Jacksonian Politics in America

Though the emergence of distinct political parties in American politics predated the Jacksonian era by forty years or more, the election of a populist president like Andrew Jackson was arguably the catalyzing moment for the wealthy elites of America. Their response - the formation of the Whig party - was set to counteract Jackson's actions and help to preserve this minority's majority in the national political scene.

How could politics be considered fair in this period of American history when, for example, nearly one-fifth of the legislators came from the elite power centers such as Connecticut, while the state represented something on the order of one-twentieth of the nation's population? With his belief in the fair and equanimious redistribution of wealth in American society, Brinkley points out how Jackson ordered the redistribution of the federal surplus to all of the states in the nation. Jackson espoused a great deal of the same social and political mores of liberals in America today. These particular beliefs, coupled with Jackson's actions, would incite not only the creation of the Whig Party, but foment the development of a number of political institutions and mechanisms that exist even today, such as the party convention system. His presidency would have long-standing implications.

The foundation of the Whig party made the distinctions between they and the Democrats more and more obvious. In his writings de Toqueville claims that one of the few protections against the "tyranny of the majority" is the right of political association. We see such a right exercised in the massing of individuals in the form of political parties. "The right of political associations," wrote de Toqueville, "[enabled] the supporters of an opinion to unite in electoral colleges and appoint delegates to represent them in a central assembly... This is properly speaking the representative system applied to one party." With his power consolidated quite well, Jackson was free to deftly make executive decisions that advanced his agenda, while agitating the political and social elites of both the Northern power centers as well as the landed, elite Southern planters. Interestingly enough, Jackson and his Democrats appealed to individuals out West as they sought opportunities to better themselves through land acquisitions; less affluent Northerners, and even Southerner planters who wanted less government intrusion. This stands in stark contraposition to the Democratic party of today, whose power base is increasingly centered outside the Southern United States, which up until a few decades ago was overwhelmingly Democratic in affiliation.

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