Andrew Jackson's Democracy
Andrew Jackson's Democracy
With Jackson's warm welcome to office in 1829, a strong foundation was set for a powerful Democratic rule. With Jackson's Machiavellian theories he believed that the "ends justified the means." Jackson integrated those beliefs into his presidency and used big government means to create a more democratic nation.
Jackson's Democratic thought was in obvious opposition to the ubiquitous Federal Bank of the United States. The monopolistic character of the bank started to take over the banking system and there wasn't any room for smaller private banks. Andrew Jackson viewed this as an unconstitutional act and would therefore fight the bank charter that would obviously renew their system of organization (Document B). Nicholas Biddle, the president of the National Bank, had problems with this and helped bolster the coalition against Jackson. Daniel Webster, a member of the great Triumvirate, and a Whig, took the case on the side of the bank.
Webster's case was that the president shouldn't have such a power, a power considered to be given to a king. (Document I) portrays Andrew Jackson as "King Mob" with the Bank decision veto in one hand and a scepter in the other. This shows Jackson's use of a big power in the Executive branch to achieve a more democratic rule, a "good" action against an "evil" want.
The Era of the Common Man started four years before Jackson's inauguration. This was due to the "corrupt bargain" of 1824, when Henry Clay shifted his votes to John Q. Adams in return for the appointment to Secretary Of State. People felt this was wrong considering Jackson's plurality of votes. Along with this the Western states allowed total white male suffrage forcing Eastern States to allow it thereby doubling the eligible voters (Document J). To gain the support of democracy which at that time was considered to be only white males who were occupying the land. A large influx of voters to the west led to a controversy of what to do with the Native Americans. In the Marshall decisions of Cherokee v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia, he stated that the Indian and American nations would be separate with their own rules which allowed them to live with and beside one another. (Documents A and D). Jackson's view of...