Comparing The Views Of The Jacksonian Democrats

There were great political parties in the Jacksonian era. The Age of Jackson, led by Andrew Jackson, president from 1829 to 1837 had a distinct sway on American politics. The pressure of the Bank War and Andrew Jackson’s imperial presidency produced a new political party to emerge, known as The Whigs. The Whigs and Jackson’s Democratic congressmen did not agree on many issues. In terms of education, Jackson democracy saw schooling in limited and local terms rather than a general priority.

In December 7, 1829, Jackson sent a letter to Congress and it shows that he was democratic in some area, but not in other area. The letter was about the Native Americans and Indian Removal which was caused by white settlers who wanted Native Americans’ lands. Jackson strongly supported white settlers and decided to force Native Americans to move to the west. He claimed in the letter that Native Americans should move to the west and if they remain they must be subject to their laws. Because Jackson wanted to benefit his people who supported him, he caused Native Americans trouble and eventually killed them by moving them forcefully.

During the 1820 's and 1830 's, American political life was transformed as more and more working men were allowed to vote and hold office. Jacksonian Democrats expanded economic opportunity and political participation for the "common man" (white factory workers, craftsmen, and mechanics, small farmers, and land-hungry frontiersmen). Jackson was the first president to view himself as a representative of "the people". As such, he expected to exercise expanded executive powers as the expense of the legislative and judicial branches. The ruling political and economic elite must be removed, he said for "the people" are "the government, the sovereign power" in the United States, and they had elected him president.

Despite their differences and detestations against each other, Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay were both political leaders who possessed similar characteristics and philosophies. In the book Andrew Jackson vs. Henry Clay , the author Harry L. Watson described the two leaders’ loathing for each other, but he also wrote about the likenesses and related circumstances that Jackson and Clay underwent in Antebellum America. Both men’s beliefs and philosophies played a major role in the formations of the two-party system. With their dedication of preserving the federal Union, both Jackson and Clay devoted themselves to the government and also influenced politics in American public life. One concept that is most notorious about them, however, is the fact that they wholeheartedly despised each other.

The constitution of the United States reads; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” This didn’t seem to apply to the Native Americans. An instance in which the Jacksonian Democrats violated the Constitution was during the "Trail of Tears". The Cherokee Indians called the journey Nunahi-Duna-Dlo-Hilu-I, which translates to "Trail Where They Cried”, now known as the “Trail of Tears”. The Supreme Court stated that the Jacksonian Democrats' actions were unconstitutional because they had issued the "Indian Removal Act".

Throughout the duration of Andrew Jackson’s presidency there were many controversial events, one of these events was the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This bill was created by senator Hugh White who served on the Committee on Indian Affairs. He proposed a bill that would give the president the power to grant Native Americans land west of the Mississippi River if the agreed to give up their homeland. The bill passed the senate on April twenty fourth and through the house on May eighteenth before finally being signed into law by Andrew Jackson on May twenty eighth 1830. The reason this bill was passed into law was because the people of the United States saw the Native Americans as an obstacle to progress and they wanted to settle on Native American

The founders of the United States did their best to create a government that would not allow erroneous decisions to greatly harm the nation. They set a percent of presidents being politically sound and well-known; their beliefs for how the nation should be handled were essential to their campaign. President Andrew Jackson, however, did not follow this system, instead winning primarily by his personality and popularity amongst the common American. While his actions in office often appeared to be for the people, most had a hidden selfish side to them that he easily covered up. With the election of 1828, Jackson radically changed American politics, focusing them more on public appearance and personal character than on intelligence and political views, making personality just as, if not more important than the actual politics of a political term.

Andrew Jackson was from the west, and not a politician making him more of a common man than previous presidents. Serving in the military, being manly, and having a nickname “Old Hickory” made him relatable to the people. Presidents like George Washington, in contrast, came across as other worldly with their wealth, and education. The similarities to Jackson encouraged civilian participation in government. Coinciding with universal white male suffrage that came about in the 1820’s, the percentage of eligible voters that cast a ballot was higher in the 1828 election than any previous election.

He disliked the bank so much that he moved all the money to all the state banks he created. In document J, it shows Jackson standing a the constitution which is ripped up to shreds. When you walk all over something you are taking advantage of it and abusing its power and this is what Jackson was doing to the constitution. He is holding veto papers in who hand which stands for vetoing the bank and a scepter in the other. He has a crown on his head that represents as the king because he is forgetting about the people and acting like a kink and a dictator.

Andrew Jackson presidency focused a lot on small government and pleasing the common man. He attempted to shut down national banks to make government smaller. Jackson also enforces things like the Indian Removal Policy, which strengthened the bond between Jackson and the common man. Jackson was the first and only president to make the country debt too. All of these impacted are government today very much as well as other governments around the world.

Andrew Jackson, being a tyrant, abused his power in his time of presidency.   He was the 7th president, but before Jackson’s presidency, he had no political experience. One of the only things that really qualified him was the hardships he went through when he was younger. His father had died while Jackson was young and Jackson received the reputation as a “self-made man”, or an independent man.

Also he wanted the offices that are solely to benefit the people so that no man has more rights than another. Finally, Jackson was not democratic because he wanted the Indians to move out of his land. So he decided to have the U.S. Soldiers move them west into the Indian territory.

Jackson was obviously pro-slavery considering he owned about 150 slaves. A lot of people believe that this was not really a bad thing considering the times he lived in but in reality, it does not matter. The fact is this man owned many people as if they were his property, knowing they were living breathing human beings like him, is horrendous. Slavery existed to show off wealth and keep wealth in expense of African-American ’s freedom.

The Jacksonians believed that everyone The differences in beliefs of the two groups were there only because of the different times they existed. The Populist belief on presidential power was that the president should only be in office for one term and no more. While the Jacksonian Democrats did not see more than two terms in office, they saw Jackson expand the power of the president. President Jackson believed that the president should be a forceful and powerful position in the wake of the weak presidency of John Quincy

One of the biggest thing that Jackson had done as a president was in 1832. Jackson vetoed a bill that would renew the second bank charter early. Jackson stated “I will kill it!”. He said this because he didn’t like the bank at all and he believed that it made the rich richer and the poor poorer. He said in his veto message “It is easy to conceive that great evils to our country and its institutions might flow from such a concentration of power in the hands of a few men irresponsible to the people.”