Jacksonian

The Jacksonian Democrats definitely thought highly of their ideas, and, unlike other political parties, they lived up to what they stood for while in office. They guarded the citizens’ rights from infringement, promoted political democracy, and gave new life for the individual in both a political and economic sense. By encouraging universal white manhood suffrage, downsizing the government, and giving more rights to the individuals, they made their ideas prosper. Andrew Jackson had one main concept concerning the Constitution. He believed in the strict construction of it, thus minimizing the federal government’s power and letting the states receive more rights. Jackson’s strict construction meant that he believed that whatever hadn’t been written in the Constitution shouldn’t be done. During his first term, he upheld this view by rejecting Henry Clay’s American System. Jackson denied federal involvement with internal state improvements, urging the states to find funding on their own. Here, he rejected the American System on grounds that federal funding toward internal improvements was not mentioned in the Constitution. Jackson clearly demonstrated his desire to guard the Constitution by giving the federal government another role that hadn’t originally been intended for it. The progression of political democracy and individual liberties were quite substantial during the Jacksonian Era. While Jackson was in office, universal white manhood suffrage was spreading rapidly throughout the states. At this time, states were abolishing their property requirements for voters. Now, poor people could now let their opinion count just as much as those of their upper class neighbors. President Jackson brilliantly guarded this privilege, for he was a man who depended on the people. He was the ideal president for the lower class because he disapproved of a strong, powerful central government. Also, he granted many individual liberties to the common people after his election. He held the belief that all people, not only the upper class educated people, should have a chance to be a part of public office. He in turn gave the common people a chance at what previously only the well educated could do. It is quite obvious that Jackson was a man that thought highly of the common folk. By doing this, he promoted and preserved political democracy and also gave liberties to the common individual. Lastly, supporters of Jackson undoubtedly defended equal economic opportunity. A great example of this occurred when Jackson refused to recharter the Bank of the United States. He plainly showed that it favored the rich and upper class, as well as foreigners. Foreigners and a few hundred of the wealthy in the states held the entire stock of the Bank. Also, the Bank was shown to be monopolistic, for the federal government had all of its deposits invested in it. This, in turn, denied the chance for other state banks to compete for the Bank of the United States held such a large amount of deposits in it. By refusing the Bank’s recharter, Jackson was helping to promote economic opportunity by giving other banks a chance to succeed. Quite visibly, it is easy to construe that the Jacksonian Democrats helped preserve equal economic opportunity. It is easy to comprehend that Jackson and his supporters were clear defenders of the Constitution, political democracy, and opportunities for the individual. Jackson helped to minimize the federal government’s power, securing a strict construction of the Constitution. Also, during his time in office, political democracy flourished due to universal white manhood suffrage. All white males could now get a say in their country’s politics. Finally, Jackson gave economic opportunity to people by ridding the country of monopolies. By doing this, he gave more people a chance to enhance their role in economy. In conclusion, the Jacksonian Democrats’ view of themselves is very accurate, for they did protect the rights of the public an immense amount.