1820-1840: The Growth Of Democracy

The political elements played an enormously important role during the time period 1820-1840. Between the presidency of both Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and Andrew Jackson in 1828, American culture and politics were transformed as democracy appeared to suffuse every aspect of them. The growth of democracy caused a significant political consequence; the expansion of suffrage to include virtually all men by the removal of property requirements. The removal of property requirements proved to be controversial as it became a debated issue among many (Keene, 228). Many states were expanding suffrage to non-property owning white men, but stripped away voting rights from property owning African Americans as well as making new restrictions on them. For
Andrew Jackson became the president of the United States in 1828 and was the country’s leading democrat. Democracy during this time had not yet embraced all Americans, excluding women, African Americans, and Indians (Keene, 226). Jackson and his supporters desired to limit the rights of blacks by basically stripping them of their suffrage. Many states expanded suffrage for white men by removing property requirements, while others were imposing new constrictions on blacks, such as high property requirements, therefore stripping them of their right to vote. This racial exclusion limited African American votes throughout the North and West in states such as Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, and most all states that entered the Union after 1819 (Keene, 241). Many states such as Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio regulated the conduct of free blacks by requiring those who emigrated in the state to post a bond (much like a prisoner) or be deported, or by prohibiting them from testifying in court or bringing civil suits (Keene,241). Jackson’s contact with Indians, while including them into his vision of white man’s democracy, proved to have extreme consequences as well. Jackson’s vision was to expand the lands of the white settlers’ and it proved to have no room for the respect of Indians’ rights. Jackson and his supporters desired to constrict Indian’s rights, and to take away their lands for the purpose of westward expansion. Although president Jackson treated the natives as inferior subjects to white men as himself, the Cherokees, one of the “Five Civilized Tribes,” chose to obey his wishes and assimilate, rather than to resist. A conflict arose between the Cherokees and the state of Georgia, their white neighbors, over whether the Cherokees could declare themselves an independent nation or not. However,