The Claim Of Democracy In The Age Of Jackson

Living in a dynamic yet never perfect era, and driven by our desire for a better society, we feel a growing need to understand democracy, to study it, and to perfect it, though democracy itself can be abstruse and complex beyond the scope of common human knowledge. In the first half of 19th century, a dynamic democratic movement, termed as Jacksonian Democracy, swept the whole America. As the seventh president of U.S., the greatest popular hero of his time, a man of action as well as an expansionist, Andrew Jackson promoted and aggrandized popular democracy by expanding popular vote, nullifying"party caucus"and frequently utilizing the presidential power of veto. He was viewed by many people as the symbol of the democratic feelings of his time, and later generations were to speak of his democratic ideas and practices as Jacksonian Democracy. However, such a democratic era of"common man"also bears stigmata of anti-democracy, thus forming the paradox of American democracy. Although this movement often attacked privilege and monopoly existing in the then society and sought to broaden and expand opportunities in various areas of economic, political and social life, there has been much dispute among historians over its essential meanings as well as social implications. In this thesis, an assiduous attempt is made to analyze the two terms of Jackson's presidency and reinterpret Jacksonian Democracy from a social-historical perspective. Further, the tendency to impose elements of rhetoric, irony and hypocrisy inlaid in Jacksonianism on Jackson himself as an individual is noted and criticized. Meanwhile, the necessity to differentiate the concept of Jacksonian Democracy from Jacksonism or Jacksonianism is suggested in achieving an unbiased understanding of the democratic idea produced in the Jacksonian age. Based on these analyses and discussions, the thesis argues that Jacksonian Democracy can better be understood as a political stance and explicit positioning toward democracy than as a movement of democratization.