Evolution
from Jeffersonian democracy to Jacksonian democracy
Jeffersonian
democracy was a major political outlook in the United States at the turn of the
17th century. It was a term used to refer to the opposition Democratic-Republican
Party founded by President Thomas Jefferson to oppose the Federalist Party
culminating in election of Jefferson as the third president in 1801 (Dunlap,
2009). A party devoted to liberty for
the ‘plain folks’, Jeffersonian democracy’s tenets formed the basis for the
Democratic Party, with some of its values still evident in the party today.
Jeffersonian
democracy was opposed to autocratic government and corruption, whilst promoting
virtue. It campaigned for universal white male suffrage, with half of the
states adapting this by the end of the era as opposed to two before the advent
of the democracy. It also started campaigning for popular votes to decide
presidential elections. Subsequently, Jefferson’s party took control of state
legislature, city hall and the presidency (Bowers, 1954).
Jeffersonian
democracy was replaced by Jacksonian democracy at the time of the Second Party
System characterized by increasing awareness and interest of voters. This
latter greater democratic outlook lasted from the election of President Andrew
Jackson as the seventh president in 1828 to the time of abolitionism and subsequent
American Civil War from the 1850s when the Third Party System came into being (Bowers,
1954). Jacksonian democracy arose out of factionalism among Jeffersonians. The
anti-Jacksonian brigade formed the Whigs as inheritors of Jeffersonian democracy.
While
promoting the common white man’s involvement in government, Jacksonian
democracy empowered the presidency and the executive. It empowered the states,
rewriting many state laws. The Jacksonians campaigned for election of judges,
rather than their appointment. (Hofstadter, 1989). However, both Jacksonians
and Whigs avoided the slavery issue and did not extend democracy to Native
Americans, which subsequently led to emergence of the Third Party System.
So
while Jeffersonian democracy was against autocratic government and campaigned
for white male suffrage, Jacksonian democracy was against monopolization of
power by a few privileged. The former was against inherited elitism and for
education while the latter was for the common white man, whilst concentrating
powers on the presidency and the federal government. President Andrew Jackson
famously faced down South Carolina over federal-versus-state legislation during
the Nullification Crisis (Wilentz, 2005).
Jeffersonian
democracy led to distribution of power via empowerment of the states at the
expense of nationalism: though it was during this time that the nation expanded
to double its size through acquiring the Louisiana Territory (Dunlap, 2009).
Jeffersonian state empowerment is still evident today with state governments
having a lot of powers and big budgets.
Both
Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracies contributed to expansion of freedoms in
America. Political, social and economic developments during the two eras laid
the foundation for freedom for all that America enjoys today by shunning
autocratic government and ushering in universal white male suffrage and
concomitant abolitionism and recognition of the right to vote for all adults.
Jeffersonians
and Jacksonians were the forefathers of today’s Democratic Party. Their basic democratic
tenets of populism and egalitarianism, mixed with racism, are still evident in
America today (Wilentz, 2005). An understanding of these early democracies
offers a way to untangle the society from the problems besetting it today.
References
Bowers,
C. G. (1954). Making Democracy a Reality: Jefferson, Jackson, and Polk.
Memphis: Memphis State College Press
Dunlap,
J. R. (2009). Jeffersonian Democracy Which Means the Democracy of Thomas
Jefferson Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. Michigan: University of Michigan
Library.
Hofstadter,
R. (1989). The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made It. New York:
Vintage.
Wilentz,
S. (2005). The Rise of American
Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. New York: W. W. Norton.
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