1. The Jacksonian Era

2. Changing Democracy By 1820, democracy in the United States was different than the world had ever known. Europeans came to the US and were shocked at how everyone expected to be treated as equals. More people gained suffrage, or the right to vote. Now, in most states, you no longer had to own property to vote. This gave many more men the right to vote. Women and African Americans still did not have the right to vote in most circumstances. The spread of political power to more people was part of what became known as Jacksonian democracy. I can’t believe everyone wants to be treated equally!! And I have a hairball!!! (hack, hack)

3. Old Hickory gets SPANKED!! Andrew Jackson (general made famous during the War of 1812) ran and lost the race for the presidency in 1824. Jackson got the most popular votes, but the most electoral votes went to his opponant John Adams. This also happened in the 2000 election between Bush and Gore. Jackson waited 4 years and ran again. This time, he easily won. I guess that’s why one of Jackson’s nicknames was old hickory.

4. New Political Parties The republican party split into two separate parties: the Whigs (led by John Adams), and the Democrats (led by Andrew Jackson). Political parties even became more democratic. They opened the nominating conventions to all party members so that the people could now have some influence in the nominating process. Dave never really understood what the Whig party was all about.