Recommended: Social changes that give rise to Mass Democracy
“The Birth of Modern Politics” is about the 1828 presidential election, which pitted Andrew Jackson vs. against John Quincy Adams. Parson’s book also discusses the events in Andrew Jackson’s and John Quincy Adams’ lives leading up to it as well. The book opens by giving background information about Andrew Jackson and his achievements. Specifically, his success in conquering the Native Americans at the battle of New Orleans and his humble origins made Jackson America’s first “man of the people” candidate for the 1824 election. However, during the 1824 election, Jackson had lost to Adams to which his followers claimed he was denied and should have won.
In the years 1829-1839, Jackson had decided to run for President. He thought that the “common man” should have more say in government, therefore, he was running as a Democratic. When he had run for President, he won with 178 electoral votes. Andrew Jackson was Democratic because he chose a “common man” to be in office and he vetoed the National Bank. There were a few reasons why Jackson was Democratic, but here is one.
Early on in American history, elections and voting were usually done only by the elite in society. This was changed when Andrew Jackson came and created the Age of Democracy. He got the common man into politics by holding debates, parades, and rallies. He also created the political primary, in which the common man could choose the candidates they wanted to have run for office. Andrew Jackson became president on the idea that he would champion the little guy.
Andrew Jackson during his time was considered a very patriotic politician he hated the rich, he hated the Indian, and loved the idea of slavery. It has been said that he grew up not educated and had a bad up bring but still managed to get to a high political suture. Jackson at one point was general and had a very decorated portfolio, which made sense he would become president, Andrew was most well know for “The Battle of New Orleans” where Andrew Jackson, prevented the British Army and General Edward Pakenham, from seizing New Orleans nearing the end of that war.
Because of these infringements on the rights of the people, Andrew Jackson was not a champion of the common man; the nickname “King Andrew,” from his opponents was accurate. When he was elected president, Andrew Jackson felt that he needed to remove John Quincy Adams’ appointees from office. To him, the clear answer was to replace them with his own followers and friends, creating a government where only one political party was effectively represented by presidential appointments. This use of the spoils system put people who were not qualified in powerful positions simply as a reward for supporting Jackson. He also had thirteen unofficial members in his cabinet to advise him.
Andrew Jackson was arguably the first “Average Joe” to be coined as President of the United States. His impact on the nation’s history is one that will never be forgotten since he brought about new fashions to approaching government, and new ways to view the country and its actions. This entire era was deemed “The Age of Jackson”, a deserving title for the man and the time period he was involved in, due to the way he approached and altered government and other decisions that changed American life. In the presidential election of 1824 Jackson won the popular vote of the American citizens, but he did not win the electoral vote; therefore, John Quincy Adams won the election.
The founders of the United States did their best to create a government that would not allow erroneous decisions to greatly harm the nation. They set a percent of presidents being politically sound and well-known; their beliefs for how the nation should be handled were essential to their campaign. President Andrew Jackson, however, did not follow this system, instead winning primarily by his personality and popularity amongst the common American. While his actions in office often appeared to be for the people, most had a hidden selfish side to them that he easily covered up. With the election of 1828, Jackson radically changed American politics, focusing them more on public appearance and personal character than on intelligence and political views, making personality just as, if not more important than the actual politics of a political term.
The time period of 1828 to 1836 was an eight year time span in which Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, serve two terms as president of the United States in which he sought to be a champion of the common man. To fully understand this time period, one must look at the the context. Before this period, the Democratic-Republicans most recently controlled the presidency under John Quincy Adam, who won the 1824 election against Jackson due to the Corrupt Bargain. This led to anger and resentment towards Adams and drastically destroyed his political party's image. In addition, beginning in the West as new states were being added their constitutions allowed for all white males to participate in voting.
The time has come to make a judgement of the great Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States from 1829~1837. Although some people didn’t like Jackson very well due to very few of his decisions, he made many good decisions during his presidency. Andrew Jackson should be remembered as a hero of the common man due to his unifying leadership, generous approach of governing, and concern for economic equality. The first reason that Andrew Jackson should be remembered as a hero is because of his unifying leadership.
He started by replacing many government jobs to officials with his supporters”. This is a major reasons why Jackson was bad. He would be considered an absolute Monarch or King. An example of this is when the Supreme Court sides with the Indians against the state of Georgia, and jackson ignores the supreme court’s ruling. The “spoils system” corrupted the government because no one had a chance to get good at their
During the Early Republic, some people may argue that democracy for Americans was not expanded, however, I argue that democracy was in fact expanded for Americans during this time period. Democracy for Americans may have been limited prior to the Early Republic, however, there are several reasons why I argue that democracy was expanded during this time. The Missouri Admission Act of 1820 allowed people in Missouri to form a state government, George Washington’s Farewell Address in 1796 provided guidance to the American people on how to approach certain political matters and an 1815 engraving titled “American Guided by Wisdom” showed how Americans felt following the ending of the War of 1812. These primary sources help to argue and support my
Andrew Jackson was from the west, and not a politician making him more of a common man than previous presidents. Serving in the military, being manly, and having a nickname “Old Hickory” made him relatable to the people. Presidents like George Washington, in contrast, came across as other worldly with their wealth, and education. The similarities to Jackson encouraged civilian participation in government. Coinciding with universal white male suffrage that came about in the 1820’s, the percentage of eligible voters that cast a ballot was higher in the 1828 election than any previous election.
The era of Andrew Jackson which was nicknames the era of the “common man” certainly lived up to its name. As the seventh President of the United States, Jackson had a major effect on the life of the common man, in such a way that the life of the common man would never be the same again. Jackson’s aim, after the manner in which he was defeated in the Presidential Election of 1824, despite receiving more popular votes than John Quincy Adams who took on the office, was to reduce the power and the authority of the elite. When he came into power after the 1828 election Jackson began to carry out his proposals. Jackson expanded the voting right to all men, in accordance with the Declaration of Independence of 1776 which declared that “all men are created equal” instead of just the elite.
They succeeded in mobilizing masses which helped Jackson to win the election of 1828. Political parties were becoming the way through which American were politicized. Through populism, a philosophy that supported the rights and the empowerment of the masses, Jackson was able to mark a step in opening up the civic life of the polity to new group of citizens that had never been involved in politics before. Jacksonian Democrats extended voting rights to white adult males, also increasing the importance of the party
1. Title of the PhD project Populism, Affect and Ethics in the Technological Age 2. Summary of the theme and aim of the project The questions of populism, new media technologies and the role of affect in social and political life have been widely discussed over the last two decades. Although affect theory is sometimes used to explain the functioning of digital technologies, the three aforementioned topics are almost never addressed in conjunction.
