How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson?
How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson?
Andrew Jackson was known for many things in his lifetime. He was most known for his involvement in the U.S Military. But, the main question that stood was what was he fighting for? How democratic was he? Well, data and evidence that still stands proved he was somewhat democratic. But along with that, he has also made some undemocratic decisions as well. Proof of him displaying being democratic shows up in The Background Essay, Document 2, and Document 6. He is shown to be somewhat undemocratic in Document 4, Document 5, and Document 8.
Firstly, a lot of information lies within The Background Essay. He was described to have a rough childhood. He grew up and served in the army which lead him into being interested in politics. He studied a lot about how thing worked and ran for president. He wanted to make a change to the currently corrupted power plan and “became determined to create a new era of real democracy in America, where the people would be heard. This shows he can be democratic because he cares about what the people want and need and he is willing to fulfil those needs and wants being asked for.
Secondly, Document 2 displays his care for what the citizens want. Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy were giving a speech where the crowd ended up cheering “the people shall rule!” (in dedication to Jackson). Some politicians stated that they’ve never seen anything of such sort. This expresses that Andrew Jackson was doing a good job keeping the people satisfied, therefore making his campaign and whole message and goal stronger.
Then, Document 6 illustrates that Jackson has a somewhat democratic mindset. Jackson wrote a letter to congress describing how he had a few ideas. He recapped what the “duties of the public officers are” and how he didn’t like the quality of work that they were doing. So he took what was in everyone’s best interest and made sure these rules and regulations were being executed. This expresses a democratic mindset because everyones say and opinion was included in Jackson’s mind to make this decision so it would benefit