Jacksonian Era Dbq

Even though this was the Jacksonian Era, which was the "era of the common man", the working class was oppressed at this time. The Jacksonians movement to democracy was never fulfilled executed, it was mainly just talk to manipulate the people to support them. The Jacksonians were keen on disillusioning the working class from gaining knowledge about the class interest and opposing their oppressors. The Jacksonian idea was marked by obtaining stability and "control by winning to the Democratic party 'the middling interest, and especially...the substantial yeomanry of the country' by 'prudent, judicious, well-considered reform'." In order words, the reform would not lead to much change. He wanted to use "the new politics of ambiguity" to gain …show more content…
In 1861, Congress passed Morrill Tariff, which made foreign goods more expensive and permitted manufacturers in America to increase their prices. Thus, this made consumers pay more and never really benefited the people from the labor force. During the same year, the Homestead Act gave 160 acres of land to anyone that accepted the idea of cultivating it for five years and paid $1.60 per acre. The Homestead land added up to 50 million acres and only a small proportion of society was able to pay $200 to purchase the land, so the poor was not able to take advantage of this opportunity. As well as that the government provided 100 million acres of land to railroads for free of charge. Congress also created a national bank, which put "putting the government into partnership with the banking interests, guaranteeing their profits." Congress provided employers with more assistance through the Contract Labor Law, which was enacted in 1864. It allowed companies to sign contracts with foreign workers as long as they accepted to give 12 months of their wages to pay for the cost of emigration. Those foreign workers were great for cheap labor and as strikebreakers. Clearly, the government cared more about businesses compared to the people of