To What Extent Did American Democracy During The First Half Of The 19th Century

To a large extent did American democracy become more inclusive during first half of the 19th century. The presence of the Jacksonian democracy, women’s rights movements, and social reform movements helped the democracy in America become more open to different types of people. The presidency of Andrew Jackson came to be known was the “Age of the Common Man” due to Jackson’s beliefs and policies. In the years prior to Jackson’s election, to be eligible to vote a person had to be: white, adult, male, and a property owner. When Jackson became president in 1828, he removed property ownership as a requirement for voting. This act gave more people the eligibility to vote because not every person had land of their own, thus increasing the amount of people included in the democracy. Additionally, the Jacksonian democracy included a group of advisors in the White House called “The Kitchen Cabinet.” These advisors were unofficial, but still had a say in Jackson’s administration; many supported Jackson in his veto of the rechartering of the Bank of the U.S.. Jackson’s veto was aimed to give more power to the common people, as the Bank favored the rich and foreign investors. The Jacksonian democracy also had the process of rotation in office, also known as the Spoils System, which allowed the newly-elected president to remove all of the officials from the previous presidency and replace such officials with new ones from

The rotation in office prevented one person from serving for several years and allowed more people to have a chance at serving in government. Furthermore, campaigning for candidates