During the Age of Jeffersonian and Jacksonian

UNIT 4 LONG ESSAY

During the age of Jeffersonian and Jacksonian, both presidents had made a claim to represent the interests of the common man and to be democratic. Whether which one made a better claim to these titles remained a question until many years later. President Andrew Jackson represented a democrat the most by politically being more appealing to the people, and economically by protecting the interests of the common man.

As a military hero, frontiersmen, and a populist, Jackson enchanted the common people and alarmed the political and social elite. He became even more popular at the national democratic convention where he was reelected president. Jackson's personal view on the role of the presidency was to be a protector of common man and to fight against abuses of power by the rich and the privileged. By 1828 Jackson had eliminated property requirement for voting making it for those who weren’t wealthy have the ability to vote and have equal rights as every white man. Jackson also supported the federal government over the state governments. He saw America as a land of farmers. He sympathized with the land-hungry farmers in the west. When John Marshall made a ruling in Worcester v. Georgia that supported state’s rights, Jackson said, "John Marshall made his decision, now let him enforce it." He defied the Supreme Court for the good of the nation as a whole. Jackson's greatest accomplishment was surviving the nullification crisis. Andrew Jackson felt enabling his supporters to work in administrative offices would work because the people deserved to be heard and have a say in things. Despite Calhoun's efforts, Jackson held the nation together. Despite the hardships he may have faced in office. Jackson never forgot the will of the common man.

More so he expanded the concept of the chosen class by only selecting few methods of money gain essential to the American economy. He saw that industries were one source of gaining money but focused mostly on agriculture. Andrew Jackson’s career encompassed the purviews of lawyer, judge, storekeeper, land speculator, soldier and politician; but farming became the basis of his economic plan. To actualize his plan, Jackson bought The Hermitage to produce single cash crop cotton. Because of the black belt from Alabama to Mississippi cotton growing and plantations became the leading source for the world’s supply in cotton which would dramatically increase America’s money gain.  However, planters stretched the ecological limits of the land as they sought their fortunes. Tennessee was the northernmost outpost of cotton production in the antebellum South but the climate allowed for only a narrow window of success in planting this cash crop. Andrew Jackson knew he would have to cease depending on cotton for income eventually. The land was wearing out, the price of cotton was falling and the limited growing season made it a great risk. He began to turn to other resources such as hemp, tobacco, and even butter. But during Jackson’s Presidency he also focused on changing the bank system. As his term continued, Jackson truly grew a desire to crush the Second Bank of the United States. Over time he had decided that it could not continue as it was, and that it did not warrant reform. It must be destroyed he thought. Jackson's reason for this conclusion was an amalgamation of his past financial problems, his views on states' rights, and his Tennessee roots. The Second Bank centralized financial might, jeopardizing economic stability; it served as a monopoly on fiscal policy. To Jackson, the bank symbolized how a privileged class of businessmen oppressed the will of the common people of America. He made clear that he planned to challenge the constitutionality of the bank, much to the horror of its supporters. On September 10, 1833, Jackson removed all federal funds from the Second Bank of the U.S., redistributing them to various state banks, which were popularly known as "pet banks." In addition, he announced that deposits to the bank would not be accepted after October 1. Finally, Jackson had succeeded in destroying the bank; its charter officially expired in 1836. The Maysville Road veto occurred on May 27, 1830, when President Andrew Jackson vetoed a bill which would allow the Federal government to purchase stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike Road Company, which had been organized to construct a road linking Lexington, KY. and Maysville, KY., on the Ohio River, the entirety of which would be in the state of Kentucky. Its advocates regarded it as a part of the national Cumberland Road system. Congress passed a bill in 1830 providing federal funds to complete the project.  Jackson vetoed the bill on the grounds that federal funding of intrastate projects of this nature was unconstitutional. He declared that such bills violated the principle that the federal government should not be involved in local economic affairs. This road would only affect the people of Kentucky and was the wrong way to represent the common man. Jackson also pointed out that funding for these kinds of projects interfered with paying off of the national debt.