Jacksonian Democrats
Andrew Jackson, and his Democrats, viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty and the equality of economic opportunity. They felt that they could change the government into a system that was run for and by the "common man." According to Jackson, the "common man" was the farmers and urban workers that made up a majority of the population, not the aristocrats. This argument for the "common man" was a strong one, although the goals set forth were not entirely achievable. Though biased, the Jacksonian Democrats view of themselves was fairly accurate. While they were successful guardians of both political democracy and equality of economic opportunity, they failed to defend the Constitution and individual liberty. The Jacksonian Democrats defense of the United States Constitution was not a particular high point in their political era. Jackson often had a blatant disregard for decisions passed down by the Supreme Court. In the case of the removal of the Cherokee nation, the Supreme Court had already passed down a decision that said that the Cherokee would be allowed to keep a certain amount of land in Georgia that would be much li
He held the first nominating conventions, which eliminated the old way of congressional caucus for nominating a presidential candidate. "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" -Andrew Jackson's veto message (doc. This apparent snub of the Constitution and the decisions of the Supreme Court may have been means for impeachment, or other legal action, but Jackson and his Democrats managed to avoid both. This equalization of status among voters and office-holders led to an increase of almost seven fold during the time of Jackson's presidency. Though not quite as obviously successful as the guarding of political democracy, the Jacksonian Democrats were able to effectively preserve the equality of economic opportunity. Possibly the most outrageous of the lack of individual liberties was the treatment of the Native Americans, namely the Cherokee. having an obvious tendency to excite the slaves of the southern states to insurrection and revolt" (doc. purporting to be abolition societies . He did not have the success of say, a George Washington, but he had been more active in the legislative process than all the previous presidents combined. Madison, but Jackson decided that it was in the best interest of the federal government, and the "common man," to veto the re-charter of the Bank of The United States. Although Jackson did not have the most successful terms as president, his policies were effective nonetheless.
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Acceptance Essays
