Jacksonian Democracy DBQ

During the 1820’s and 1830’s, American political views were quite polarized. Arguing over who best represented the people and practiced democracy, the Jacksonian Democrats and Whigs were two of the most prominent political parties at the time. Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as the guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. However, their history was mixed as each of these principles could be proved true for the most part with fragments of contradiction. Andrew Jackson believed that he was the guardian of the US Constitution and that he was correcting inadequate interpretations of the documents presented by his opponents. For example, in July of 1832 he …show more content…
It is no coincidence that Jackson’s election coincided with the extension of voting rights to non-property owning males and to the changing US economy. Industrial workers in eastern cities sought to be active participants in the political process. George Henry Evans, for example, spoke for the emerging class in his Declaration of 1829 claiming that it was the duty of workers to “use every constitutional means to reform the abuses” of government and provide “guards for their future security” (Doc. A). Jackson provided hope for the workers who could identify with his common background. While the system was becoming more democratic in terms of who could participate in government, women and minorities still had no right to vote, hardly a democratic …show more content…
As mentioned previously, the voices of workers were more evident than before and Jackson certainly believed that he was helping the common man when he turned down the bank. In addition, Chief Justice Roger Taney, an apparent Jacksonian himself, believed that the “happiness and well-being of every citizen” depended on the “faithful preservation” of the rights of local communities to establish private enterprises, even if competing with federally granted charters (Doc. H). On the other hand, in spite of these developments and the observations of Harriet Martineau, there clearly were groups in society that were not part of the “equal” economic opportunities. Philip Hone, a Whig businessman in New York City, for example, recorded his impressions of “dreadful riots” between the “Irish and the Americans” as well as “hostility to the blacks” in New York and Philadelphia in 1834 (Doc. E). It can be assumed that Hone was anti-Jacksonian and therefore willing to paint a dark picture of urban life, but the historical evidence is clear that America has always had groups of people that simply do not have the same economic opportunities as the mainstream of