Jacksonian_Dbq

Jacksonian Democrats during the 1820’s and 1830’s were some of the more deviant men to have taken action during the beginning of the United States of America. Their policies under the great Andrew Jackson were earth –shockingly new and aimed simply at bettering the United States itself rather than attempting to strengthen their own political power or wealth. Their aims were to improve the situation of the “common man”, a group that Andrew Jackson (and a great percentage of the US population in general) had grown up with. One may find their policies unstable and uncanny, but the only significance of this change of opinion is to show that rather than sticking stubbornly to policies that would only serve to strengthen a more wealthy group of people, their policies would be constituted in order to justifiably solve problems presented to them by the people of the United States, not the problems presented to them by Democrats or Republicans. These men were the guardians of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They censured economic monopoly and broadened the public voting process to a new population of voters; the non-taxpayers and non-landowners. This created a voting system that represented a greater part of America than ever before. They truly were the protectors and creators of an America that revered individual liberty, equal right of economic opportunity, and justices and liberties presented to us by God as written in the Constitution of the United States. “When a long chain of abuses and usurpations take place, all invariably leading to the oppression and degradation of one class of society, and to the unnatural and iniquitous exaltation of another by political leaders, it is their right and duty…to reform the abuses of such a government…” This quote from Document A is a great summary of the goal of the men of Jacksonian Democracy. The Jacksonians would do all in their power to give equal opportunity to all white, Anglo-Saxon, male citizens of the United States. Andrew Jackson himself stated that he was a representative of and himself a “common man”. Jacksonian Democrats reformed voting laws, refuted the economic monopoly of the Second Bank of the United States; a “concentration of power in the hands of a few men” as stated in Document B. This disapproved the constitutional idea of a government of the people, by creating an institution which put economic control in the hands of a few, essentially putting the economic income of the majority in the hands of a minority. Jacksonians would carry out the will of the masses whether or not they felt that the decision was wrong as long as they were acting in agreement with the will of the majority of their people. This endeavor towards democracy could, in reality, have its goods and its evils. One of those evils being the trail of tears. Either way these decisions were made with the best intentions in order to preserve liberty, and the Constitution. Another example of Jacksonian preservation of justices, liberty, and rights is demonstrated in Document H. This document says, “While the rights of private property…are…guarded…the community also have rights… and the well being of every citizen depends on their faithful preservation”. This was a passage from a Supreme Court decision concerning a company’s attempt to gain rights of transportation over a river through a single bridge. Once again putting down monopolies especially in local industries by private businesses, the Jacksonian-style decision was that the owners of the Charles River bridge may take “certain rates of toll, which they are authorized to take… there is no exclusive privilege given too them over the waters of the Charles River, above or below their bridge; no right to erect another bridge themselves, or prevent other persons from erecting one; no engagement from the state”. All boundaries put on this bridge helped support the Jacksonian Democracy style of government. Justice was to be served among small corporations, large corporations, and small local businesses equally. Any unjust or illegal attempt at diminishing the capabilities of a small growing business by a large corporation or monopoly was seen as unconstitutional by Jacksonians. Jacksonian Democrats had several of the same views as Jeffersonian Democrats. They both felt that a strict construction of the constitution was necessary and that the people should indirectly run the government. They were both supporters of states rights, although Jefferson may have been more of a radical when it came to this certain aspect. Jackson however said that he would protect against "all encroachments upon the legitimate sphere of State sovereignty". However, there was one topic in which their views were different; which was that of education. Where Jeffersonian Democrats favored education and felt it entirely necessary among all citizens, Jacksonians barely thought that a formal education was essential while making political decisions or among voters. This helped the “common man” relate even more to the Jacksonian government and encouraged even more political complacency by average citizens. This once again indirectly helped to keep the wealthy few educated aristocrats from overpowering government operation.