Written by Robert V. Remini, “The Jacksonian Revolution” revolves around the ascension of Andrew Jackson to Presidency and in turn, the launch of American politics’ transformations. After a History in which only the societies’ aristocrats governed the political sphere of the country, Jackson’s decision to vie for the presidential seat was shocking to most Americans (132). In addition, Jackson's decision was defilement of all of the Founding Fathers’ expectations about the country (132). Thus, otherwise dubbed the “Age of Jackson”, the “Jacksonian Era” of between 1828 and 1848 (132) saw the American government pay more heed to the ideologies of the people. Consequently, Remini’s article gives an account of Jackson’s presidential win and in turn, his methods of governance that called for the majority rule. In other words, by modifying the understanding of democracy, Jackson placed the politics of the country in the hands of the public. Hence, Jackson’s term saw every leader in America’s political ladder be answerable to the people much to the chagrin of the Whig Party (135). Different decisions by President Andrew Jackson marked the revolution in the activation of equality in the United States of America.
Foremost, massive boosts in the economy of the United States heralded Jackson’s time as president. Aside from the Industrial revolution, the country’s transport system also evolved with the coming of railroads in the 1820s being the climax of the same (132). Remini suggests a connection between the inventions in America and Jackson's call for the reorganization of the constitution regarding America’s economy. According to the president, federal government's control over public funds "jeopardized liberty” by denying the central government any control over the economy of the states (133). A good example is the “Maysville road bill” that Jackson vetoed because the decision to build the road was “general practice” and not a necessity for the people (133). With many such expenses in America’s platter, it makes sense that Jackson saw a need for preventing the federal government from sponsoring public works (133). Jackson’s actions went against all of the decisions by the previous governments that saw the economy play a significant role in the ruling of the United States. The use of money from the national treasury as a portrayal of good governance is apparent in the aforementioned boost in America’s infrastructure. Jackson's ideas proved fruitful as the funds catered for projects that provided for the commoners as well. In concurrence, Remini informs his readers of Jackson’s “short-lived accomplishment” through the fulfilled promise of liquidating national debt (133). Part of Jackson's strategy to make the mentioned achievement was to “kill the Second National Bank” (135). After defending his actions by arguing that it is what the people of America require of their leader (135), Jackson dictated the passing of all laws to ensure their relevance. Consequently, by being the sole decision-making body and firing the secretary of treasury Duane Williams, he reorganized “the collection and distribution of public funds” (135). After all, the peoples' choice president and not the Congress was the representative of the people, Jackson believed that he alone knew the needs of his people (135).
Secondly, there is the formation of the Democratic Party with Andrew Jackson, Van Buren, Calhoun, and Thomas Han Benton as the leaders (133). The primary goal of the political party was to remove “a strong central government and a broad interpretation of the Constitution” and in its place, encourage “individual liberty” (133). Consequently, Jackson decided to initiate the “universal white manhood suffrage” (132) in the majority of America’s states. Prior to Jackson’s presidency, the government of the United States revolved around the affluent and intellectual persons in the society (132). In other words, only the wealthy and the learned people could vote, thus ensuring the conservation of power and money among the cream of the society. Thus with the aforementioned universal white manhood suffrage, the criteria governing the rights to vote and hold office in the government were eliminated (132). Consequently, the numbers of voters in the ballot boxes more than doubled courtesy of the “Hurra Boys”, Jackson’s campaign group, who encouraged the public to vote for Jackson (134). Jackson’s appeal to the American public finds a basis in the fact that the man was not only a commoner but also a war hero. According to Remini, Jackson’s title of “Old Hero or New Orleans” (133) and the nickname “Old Hickory” (132) encouraged the people to relate to the man. On the other hand, Jackson’s insistence on paying attention to the peoples’ role in democracy only increased his popularity with the masses. A good illustration is his decision to discontinue the indefinite terms of officeholders where bureaucrats assumed their power a family heirloom (134). Otherwise referred to as the "the spoils system", the method encouraged the replacement of government personnel and ensured the liability of all officials to the people in Jackson’s government (134).
The question regarding the mythical and realism of the Jacksonian revolution evolves from “the disagreement and controversy over the significance of his presidency” (136). While quoting James Parton, one of Jackson’s biographers, Remini points out the mixed feelings over the redefinition of the constitution and the resulting reorganization of government affairs to fit the needs of the people. On one hand, there is William Graham Sumner, another biographer who attacks Jackson saying he had “a flawed moral charter and emotional excesses” (136). However, Remini dismisses the notions by pointing out that Sumner and other writers belonging to the “middle or upper middle-class families” were always prejudiced (136). On the other hand, Frederick Jackson Turner argues, “American democracy emerged from the wilderness” because of universal white manhood suffrage (136). The decisive factor revolves around Alexis de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America” that dubbed the Jacksonian revolution “an age of egalitarianism that produced the rise of the common man” (136). In other words, with the Jacksonian Revolution came an era of equality where the president ruled based on the majority peoples’ desires.
Conclusively, it is evident that Andrew Jackson came from a humble background without the pedestal of an aristocrat or a history of the country politics. As the first president to lack the aforementioned qualities, he took a new turn by defying all views of the communities’ elites. Therefore, his presidency ended the rule of the upper-class republic and made way for the diffusion of the ideas of democracy to fit the many people forming the bottom class of the social ladder. In other words, Jackson’s ideas infused the political, economic, and social spheres of the Unite States and garnered them towards the need of the majority’s rule. Consequently, Jackson remains to be the definition of how equality in America evolved from its mythical status into reality amongst the white men.
Work Cited
Remini, Robert V. "The Jacksonian Revolution." The World & I (1988): 132-138. Print.
