President Andrew Jackson had been born into poverty in the Carolina backcountry, and he grew up seeing the realities of a common man's life and the struggles that a common man faced. With perseverance and dedication, Jackson climbed the ladder of success, establishing an honorable name for himself in politics and law. His attitude and the stimuli he experienced as a youth molded the way that he acted and governed as the President. He regarded himself as representing the nation as a whole, and always acted in what he thought was the county's best interest. As a common man who overcame the odds and became a critical political figure, ready to challenge aristocratic privileges whenever he found them, Andrew Jackson seemed to symbolize the virtues of the new and revolutionizing America. The democratic nature of Jackson's politics was no ploy, but rather a heartfelt belief that the will of the people was absolute. He believed in the collective wisdom of the majority with a con!
             viction that no president before had shown. Though his ideology was no intellectual match for the well-educated Revolutionaries like Jefferson and Madison, his sagacity and determination to advance democracy to its farthest limits was an essential idea. The fear of a majority controlling and degrading a minority within a democratic society was strong, particularly among elite and powerful politicians in Washington. This line of argument was merely an acceptable form of expressing a fear of the common man gaining power. Yet Jackson believed that a "virtuous people ...would arrive at right conclusions."
             After Jackson's huge plurality, he was the obvious candidate of those who wanted to limit Federal power. The common people felt that he was one of them, but Jackson's image as the "Honest, Unassuming Farmer of Tennessee" may only be true as a personality description. Jackson was a Tennessee southern gentleman; wealthy, slave owning and was cert...