 Jacksonian Democracy  July 12, 2010

Not Everyone Loves a Parade

What is Democracy?  T. Jefferson: the Republic should be ruled by a “natural aristocracy.”  De Tocqueville: America was split between “aristocratic [and] democratic passions” (1835).

Source: Henretta, Brody, & Dumenil, America: A Concise History, Vol. I (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002), 251.

A Voting-Rights Revolution  Propertied free white men  Free white men   More elected judges  More elected officials in state governments  More direct elections, e.g. for presidential electors, instead of legislature votes.  1824: 25% of eligible adult white males;  1840: 80.2% of eligible adult white males

Winners and Losers  ‘All men with property’  All white men = no vote for free blacks MD 1810 NY 1821 TN 1834 NC 1835  ‘Persons with property’  All white men = no vote for affluent women NJ 1807

QUESTION: How did this change effect key issues of Jackson’s era? 1.) Rise of modern political parties “Second Party System” 2.) Indian expulsion Cherokee Removal Trail of Tears 3.) Bank of the United States 4.) The nullification crisis Calhoun 5.) Spoils system Martin Van Buren Albany’s Regency