Jacksonian Dbq Essay Example

Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. However, the Jacksonian Democrats were in a catch 22. In order for them to protect the interests of the common man, they at times had to violate the very things for which they stood. By doing this, the Jacksonian Democrats stressed the importance of the power of the common man, at times by violating their own principles.

The Jacksonian Democrats were guardians of the Constitution. However, if they had to violate it for the good of the common man, they did so. An example of this is the nullification in South Carolina. In the "Acts and Resolutions of South Carolina" in Document F, it explains that South Carolina was angry that the national government wasn't doing anything to prevent the mailing of Abolitionist papers. By these papers coming in, the slaves might have sensed that they had a right to freedom and rebel. South Carolina threatened to resist the government's actions if they interfered with their interests. South Carolina also threatened to not collect particular tariffs that were unconstitutional. This was deemed in their "South Carolina Exposition and Protest". Jackson threatened to invade South Carolina if they refused to collect the tariffs. The Jacksonian Democrats said in justification of their actions that the Constitution called for a single nation, not a group of states, to be in power. Jacksonians violated part of the Constitution by threatening to wage war on its own state. However, they did this in order to protect another the Constitution, that a single nation should be in power, not a group of states. Another instance in which the Jacksonian Democrats violated the Constitution for the good of the common man was in the "Trail of Tears" in Document G. The Supreme Court stated that the Jacksonian Democrats' actions were unconstitutional because by issuing the