Jacksonian Democracy
Political Changes
• Established the spoils system
– Filled executive department offices with
“deserving” members of his own party
– Established the executive tradition of rotating
members of the executive branch. Felt it was
democratic because:
• It prevented permanent officeholders from
becoming an aristocracy
• Allowed more people to serve
Two Party System
• With the controversial nature of the
election of 1824, the DemocraticRepublicans split into 2 parties
– Whigs (National Republicans)
– Democrats
Whigs
v. Democrats
• Led by Clay, Adams,
and Daniel Webster
• Most of their
members were
wealthy professionals
• Strong federal gov’t,
national bank,
protective tariff
• Hamilton’s federalist
policies
• Jackson and Martin
Van Buren
• Small farmers,
businessmen and city
workers
• Strong state gov’t
• Greater democracy
• Represented common
man
Characteristics of Jackson’s
administration
• Employed the veto more often than any
other president (felt that the president
should be active)
• Prepared to use force to prevent South
Carolina from nullifying national law (South
Carolina Exposition and John C. Calhoun)
• Gave western squatters (people who lived
on Western land without owning it) the first
right to buy it (preemption laws)
Social Issues
• Growth of trade unions. Strikes were
made legal
• Social movements
– Women’s rights
– Abolition of slavery
– Prohibition of alcohol
– Mental healthcare
– Free public education
Internal Developments
• There was a crisis among the states
concerning road building. The Northeast
did not want to pay for road improvements
that would only help the South and West.
The South and West needed them. They
eventually compromised with Henry Clay’s
American System.