President Jefferson and Jackson are known to be the two who brought democracy to the United States of America. The evolution of democracy in the country started when Jefferson was the president and evolved in the tenure for Jackson since they believed in equality ("Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Democracy."). The drive that made the two presidents call for democracy is because they believed that the ordinary people in the country should have a say in the federal government, and not only the wealthy aristocrats. The two presidents supported that the central administration was not taking part in the state's matters to avoid disrupting operations of the citizens.
The two presidents had almost similar ideologies but implemented them in different ways that depicted some variance in America during their tenure. Jefferson had strong support for the common man and had his government focused towards supporting the people's interests. In his tenure, he did not support the bank of U.S since he saw it as a way to bring monopoly and hurt the people. To ensure the rights of citizens were respected, Jefferson ensured the government remained small to avoid oppressing the poor. In addition, he supported the bill of rights so that the citizens would be protected. Some of the rights allowed in this period were freedom of press, freedom of religion, restriction to monopolies, and trial by jury.
During Jackson’s presidency, democracy was still a core issue, but there were some differences in the implementation process. Jackson came from a needy family, so he had a direct experience of the suffering of the poor. In his tenure, he gave favors to the public and ensured the wealthy were not enjoying monopolies (Hardt). His presidential election brought change in America since power shifted from the rich to the small businesspeople and farmers in the West. In the struggle to bring democracy, he vetoed more bills compared to the other US presidents. One of the greatest achievements towards democracy was the introduction of the spoils system that removed the corrupt people in government and replaced them with those who supported democratic ideas. Jackson saw the bank of the U.S as a way to make the richer wealthier and kicked it out of the nation by not allowing it to renew its charter in 1836 and took all government money from the bank.
The changes experienced during the two tenures were almost identical. During Jackson’s time, more changes were experienced because he believed in the poor having equal rights and implemented it because he was from a disadvantaged background. The changes were possible because the two presidents shared similar democratic ideas and when Jackson came to power, he found a path that was already set. Jackson found it easier to push for democracy because Jefferson had already started the process, all was remaining was to implement it fully.
The democratic changes that were brought by the two presidents are very crucial in the current and future state of the U.S. If the bank of U.S had continued to operate, the percentage of disadvantaged people in the country could increase resulting in an imbalance in the economy (Turchek and Doutrich). The changes have helped U.S remain democratic and support the rule of law that brings more success and unity among the communities. If the call for democracy was not made, U.S could have remained to have two classes; the rich and the have-nots and this may have led to division among the economic classes. Development of the country could have been delayed by the struggles among the citizens.
Work Cited
"Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy." 123HelpMe.com. 17 Mar 2016 <http://www.123HelpMe.com/view.asp?id=23225>.
Hardt, Michael. "Jefferson and Democracy". American Quarterly 59.1 (2007): 41-78. Web.
Turchek, Jonathan, and Paul E. Doutrich. "Shapers of the Great Debate on Jacksonian Democracy: A Biographical Dictionary". The History Teacher 38.3 (2005): 407. Web.
