What Is The Difference Between The Jacksonian Period Of Social And Economic Development

Andrew Jackson, a war hero from the West, whose heart and soul resided with the “plain folks”, believed that the common man was capable of uncommon achievement. He characterized the Jacksonian Period (1824 – 1848) after being inaugurated into the office on March 4, 1829. However, the Jacksonian Period, often celebrated as the era of the “common man”, didn’t truly live up to its characterization when taking the politics, the economic development and the reform movements into its account because although, the politics saw few transformations throughout the era of the “common man”, neither the economic development nor the reform movements advanced much throughout the Jacksonian period. The political decisions throughout the Jacksonian period

The economic development throughout the Jacksonian Period left the economy unstable for years to come, and the America faced one of the worst depression in its history. The unstable economy began with Jackson’s plan to destroy the Second Bank of the United States, which was handled by Nicholas Biddle since 1823. Jackson and his supporter were “hard money” supporter, who believed in using coin currency, and thus wanted to destroy the bank, which conducted private businesses and issued bank notes, credits and restrained less well-managed state banks. After firing two of his secretary of the treasury, Jackson appointed Roger B. Taney, who under Jackson’s order removed the government deposits. This caused a short recession and left the bank destroyed in 1836, leaving it unstable for years to come. In 1836, the Distribution Act passed by Congress required the government to return the surplus to the states, which caused Jackson to implement the “specie circular” which required for public land sales only to be in gold or silver currency. This produced a financial panic, known as the Panic of 1837, and caused America to enter into a five-year long depression. The economy didn’t advance much for the “common man”, rather the depression affected the people negatively, as businesses failed and unemployment grew, thus the economic development

The Dorr’s rebellion was led by lawyer and activist Thomas Dorr, who held a convention and drafted a constitution, which was then submitted to popular vote. Although, the rebellion quickly failed, it helped to draft a new constitution that expanded the suffrage, instead of just small groups of landowners being able to vote. However, this didn’t truly live up to its characterization either because the voting rights were only guaranteed to white male citizens. The women and the slaves were still secluded from the reform, thus it wasn’t truly for the “common man”. Another reform movement that arose during this era was the birth of the Whigs. The Whigs were anti-Jacksonians, who favored expanding the power of federal government, and commercial and industrial development. The Whigs were supported mostly by the wealthy Northeastern industrialists and merchants, as their vision was on economic growth by the wealthy rather than opportunities for all of the Americans. Thus, the reform movements didn’t live up to its characterization as well, as they were more focused on winning elections rather than maintaining a philosophical