Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy Open Response
NAME:______________________
Respond to the following prompt:
Compare and Contrast Jeffersonian Democracy and Jacksonian Democracy. Include Political, Economic, and Social aspects of
both.
*You may refer to the chart on the back and/or your textbook.
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Jeffersonian & Jacksonian Democracy Comparison
Questions
Political
Jeffersonian Democracy
Jacksonian Democracy
Believed property requirement was a test of
character that man of initiative should be able to
meet
Property requirements for voting had been
eliminated
Which citizens were considered
eligible for office holding?
Believed the educated elite should rule, although
he proposed education for all to prepare poorer
individuals for public office
Believed all men were qualified to hold office and
that political positions should be rotated
How were candidates for president
chosen?
Candidates were chosen by caucuses of political
leaders
Nominating conventions were introduced during
Jackson’s time
Economic
Yeoman farmer as the “chosen class”
Jackson included planters, farmers, laborers, and
mechanics in “chosen class”
How did each man view
industrialization?
Originally feared the consequences of
industrialization
Accepted industry as essential to American
economy
How did the Charles River Bridge v.
Warren Bridge decision affect the
access to corporate charters
prevalent in Jefferson’s time?
In J’s time corporate charters were granted to
favorites of state legislators & often implied
monopoly rights to a business
Roger Taney, Jackson’s appointee as Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court, ruled in Charles River Bridge
decision that corporate charters should be
available to all who chose to risk starting a business
What was each man’s attitude
toward the Bank of the United
States?
Both disapproved – originally at least, disagreed
with a loose interpretation of the elastic clause
Jackson saw Bank as a monopoly of the rich
Social
Owned slaves, saw slavery as an evil that time
would eradicate
Owned slaves, but seemed little interested in
abolition
What was each man’s attitude
toward equality for women &
American Indians
Neither man saw women or American Indians as
equals
Had a particularly negative attitude toward Native
Americans
How did each man view education?
An educated man himself, believed education was
necessary for office-holding and for preparing
citizens for participation in a democracy
Had little education & believed education was
relatively unimportant
How did each hope to remove
obstacles to upward social mobility?
Education & ambition were keys to success;
however, he was never able to build support for his
proposed system of public education
Ended the Bank & with it, control over credit, CRB
decision opened opportunities for individuals to
get corporate charters & thus rise on both
economic and social ladders. Jackson, a self-made
man, believed his economic progress had
accounted for his own upward social mobility &
others could follow his example
Religious
Most state constitutions had eliminated established
churches after the Revolution;
Massachusetts, the last state to maintain an
established church, ended the practice in 1834
To what extent was universal white
manhood suffrage achieved?
In what way did Jackson expand the
concepts of the “chosen class”?
What was each man’s attitude
toward slavery?
To what extent was separation of
church and state accomplished in
each period?