Jeffersonian Democracy
Property requirement is a test
of a person’s character;
someone who deserves to vote
should also have enough
motivation to own property
Citizens holding political office Educated elite should rule;
Proposed that the poor get
education so that over time they
might be prepared to lead
Jacksonian Democracy
Universal White Suffrage
Eliminated entirely;
Choosing candidates for
President
All men were inherently
qualified for office; Political
positions should be rotated so
that more people are in
leadership positions; didn’t
believe any government job
required special expertise
Nominating conventions
introduced
Caucuses of political leaders
Jeffersonian Democracy
Jacksonian Democracy
Concept of chosen class
Yeoman farmer – citizen farmer
View of industrialization
Originally feared the
consequences of
industrialization, but indirectly
promoted it by the embargo of
1807
Charters were granted to
favorites of state legislators;
these often implied monopoly
rights to a business
Yeoman farmer, wealthy
planters, laborers and
mechanics
Accepted industry as essential
to the American economy
Corporate charters & Charles
River Bridge vs. Warren
Bridge
Bank of United States
Jackson appoints Roger Taney as
Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court; Taney ended privileged
corporate charters; Charters
should be available to ALL who
chose to risk starting a business
Disapproved – disagreed with a Disapproved – saw the Bank as a
loose interpretation of the
monopoly of the rich; eventually
Constitution’s elastic clause (still eliminated it
he allowed it to remain once he
became President)
Jeffersonian Democracy
Attitude toward slavery
Equality for women & Native
Americans
View of education
Jacksonian Democracy
Owned slaves but saw slavery as Owned slaves; Seemed to have
an evil that time would
no interest in abolition
eventually eradicate
Neither is equal to men
Neither is equal to men; had a
particularly negative attitude
toward Native Americans
Education was necessary for
Had little education and
holding political office and for
believed education was
Obstacles to social mobility
Separation of Church & State
preparing citizens for
participation in a democracy
Education and ambition were
keys to success – supported
public education for all but was
not able to get public support
for his ideas
Most states had eliminated
state churches in the
constitutions they passed at the
end of the Revolution
relatively unimportant
Opened opportunities through
easy access to corporate
charters and the elimination of
the U.S. Bank; as a self-made
man, Jackson believed economic
progress would bring upward
social mobility as it did for him
Massachusetts was the last
state to maintain an established
state church, but it was
eliminated during Jackson’s time
– in 1834