Jacksonian Democracy

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I would say that the first four of the 19th century as an "era of democratization," a time of increasing political rights and expanding political participation in the U.S. The presidential election of 1828 brought a victory for Andrew Jackson. "Age of Jackson" did not much advance the cause of economic equality. The distribution of wealth and property in America was little different at the end of the Jacksonian era than it was at the start. But it did mark a transformation of American politics that extended the right to vote widely to new groups. However, the right to vote had limit. Most states restricted the franchise to white males who were property owners or taxpayers or both, effectively barring an enormous number of the less affluent from the voting rolls. Slaves, of course, were disfranchised by definition; they were not considered citizens and were believed to have no legal or political rights. In fact, free blacks could not vote anywhere in the South and hardly anywhere in the North. In addition, Pennsylvania, amended its state constitution in 1838 to take away blacks of the right to vote they had previously enjoyed. No state women could vote as well. …show more content…
There were fully formed two parties system began to operate at the national level, with each party committed to play its own role and willing to accept the legitimacy of its opposition. The anti-Jackson forces was known as "Whigs." Jackson's supporters called themselves Democrats. The Democrats seemed like expanding economic and political opportunities for white males. They believed that the role of government should be limited, but it should include efforts to remove obstacles to opportunity and to avoid creating new ones. It was implied that they were defending the Union, which Jackson believed was essential to the economic they