Jacksonian Democracy: The Real Empire of Liberty

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Vinayak Kumar
Sept. 23, 2014
AP US History
Mr. Fleishman
Delbarton School

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Emma Lazarus1
The New Colossus has become a hallmark of American culture. Democratic
ideals of freedom and equality are the crux of the American identity, and have been
the pride of the nation since the beginning of American history. Central to the notion
of democracy is the romanticization of the common man as the hard-working
individual of the nation seeking peace and prosperity. The Jacksonian period has
been celebrated as the era of the common man, giving way to the rise of
democratic idealism. The Jacksonian era embodied the sociopolitical democratic
ideals inherent to the common man in government affairs and socioreligious
movements. Jacksonian democracy departed from Jeffersonian democracy in that
Jacksons focus directly became the common man, showing the triumph of idealism
over pragmatism, which Jefferson was notorious for as a politician. These ideals that

"EMMA LAZARUS; FAMOUS POEM :"THE NEW COLOSSUS"" EMMA LAZARUS; FAMOUS
POEM :"THE NEW COLOSSUS" Accessed December 11, 2014.
http://www.libertystatepark.com/emma.htm.

Jackson embodied were seen in the ideologies of the religious movements spurred
during the era as well as in government policymaking.
Jacksonian government policy demonstrated liberal ideals constitutive of the
common man. One of the most prominent political movements of the Jacksonians
was for universal white male suffrage. They sought to decrease restrictions on
property and tax requirements to be able to vote, and achieved it in 1820.2 This was
a departure from Jeffersons policies and his commitment to a rural republicanism,
which was premised on the ownership of farmland.3 Jackson and Jefferson took
different approaches to these policies, but both of them justified their approaches by
appealing to virtues of the common man. Jefferson desired to create an empire of
liberty filled with simple, yeoman farmers; he felt the best way to achieve this
empire was by incentivizing ownership of land by making it a requirement for
political participation. Jacksonians believed universal white male suffrage embodied
the real constitutive ideals of the common man, such as political equality. Jackson
also engaged in Patronage better known as the spoils system.4 The spoils system
was the policy of placing political supporters into predetermined offices. The system
was meant to encourage political participation by the common man, as well as hold
politicians to a higher standard of accountability for poor government service by
their appointees. Also in line with the idealism of the common man, Jackson
extended the Jeffersonian idea of a limited federal government with limited powers.

Alexander Keyssar, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States (New
York: Basic Books, 2000), pg. 3.
3 "Thomas JeffersonEstablishing A Federal Republic." Establishing A Federal Republic. Accessed
December 06, 2014. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html.
4 Bugg, James L., and Peter C. Stewart. Jacksonian Democracy. Hinsdale, IL: Dryden Press, 1976. Pg. 12.

To some degree, Jacksons policies were more in line with Jeffersonian political
philosophy than Jeffersons policies himself were. To elucidate, Jefferson maintained
various Federalist policies and the power of the federal government, even if he
disagreed with their structural and political implications. Jefferson expanded the
power of the federal bank, even though he himself believed the national bank was
unconstitutional. Jackson, on the other hand, specifically tried to undermine the
power of the national bank. In 1833, he removed all federal funds from the National
Bank of the US and redistributed them to state banks.5 His desire to shut down the
national bank stemmed from an objection of the banks unusual political and
economic power and lack of oversight on business dealings. Jackson favored limited
government intervention and laissez faire economisc.. Jackson believed government
intervention in economic affairs benefitted specific special-interest groups while
creating monopolies, which favored those already in power. Jacksons methodology
of policymaking thus favored the common man and demarcates Jacksons era as the
era of the common man.
The revival and creation of socioreligious movements in the Jacksonian era,
largely exhibited liberal ideals in favor of the common man. These movements
cannot be viewed as wholly isolated from their religious aspects because people
would utilize scripture and moral appeals to justify their existence. The Cane Ridge
Revival marked the start of the Second Great Awakening in 1801. Unorthodox
religious beliefs gained followings and momentum in Jacksonian society. The
religious fervor was so widespread that it exerted influence in the sociopolitical
Bugg, James L., and Peter C. Stewart. Jacksonian Democracy. Hinsdale, IL: Dryden
Press, 1976. pg. 25.
5

realm. Politics and religion mixed, departing from Jeffersons stark demarcation
between the church and the state. A plethora of moral reform movements arose
such as anti-prostitution, womens rights, and antislavery. These movements
centered themselves around the improvement of the common man of the nation, the
people whom the government was meant to represent. Anti-slavery and Womens
rights movements showed ideals of equality central to the common man. A
prominent Presbyterian minister and seminary leader during the time, Lyman
Beecher proposed various systems of education reform, desiring civil and religious
prosperity.6 Public education movements sought to provide the common man with
equal opportunity for social mobility and a positive life style. Once again, the era
shows a constitutive aspect of the common man: equality, in the form of equal
access to the educational system. The movement started to spread to immigrants
and native-born alike. The common man of the nation was held high.
Thus the socipolitics of the Jacksonian Era favored the common man. The
emphasis on equality and democratic ideals inherently favors the regular, hardworking individual of the nation, and Jacksonian governance fulfilled that
characterization. Jacksons policies ranging from universal male suffrage to laisssez
faire economics were meant to encourage political participation by the common
man and ensure systems of power were not exclusionary to the common individual
of the nation. Religious movements also showed these ideals, leading to the creation
of various religiously justified moral reform movements, which also focused on

Lyman Beecher, A Plea for the West (Cincinnati: Truman & Smith, 1835), pg. #.

these ideals. Jacksons period was a time where the common man was held high in
all fields of civility.

Bibliography
Beecher, Lyman. A Plea for the West. Cincinnati: Truman & Smith, 1835.
Bugg, James L., and Peter C. Stewart. Jacksonian Democracy. Hinsdale, IL: Dryden
Press, 1976.
"EMMA LAZARUS; FAMOUS POEM :"THE NEW COLOSSUS"" EMMA
LAZARUS; FAMOUS POEM :"THE NEW COLOSSUS" Accessed December 11, 2014.
http://www.libertystatepark.com/emma.htm.
Keyssar, Alexander. The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the
United States. New York: Basic Books, 2000.
"Thomas JeffersonEstablishing A Federal Republic." Establishing A Federal Republic.
Accessed December 06, 2014. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefffed.html.