Eduardo Aranda

10-27-09
3rd Pd.

Jacksonian Democrats DBQ

After the Era of Good Feeling’s developments in agriculture, commerce and industry

settled in America, a shift of power from the elite into the middle and lower classes began in the

1820’s and 1830’s. This was emphasized with the rise of the Jacksonian Democrats who viewed

themselves as guardians of the Constitution claiming to uphold the policies of political

democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity. However, although they

sometimes implemented actions that helped our country and enforced their personal view of

themselves, many times they only supported their own sectional issues.

Andrew Jackson was a well-known hero of the War of 1812 with his great victory in the

Battle of New Orleans. This provided him with a large amount of popularity which allowed him

to win the election of 1828. He was a rough, ambitious man, who was born of humble origins

and rose to become a wealthy planter and slaveholder. These qualities are what made him a

president of the common man. Yet, many actions that he took during the presidency did not

reflect his role as “president of the common man”. One ruling by the Jacksonian Democrats

which caused major conflicts in the U.S. was the adoption of the gag rule. In 1836, a civil rights

confrontation developed in Congress. Abolitionists were exercising their right to petition

Congress in order to abolish slave trade and slavery in the District of Columbia (Doc. F). Since

the district was under federal rule, states’-rights arguments against interfering with slavery did

not apply there. Congress responded in 1836 by adopting the gag rule which tabled abolitionist

petitions, effectively preventing debate on the arguments. Also, the constitutionality of the

National Bank was called into question by Jackson. In 1832, he vetoed the bill to recharter the

Bank of the United States, claiming that it held a monopoly and was also unconstitutional (Doc.
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B). Daniel Webster wrote a letter to Jackson, accusing him of gaining too much power and

pitting the poor and wealthy classes against each other with this veto (Doc. C).

Politically, the Jacksonian Democrats were able to make several changes as well. They

were able to increase participation in elections and expand the right to vote. The country changed

drastically as more and more white men gained this right by being American citizens and owning

land (Doc. D). The working class also made a large influence to the government with the

Working Men’s Declaration of Independence which declared that they also had unalienable

rights like other citizens (Doc. A). During Jackson’s presidency there was also the creation of the

Whig political party, which was a more optimistic party than that of the democrats and was

influenced with Daniel Webster’s reply to Jackson’s veto message (Doc. C)

Finally, Jacksonian Democrats did not do a very good job of keeping proper protection of

peoples’ individual rights, especially those who were minorities. In the early 1830’s Chief

Justice John Marshall made two rulings in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and in Worcester v.

Georgia which defined the rights of the Indian nation in regards to the Constitution and declared

that they could not be removed from their lands to Indian territories across the Mississippi River.

Jackson was determined to remove the Cherokee at all costs and ignored the Supreme Court’s

ruling; in the Removal Act of 1830, Congress provided the funds which Jackson needed to

negotiate new treaties and resettle the tribes (Doc. G). Also throughout the 1830’s, there were

many times in which much of the country seemed to be at peace (Doc. D), when in reality there

were riots and violence being acted against groups such as African Americans and Irish

immigrants (Doc. E).

In conclusion, the era of the Jacksonian Democrats provided both great positive and

negative change in our country. Although they sometimes implemented actions that helped our
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country and enforced their personal view of themselves, many times they only supported their

own sectional issues.