Chapter 13: Rise of Jacksonian Democracy

 

Theme: In the 1820’s a new spirit of of strongly anti-elitist popular democracy swept through American politics and society, culminating in the election of the common person’s hero, Andrew Jackson, to the presidency.

 

 

1. What were the advantages and disadvantages of the “New Democracy”?

 

2. Did John Quincy Adams’ cold personality make him a less competent president than popular hero Andrew Jackson? Why did Americans come to expect their presidents to be “men of the people” as well as skilled political leaders?

 

3. What made Jackson such a popular symbol of the “New Democracy”? How revolutionary was Jackson’s “Revolution of 1828”?

 

4. Why was the nationalistic spirit of 1815-1824 increasingly replaced by an emphasis on sectionalism and states’ rights.

 

Chapter 14: Jacksonian Democracy at Flood Tide 1830-1840

 

Theme: Jackson successfully mobilized the techniques of the New Democracy and presidential power to win a series of dramatic political conflicts. But by the late 1830’s, his Whig opponents had learned to use the same popular political weapons against the Democrats, signaling the emergence of the second American party system.

 

1. Why was Jackson such a successful and popular political leader, especially in the Bank War?

 

2. What Democratic attitudes did the Bank War reflect? What did the destruction of the bank accomplish?

 

3. What were the causes and consequences of the Texas revolt? Why did Texas remain for a time an independent nation rather than becoming a state of the Union?

 

4. How did the “log-cabin and hard-cider” campaign of 1840 demonstrate the nature of the two-party system in the New Democracy?