How Democratic was Andrew Jackson?
Andrew Jackson was one of the most popular US presidents of all time. He was president from 1829 to 1837. During this time the US was evolving, becoming more and more democratic. When Jackson ran for President he received the majority of the popular vote. One of the reps traded his electoral votes to John Quincy Adams so long as he made that rep the secretary of state. Jackson called this the corrupt bargain. A definition of democratic could be a person who believes in the majority rule, rule by the people and universal suffrage. After examining his actions on the following issues, it is clear that Andrew Jackson was democratic.
In Document 1, Before Jackson took office in 1828, half of the voting was done by the legislature. When he took office and even after he took office, more than 90% of the voting wasby the people.
In Document 2, it states, “So in a broader sense the election was a "revolution" comparable to that of 1800. It was a peaceful revolution, achieved by ballots instead of bullets.... "Shall the people rule?" cried the Jacksonians. The answering roar seemed to say, "The people shall rule!"
In Document 4, Jackson says, “Of the twenty-five directors of this bank five are chosen by the Government and twenty by the citizen stockholders. . . . It is easy to conceive that great evils to our country and its institutions might flow from such a concentration of power in the hands of a few men irresponsible to the people. Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country? It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.”
In Document 6, Jackson says, “In a country where offices are created soley for the benefit of the people, no man has any… more right to official station than another.”
In Document 7, it reads, “Here the dreadful consequence of denying the government the...