|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
The Jacksonian Revolution
| Article
# : |
14166 |
|
|
Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
|
| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1988 |
6,019 Words |
| Author
: |
Robert V. Remini
Robert V. Remini is professor of history at the University of
Illinois Circle Campus in Chicago, and author of a multivolume
biography of Andrew Jackson. |
"What?" cried the outraged North Carolina lady when she heard the dreadful news. "Jackson up for president? Jackson? Andrew Jackson? The Jackson who used to live in Salisbury? Why, when he was here, he was such a rake that my husband would not bring him into the house! It is true, he might have taken him out to the stable to weigh horses for a race, and might drink a glass of whiskey with him there. Well, if Andrew Jackson can be president, anybody can!"
Indeed. After forty years of constitutional government headed by Presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, the thought of Gen. Andrew Jackson of Tennessee--"Old Hickory," to his devoted soldiers--succeeding such distinguished statesmen came as a shock to some Americans in 1828. And little did they know at the time that Old Hickory would be followed in succession by the little Magician, Tippecanoe and Tyler, too, Young Hickory, and then Old Rough and Ready.
What had happened to the American political process? How could it come about that the Washingtons, Jeffersons, and Madisons of the world could be replaced by the Van Burens, Harrisons, Tylers, and Taylors? What a mockery of the political system bequeathed by the Founding Fathers!
The years from roughly 1828 to 1848 are known today as the Age of Jackson or the Jacksonian era. To many contemporaries, they initiated a "revolution," a shocking overthrow of the noble republican standards of the founders by the "common people," who in 1828 preferred as president a crude frontiersman like Andrew Jackson to a statesman of proven ability with a record of outstanding public service like John Quincy Adams.
Over the forty years following the establishment of the American nation under the Constitution, the United States had experienced many profound changes in virtually all phases of life. Following the War of 1812, the industrial revolution took hold, and within thirty years all the essential elements for the creation of an industrial society in America were solidly in place. At the same time, a transportation revolution got under way with the building of canals, bridges, and turnpikes, reaching a climax of sorts in the 1820s with the coming of the railroads. The standard of living was also improved by numerous new inventions. Finally, many of the older eastern states began to imitate newer western states by democratizing their institutions, for example, amending their constitutions to eliminate property qualifications for voting and holding office, thereby
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
