Jeffersonian & Jacksonian Democracy Comparison
Questions
Jeffersonian Democracy
Jacksonian Democracy
Political
To what extent was universal
white manhood suffrage
achieved?
Which citizens were considered
eligible for office holding?
Believed property requirement was a test of
character that man of initiative should be able
to meet
Property requirements for voting had been
eliminated
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
In what way did Jackson expand
the concepts of the “chosen
class”?
How did each man view
industrialization?
Yeoman farmer as the “chosen class”
Jackson included planters, farmers, laborers,
and mechanics in “chosen class”
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?
What was each man’s attitude
toward the Bank of the United
States?
Social
What was each man’s attitude
toward slavery?
What was each man’s attitude
toward equality for women &
American Indians
How did each man view
education?
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
Jackson saw Bank as a monopoly of the rich
How did each hope to remove
obstacles to upward social
mobility?
Religious
To what extent was separation of
church and state accomplished in
each period?
Both disapproved – originally at least,
disagreed with a loose interpretation of the
elastic clause
Owned slaves, saw slavery as an evil that time
would eradicate
Owned slaves, but seemed little interested in
abolition
Neither man saw women or American Indians
as equals
Had a particularly negative attitude toward
Native Americans
An educated man himself, believed education
was necessary for office-holding and for
preparing citizens for participation in a
democracy
Education & ambition were keys to success;
however, he was never able to build support
for his proposed system of public education
Had little education & believed education was
relatively unimportant
Most state constitutions had eliminated
established churches after the Revolution;
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
Massachusetts, the last state to maintain an
established church, ended the practice in 1834
War of 1812
Dates
1812-1814
President
James Madison
Causes
Impressment of sailors
Freedom of the seas threatened.
U.S. hoped to gain Canada from England
War Hawks’ Pressure
Important Military Events
England burned Washington
Plattsburg battle
Battle of the Thames
Siege of Baltimore
New Orleans
Treaty
Ghent
Terms
No resolution of original disputes
No territory gained for either side
Importance
War promoted American nationalism and patriotism
Crushed Indian resistance in South and West
Federalist Party died
Industrialization began in New England
Era of Good Feelings began
You should be able to:
 Explain Jefferson’s “Revolution of 1800” and discuss his goals as president
 Explain the causes of the War of 1812
 Understand the outcomes of the War of 1812 and the development of American nationalism
 Describe the development of the American national economy
 Explain how the decisions of the Marshall Court reinforced nationalism
 Describe and explain the growth of the “new Democracy” that occurred in the wake of the
War of 1812
 Discuss the ways in which the “rise of the common man” led to the development of mass
politics
 Describe the “winners and loser” (including Native Americans) in the Jacksonian age