Jacksonian Democracy Dbq

Tyler Ceparano
Coach Bishop
DBQ#3
03/06/2015
Jacksonian Democrats

Jacksonian Democrats were not the "guardians of Democracy" that they claimed to be, but instead were merely guardians of their own sectional interests and Andrew Jackson's inflated ego. Jacksonians were skilled at emotionalizing issues and rallying the support of the South and
West.
The Jacksonian Democrats primary goals were not Constitutional justice and individual liberty, but instead they strived to suppress New England, the Whig party, and business interests and to preserve state's rights. Andrew Jackson (despite allegations to the contrary by South Carolina and Tennessee) was born in North Carolina and grew up a son of the frontier. The hero of the Battle of New
Orleans and a proven hothead (he flagrantly disobeyed orders and hanged a few of the enemy in the Seminole War), Jackson was also not what one would call an intellectual. Emotionalization of campaign issues got him elected in 1828 over a superior statesman, President John Q. Adams.
Through an over­emotionalized revivalistic campaign style, Jackson's campaign brought the common man out of the backwoods into the voting booth. (Records show that voter participation rose dramatically through the Jackson era). By exploiting the class difference between the urban
Eastern industrialists and the South­and­Western cultivated land, Jackson's aides turned "Old
Hickory" into a symbol for the fight against the upper class and intellectualism. Henceforth it mattered little what Jackson did as president, as long as it was perceived as the will of the common man.

The Bank of the United States, under the direction of Nicholas Biddle, had, to an extent, become an agent by which "fat­cat" Northern merchants filled their money bags. The Bank was not good, however, for Western speculators who had borrowed a great deal of money from the bank and now, in the late 1820s, were feeling the crunch of leveling­off land prices. Because the
Bank did not benefit Jackson's constituency (and because of a personal dislike for "Czar"
Biddle), Jackson vetoed the bill for recharter of the Bank, proclaiming that was in the "hands of a few men irresponsible to the people."(Document B) Jackson of course meant the common individual. Intellectuals like Daniel Webster saw through this exploitation of industry/agrarian conflict. “It is a state paper which finds no topic too exciting for its use, no passion too inflammable for its address and its solicitation.” (Document C) Here, Daniel Webster's reply shames Jackson for turning a political issue into an emotional quandary.
(It should be noted, in fairness to Andrew Jackson, that Webster owed several thousand dollars to the B.U.S.). Still,
Jackson claimed to be protecting the rights of individuals, instead of the interests of Western speculators. Sometimes, however, it was Jackson's ego and not sectional favoritism that drove
Jacksonian democracy. When Chief Justice John Marshall (a Federalist) ruled that the Cherokee nation had a right to its territory, Jackson declared, "Justice Marshall has made his decision now let him enforce it." Jackson claimed that the "common man" wanted the Indians removed and promptly sent the Cherokee down the "Trail of Tears" to Oklahoma. The move was actually fueled by Jackson's dislike for Marshall and his feeling that the executive branch superseded the
Court. Jackson vetoed the Maysville Road project in Kentucky, claiming that the Constitution mandated internal improvements in intra­state areas be the responsibility of local government.
He declined to mention that the road ran through the home district of his archrival, Whig Speaker of the House Henry Clay (Document G). In truth, Jacksonian Democracy did not
protect individual rights, as evidenced by the mistreatment of blacks, Indians, and immigrants. Most
Jacksonians were slaveholders, and until Jackson's individual pride was damaged by the nullification crisis of 1828.
Jackson resented upstart South Carolina and John C. Calhoun, due to the Eaton affair. “Resolved, That the legislature of South Carolina, having every confidence in the justice and friendship of the non­slaveholding states…” (Document F) In these Acts and
Resolutions, the legislature of South Carolina asked non­slaveholding states to suppress abolitionist societies and make it illegal to print or distribute information about abolition. South
Carolina warned Congress that if it allowed abolitionist material to be sent through U.S. mail, the state would take measures to prevent that mail from entering or crossing South Carolina. You may recall that in his annual message to Congress in 1835, President Jackson attacked the abolitionists and their incendiary publications. Jackson was an advocate of slavery. The
Cherokees were brutally mistreated by Jackson's removal policy. Irish immigrants were often the victims of big city riots in the East, which Andrew Jackson did nothing to prevent. These injustices were usually concealed from visitors like Harriet Martineau and Alexis De
Tocqueville.

Jacksonian Democracy did little for individual liberty and constitutional justice,
but instead hid behind emotionalized issues. Jackson's ego dictated policy, as did the needs of the
South and West. Several examples of suppressed individual freedom occurred. Jacksonians were more the protectors of self interest, than the guardians of Democracy.