¶ … demise of traditional hierarchical distinctions in the fifty years after the American Revolution. It is easy to see how America changed from a hierarchical society to an egalitarian world that supported social equality. America was setting the stage for the world with her new democracy, and she wanted to be a role model in modernization and equality. When the first colonists stepped on the shores of Virginia and Massachusetts, they were looking for a better way of life that allowed them religious freedom and the ability to earn their living by their own hands. They had left England to escape religious persecution, but also to create viable townships that could create a profit for themselves and the people who funded them back in Europe. Thus, they carried heavy burdens -- they had to create towns from scratch, make a living, and create a profit so they could survive and thrive. They also had to create a new way of life in an unfamiliar land, so it is not surprising that they would hang on to the social structure of England for as long as it was viable. These settlers came from a strictly organized society with many social layers, and usually, one did not move between one layer and another. Masters were far removed from indentured servants, and rulers were far removed from the peasants and working class.

These societal differences worked quite well for the first one hundred or more years in American history, because the colonists were struggling to become established and viable, and they needed to rely on comfortable and established traditions. They did not have time to model a new society when they were trying to survive. As cities and towns grew, and America thrived, Americans had time to develop new ideas and new social strategies, so it makes sense that as America prospered, her ideas about society and democracy would alter, too.

When Americans threw off British government and rebelled, they were establishing new boundaries that were far different from the ones they had brought with...

They were showing their will and their might, and showing that the society of Europe, based on monarchs and social levels was no longer applicable in the New World. It is not surprising that fifty years after the Revolution, Americans were creating a far different society. They were simply spreading their wings and trying new ideas that were totally unique from everything they had known before.
After the Revolutionary War, there were fewer barriers to equality. The country was a new democracy, with many different men from many different areas of society involved in government. One of the most famous, Benjamin Franklin, was a self-made man who even taught himself to read and write. The country wanted to throw off reminders of their British background, and create a new, shining example of freedom, and so, they turned their back on layered society, and created a new model where all men were equal under the eyes of the government. People from all occupations had fought in the revolution together, and so, it made sense that when it was over, they would continue to be equals, no matter their backgrounds.

President Jackson was an excellent example of this new way of thinking. Americans saw him as another self-made man who created success for himself as a farmer. His success in the Army added to his status, and even gave him a nickname that would stay with him through his adult life, "Old Hickory." As Americans' ideas about society changed, they looked to people like Jackson because he was one of them, and if he could make it to the top, so could they. One historian wrote, "According to a naive democratic philosophy of equality, the vertical distance that separates the leader from the led must be denied. One of the easiest ways to lessen that distance is through the nickname, which lessens the august character of the leader while at the same time it increases the emotional allegiance given him" (Ward 55). Thus, "Old Hickory" exemplified what every American wanted for themselves -- success and…