YR - Jacksonian Democracy Lesson

Jacksonian Democracy

Portrait of Andrew Jackson President Andrew Jackson and his supporters shared a political philosophy later referred to as "Jacksonian Democracy." It sought a stronger presidency and executive branch, and a weaker Congress. Out of respect for the common man, it also sought to broaden public participation in government, so it expanded suffrage (voting rights) to include all adult white males, not just landowners.

Another principle of Jacksonian democracy was that politicians should be allowed to appoint their followers to government jobs as a way of limiting the power of elite groups (known as the "spoils system"). Jacksonians also favored Manifest Destiny and greater westward expansion of the United States.

Popular Political Culture

Jackson's presidential campaigns saw an increase in public participation in politics, and things got rough. Jackson's side accused his opponent of flattering European royalty and misusing public funds. The opponent accused Jackson of unfaithfulness in his marriage, of massacring Native Americans, of illegally executing convicted soldiers, and of dueling. These accusations were publicized in songs, pamphlets, posters, and lapel buttons. A voter could find all these at the first-ever campaign rallies and barbecues.

American Nationalism

As a people, Americans in Jackson's day believed in Manifest Destiny. They believed their nation was different than, and superior to, other nations because most Americans of that time shared the Protestant religion, and English language, ancestry, and culture. They believed it was their duty to expand the hold of their religion, language, ancestry, and culture all the way to the Pacific Ocean to remake all of North America as the Founding Fathers had remade its Atlantic coast. Altogether, these beliefs comprise American nationalism. The emerging, but Young Republic was reflected in the outpouring of art from the time period. View the presentation on Antebellum Art.

The End of the Jacksonian Era

1840 marked the end of Jacksonian America. A new political party, formed to oppose Jackson, the Whigs was able to capture the presidency and defeat Martin Van Buren's run for re-election. Van Buren had served as Jackson's Vice President, but his first term as president had been marked by an economic depression, The Panic of 1837. The Whigs were able to mimic many of the strategies of the Jacksonian Democrats and ran Harrison (who like Jackson was a war hero-from the Battle of Tippecanoe), portraying him as a common man and using many of the elements of the new political culture. The Jacksonian Era had ended, but not before it left an enduring stamp on American History.

38 HIS ACCIDENCY

John Tyler, so called after he succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison, in 1841. Since this was the first time a President had died in office, there was some question as to the extent of Tyler’s authority. 37 THE LITTLE MAGICIAN

Martin Van Buren (also called “The Red Fox” and “The American Talleyrand”), because he was a crafty and inventive political manager. His New York machine was known as the Albany Regency because, during the 1820s and 1830s, it ran things while Van Buren spent most of his time away in Washington as senator, secretary of state, Vice-President, and finally as President. 1 TIPPECANOE AND TYLER TOO

Used by the Whie party in 1840, when William Henry Harrison, the hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe, was the Whig presidential candidate, and John Tyler his running mate. The battle, fought in 1811 in Indiana, destroyed the Indian confederacy organized by Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, and his brother, Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet.

View the presentation on the election of 1840.

RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.