How Democratic was Andrew Jackson? US History 11A DBQ

Document A This chart is a good way of showing the shift in power from the wealthy elite, who still controlled may of the state legislatures, to the more common, less prosperous classes in society. The framers of the Constitution saw the Electoral College as a way to keep less educated groups in society from making a bad decision when electing the President Note that by the time Jackson was elected in 1828 the process of allowing the people to choose electors was nearly complete. Jackson did not cause this change, but he benefitted from it.

Document B The “Revolution of 1800” was the election of Thomas Jefferson and his defeat of John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and the Federalist party. This peaceful transition of power from one party to another is a hallmark of American style democracy. Jackson was the first president from west of the Appalachian mountains. Not only was there a class shift in power, but a regional shift as well.

Appalachian Mountains

Document B At Jackson’s 1829 inauguration party as many as 20,000 people followed Jackson from his inauguration to the reception and nearly pressed him to death as they tried to shake his hand, at least one observer recalls. His clothes were ripped, thousands of dollars of white house china was destroyed, ladies fainted, men left the party with bloody noses, and those who could not exit the party through the front door were seen climbing out the White House windows.

Document C Hermitage is the name of Jackson’s home in Tennessee. Jackson historians have cited this letter as evidence that Jackson favored universal manhood suffrage. He does, however, recognized the constitutional right of Florida to establish property qualifications for voting sometime in the future. Since land was easy to acquire on the frontier, land ownership was not a big limiting factor on who could vote. At the time, of course, not everyone was included in “universal manhood suffrage.” Slaves, women, Indians, and most free black males did not have suffrage (before the Civil War only four northern states allowed free black males to vote.

Document D Three proposals by Jackson are discussed here: The direct election of Senators has been adopted by the 17th amendment Term limitation for the president was established by the 22nd amendment Attempts to get rid of the Electoral College have been many, and in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election, may one day be successful

Document D cont. Write the following definitions in the notes section of your folder What is a primary source? an artifact, a document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, a recording, or other source of information that was created at the time under study. What is a secondary source? any source about an event, period, or issue in history that was produced after that event, period or issue has passed. Is Document D a primary or secondary source?

Document E This cartoon appeared during the campaign for Jackson’s second term. Jackson won that election by a considerable margin, receiving 55% of the popular vote and winning 219 electoral votes to 49 for runner up Henry Clay. Opposers viewed Jackson as an abuser of presidential power

TACOS Time: When was it created? When is it set? What is the time period? Is there evidence on the image to help you know this? Action: what is happening in this image? What can you see? Explain what you think is happening. Caption: Are there any textual clues included to help you understand what this image is about or what it is telling us? Objects: List everything you see in the image. Summary: What is the message of this image? What have you learned from looking at it? Can you make connections to something else?

Document F Next to slavery, the most hotly debated issue in Congress in the entire 19th century may have been re-chartering the National Bank Charter – a written grant by a country’s legislature by which an institution such as a company, college, or city is created, and its rights an privileges defined For Andrew Jackson, the bank pitted poor farmers and factory workers against those wealthy Americans who could take advantage of them

Document F The bank could hurt the nation in several ways: It could limit the loans it gave out and make money tight, this hurt famers who tend to be debtors The bank hurt democracy by favoring certain Congressmen with lower interest loans, thereby influencing their votes on key issues Jackson believed that he must destroy the bank in order to protect the people