American Revolution and Jacksonian Democracy: 1763-1848

American History

As a generalization, it is my opinion based on the readings that the colonists who settled in the "new world" - most of them having immigrated from England to escape religious persecution or to start a new life - gradually became weary of being dictated to by a distant king. As to specifics, one of the main causes of the American Revolution was the British attempt to raise a lot of money from the colonists to keep their empire going. The British did this fundraising through various taxes, starting with the Sugar Act. According to the text (Faragher, et al. 2000) on page 148, the Sugar Act not only placed a "prohibitive duty" (tax) on sugar imports, it also regulated American shipping, and in effect slapped controls on a new country that wanted to be free to trade with whatever countries they wanted to.

The Stamp Act in 1765 was a further intrusion into American commerce, and in fact it seemed designed to but restrictions on printers, insurance companies, lawyers and other colonists, Faragher writes on page 148. Next came the Declaratory Act (1766) which basically "asserted the authority of Parliament" to hold power over the colonies. The Townshend Revenue Act of 1767 and the Tea Act 1773 put more pressure on the colonies to help put money into British coffers.

Finally, the "Intolerable Acts" of 1774 were designed to "punish Massachusetts" and angered the colonists perhaps more than any other act the British had placed on the colonists. On of the Intolerable Acts (called the "Coercive Acts" in England) - the "Massachusetts Government Act" - made it illegal to have any town meetings except once a year, unless the British-appointed governor approved. Town meetings were a vital part of the movement to resist British oppression, so when a law was passed that attempted to prevent the people meeting to discuss their political future, that angered the colonists.

Would I have signed the Declaration of Independence? Yes, certainly. But I would have taken Thomas Jefferson's side and insisted that slavery be addressed in the document. How can you say "...all men are created equal" and yet overlook the fact that thousands of people were being held as slaves, to help colonists grow their crops and strengthen their economy?

Question TWO: The Andrew Jackson presidency brought in (Faragher 250) the "common man" for the first time in American politics. He had a "mass appeal" because he was himself a fighter who had many experiences in the westward frontier, and he related to those people like no president before him. What was really important about Jackson's election was that he had put together a coalition of enough voters from the west, the south, and the north, to beat John Quincy Adams, whose strength was mostly in the east. This election was called the "common man" era because ordinary hard-working people took offense at some of the wealthy that had "special privileges" (Faragher 249) in Washington and other eastern regions.

Jackson was smart enough to tap into opinions of non-government officials, and he had his "kitchen cabinet" (friends of his who he felt had a better grasp of the common man's problems than higher-ups in his own administration) to keep him abreast of what people wanted and needed out there in the nation beyond Washington. This was a revelation for a president. Also, he used the veto and put a lot of pressure on Congress, including his refusal to allow federal funding to be used in states (he vetoed the Maysville Road Bill of 1830).