How Did Political Campaigns Change Between 1815 And 1840

Political campaigns and elections in the United States changed dramatically between 1815 and 1840 due to large social and political changes, such as universal white male suffrage which caused caused more voters in the middle and lower classes, and the growth of the common man ideal which resulted in politicians that were voted into office based on their background rather than their actual political views and knowledge.

The political changes that granted universal white male suffrage caused an increase in eligible voters (doc 1). This increase in eligible voters (mainly the middle class) led to a demand for politicians who were more inclined to push for legislation that would benefit the “common man”, this included topics such as child labor

Evans. Evans says in document 4 that the people in New York City had been robbed of their political liberties, and to get them back they needed to band together and vote for his party. In 1829, there was a very large number of industrial workers living in New York City because of the flood of economic immigrants from Ireland, England, and Germany, who came to the United states in search of work (doc 2). This caused an explosion of nativism among the Americans that had been there for generations and also led to the political parties such as the “know nothing” party. This was a major change for the US because the US had never had a voting population so large or one that represented the working class. The large middle class caused political leaders to change strategies that had once targeted the aristocratic upper class to appeal to the masses. Harrison was using the formation of the workingmen's party to his advantage (doc 7). The purpose of Harrison's campaign was to appeal to the idea of the “common man” a person who was relatable to the middle class, even though he was

This literacy allowed for the increase in the consumption of newspapers (doc 5). These newspapers were more popular because more people could read. Newspapers were also popular because more people were interested in politics which would be written about in the newspapers. The industrial revolution had allowed for cheaper production of newspapers because of the innovations like their utilizing the printing press. The middle class would not have made educated voters in the system would have failed like mentioned and document two. Van Buren rights to a newspaper editor and tries to tell him that the Democrats and the Wigs would never get along this led to the growing political differences which led to the mudslinging campaigns, this was a very stark contrast to the era of good feeling in 1827 and an rivalry between the parties (doc 3). This shift from the government having parties that got along fairly well, to parties that were very conflicting, this would have a big effect on the way campaigns were run, and an increase in more harsh political tactics such as