DBQ Old Hickory

Old Hickory, the seventh president of the United States, prided himself greatly in his endeavors to help common men within his country. During his era he eradicated the 2nd national bank because his country wanted it, wrote a bill to displace Indians and vetoed an alarmingly high amount of bills. In all his flaws he was well liked by the people and was known as a man of the people. The Jacksonian period from the viewpoint of the common man, was a turning point in American history because of higher political involvement because the president was always in their corner; however, it was not always for the better because this period manifested in the trail of tears and tyrannical ruling from Jackson. One of the many things that make the …show more content…
A nomination convention is a convention held every four years by political parties in order to nominate the future presidential candidate to represent that party; however, this convention was made in order to choose a running mate for Jackson. Frederick A. Sumner wrote “The object of the representatives of the people of New Hampshire who called this convention was not to impose on the people as candidate for either of the two offices in this government, any local favorite; but to concentrate the opinion of all the state” (Doc 7). This was the first national congress and it was aimed to the people and open to the people. This openness within the running president was unseen before in the elections. Jackson was the first president to appeal to people and push many of them to vote because they had an inherent liking for him. In fact, his model of running for president allowed for voter turnout in the United States to increase from the failing 50s to the roaring eighties (Doc 5). The …show more content…
Jackson was a man well liked and very well spoken to his people, which in turn created more political engagement within the American voting booths and created a whole new way of running for office which was more open to the public and personal. Jackson however had a very high threshold for who could hold office under him creating a corrupted business through which only those he desired worked for him. This created a picture of a tyrant to many of his opposers, and it didn’t help that he was very ready to use his veto power. So while the Jacksonian era proved very fruitful to the common man with new land, a president who cared very much for his people and more political engagement all of which have stood the test of time. The tyranny of Jackson was a blight of the bright cloth of the common man’s