrolled. Overall, even though some of his ideas could be interpreted…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the Age of Jackson, politics became much more democratic. The first president during this period was actually John Quincy Adams. In the election of 1824, Jackson actually held the most popular votes, but failed to have a majority because 4 candidates had run for office. Due to a corrupt bargain, the House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams as president. The controversy of this election would lead to new, more democratic, policies. Firstly, around this time most states adopted universal white male suffrage, as opposed to before when there were property requirements to vote. This was unconstitutional because it put the government in the hands of the wealthy that owned property and not people from all social classes. More popular participation was used in nominating the candidates for a political party. Common people could now participate in the convention. A more democratic and direct method of voting for the president was new to the Age of Jackson. Instead of voting for legislatures who would vote for electors who would vote for the president, people would now directly vote for the electors. The Election of 1824 was the last election to only have one political party. After that, there were two political parties, which made the election fairer. Other smaller political parties were also allowed to have candidates run for president, even if there was no hope of winning. During the Age of Jackson, a larger number of state and local officials were elected as opposed to appointed to office. All of these democratic policies concerning the election of the president were employed during the Age of Jackson and made for less controversial elections.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    (DOC B) To be democratic, all offices must fall under absolute control of the people, (DOC D) which it wasn’t. Jackson didn’t represent power to the people.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jacksonian democracy was created during the antebellum America. The Jackson democrats made an attempt to grant power to the lower classes while decreasing the influence of the rich and potent. The Jacksonian democrats viewed themselves as saviors of the common people and ruled by the means of a powerful executive branch who attempted to destroy aristocracy in America. In reality, they were typically very wealthy, they disregarded the capability of the federal government, and they desired equality only for the white man. The Jacksonian's view of themselves was pompous because of their political views, their animosity towards minorities, and their economic policies.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays