During the 1820's and 1830's, America was undergoing some vast changes. One of these changes was the revolution of sorts in 1828 in which there was a peaceful transfer of power from the rich masses living in the East to the poorer masses in the Mid-West. This revolution came about with the election of Andrew Jackson. Along with Jackson himself, Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as guardians of the United States Constitution, political democracy, individual liberties, and equality of economic opportunities. The Jacksonian Democrats were partially wrong in their view because they did not effectively individual liberties, or the Constitution. .
Jacksonites stated that they were very protective of the United States Constitution, but Jackson himself often used the Constitution as an excuse to veto bills and make decisions that he himself thought correct. One example is his veto of the re-charter of the Bank of the United States. In his veto message, (Doc B) Jackson had it in mind to guard the constitution. He specifically said that the bank was in fact unconstitutional. That, he said was the reason he vetoed the re-charter. However, Daniel Webster, a strict Republican, was convinced that Jackson had selfish reasons for vetoing the Bank. (Doc C) Jackson did indeed have other interests in the back and it made perfect sense for him to veto it, for he despised Henry Clay, the one who proposed the re-charter of the bank. He also chose to veto the bank because, if he had not done so, the South and the West (who, together, elected him) would be alienated. By vetoing the re-charter, Jackson only made the North (who already hated him) dislike him more. In his veto of the Bank of the United States, Jackson was acting selfishly. He vetoed it for only his personal reasons. .
Another instance in which Jackson said he was guarding the Constitution, but was merely acting selfishly, was the Force Bill.
