Back in the 1800’s the government went through many drastic changes. During this time there sprouted two different approaches to how the American Democracy was to be run. Jefferson and Jackson had two completely different views that each had pros and cons.
It all started back in 1817 during the era of “good feelings”. It was right after the war of 1812 and the nation was feeling a sense of pride and had come closer together. It was a time of social harmony and nation building. Tons of new territories were mapped and civil crimes were unordinary. In the political scene, federalists were gone and the democratic republicans were the only major political party. This era of good feelings lasted until the presidential election of 1824. The election began the era of “hard feelings”. There were five nominees in the election including John Adams and Andrew Jackson. Jackson earned the highest percentage of the popular vote at 41.3 percent. Since this was still not majority the twelfth amendment stated that the winner would have to be chosen by House of Representatives from the top three candidates. Jack
· Jeffersonian Democracy felt that democracy should be limited to its political aspects.
· Jacksonian Democracy felt that any white male should get to vote thus getting more of the nations opinion.
Jackson’s victory showed that even the “common man” had chance to change the nation. There were very many differences between Jackson’s views and those of Jefferson. Here are their main points:
· Jeffersonian Democracy reflected a society made up mostly of farmers.