The Era Of Jacksonian Democracy

The Jacksonian period really began starting in Jackson’s 1828 election and ended around 1850 when the slavery issue started to become dominant. In the 1824 election Andrew Jackson won the majority of the vote but went on to lose the congressional vote to John Quincy Adams. Jackson used this situation which they called the ‘Corrupt Bargain’ to bring common individuals together to launch an era known as the Jacksonian Democracy. These individuals formed together by Jackson’s guidance to create the modern Democratic Party. This democracy was a movement politically toward a greater democracy and was characterized by voting, patronage, and economics. During the Jacksonian period Jackson did not like the National Bank and how it benefited wealthy investors who lend money to the government. Jackson believed that this benefited the investors by putting them over ‘the people’ and the Jacksonian Democracy was opposed to that. Although Jackson opposed this National Bank he did not go out to fight against the bank, he only went on to veto the re-charter of the bank and pull out the federal reserves from the bank. The Jacksonian Democracy had a primary characteristic to expand suffrage,
Jackson’s Democratic Party was created with views that favored ‘the people’ rather than the wealthy and elite. Jackson opposed the National Bank since it benefited the wealthy instead of the people. The Jacksonian era helped the suffrage expansion to where all white men can vote rather than just white men who own land. This expansion was one of Jackson’s primary characteristics. Another great idea started in the Jacksonian period was the Spoils System where Jackson rewarded loyal supporters of his party with government jobs. The Jacksonian period had many great features that helped shape the politics of our modern