Jacksonian Democracy Second Party System Evangelical Religion Capitalism

Jacksonian Democracy

What it meant for white men, as well as for women, blacks, and Indians

Jacksonian Democracy became prevalent during the 1830's and helped to shape the theory of majority rule in America. According to the essay, entitled "The Origins of Jacksonian Democracy" the main staples of Jacksonian democracy involved the concept of public interest and property ownership as the foundation of citizenship. Under the Jacksonian Democracy, only property owners had an interest in protecting the rights of other property owners. (The Origins of Jacksonian Democracy) The Jacksonian democracy had different ramifications for the various people groups in America.(The Origins of Jacksonian Democracy)

For White men the Jacksonian democracy meant that they could possess full citizenship in America. Indeed, White American benefited from the Jacksonian democracy. For instance, the essay explains that during the Jackson era White men were granted universal suffrage and also had the power of upward mobility. (The Origins of Jacksonian Democracy)

The essay "The Meaning of Jacksonian Democracy" explains that women, Blacks and Indians lived under different conditions than white men. The essay asserts that the conditions were best for White women because they benefited from the same privileges as their fathers or husbands. However, the essay contends that for women as a whole the Jacksonian era the changes in the market meant that men spent more time away from home. This meant that women's roles were regulated to the home. The essay also explains that some of the gains that women made during the revolution were taken away.

For free Black in the North and the South their position in American society changed very little during the Jacksonian era. The essay explains that Black people had very little freedom and they were denied the rights of citizenship that were granted to Whites. In addition, many whites were not in favor of the abolishment of slavery because they feared that freed slaves would reduce the price of labor.

For Indians the Jacksonian democracy was extremely harmful. The Jacksonian Era marked the removal of Native Americans from east of the Mississippi River to west of the Mississippi river. They were forced to walk to the new location where many died; this became known as the trail of tears. Many Whites supported this policy because they wanted to own the land that traditionally belonged to the Indian Tribes.

The Jacksonian era promoted equality and opportunity for White men by granting them rights that were over and above the rights of other people who also lived in the land. The free market society that was promoted under the Jacksonian democracy was more beneficial to wealth whites than to poor immigrants because White men with inherited wealth had money to invest which gave them an advantage over poor whites. Perhaps the oppression of minority groups under Jackson was seen as democratic because of the theory of majority rule. The oppressors were those that were White and wealthy and they saw this type of oppression as a way to remain wealthy.

The significance of the second party system

According to "The Legitimation of the Idea of Party and the Second Party System," the second party system revolutionized the American political system. The essay asserts that the second party system was controversial form the start. This controversy existed because the founders believed that political parties would cause a great schism in the country. In addition, they believed that a second party system would be contradictory to the design of the Republic.

Traditional Whig party theory asserted that there was a "single indivisible public good." ("The Legitimation of the Idea of Party and the Second Party System") Therefore, since there is only a single public there was no need for different political parties. The Whig party that was eventually formed in the 1830's actually came about as the result of a schism that occurred in the Republican Party. When the Republican Party divided, one group came to be known as the Whigs and the other group was referred to as the democrats. The Whigs held to the more traditional beliefs of the Republican Party. The Whigs were the party that supported Adams and were committed to national development. ("The Legitimation of the Idea of Party and the Second Party System") On the other hand, the democrats supported Jackson and were committed to serving the common person. ("The Legitimation of the Idea of Party and the Second Party System")

The parties were able to garner the support of a broad range of constituencies by identifying themselves in terms of philosophies. The essay explains that "by identifying themselves with a philosophy parties could more easily identify themselves with the majority than if they identified themselves with a particular group or class interest." ("The Legitimation of the Idea of Party and the Second Party System")

The Whigs supported government sponsored development and their philosophy asserted that the implementation of their programs would benefit all Americans and not just the privileged. Another strategy that the republicans used was to label democrats as elitists. The final strategy that the party used on constituents was to represent themselves as the party of the people. ("The Legitimation of the Idea of Party and the Second Party System") The democrats approach was similar but they attempted to tout their own philosophies as being good for the common person.

The second party system was beneficial because it aided in the alleviation of social conflict. This alleviation occurred because it was apparent from the foundation of this country that there were opposite views concerning the vision for the nation. The two-party system allowed these opposing views to be heard. It also created a system of checks and balances that prevented one faction from forcing its will on the people of the country. In addition, the two-party system was able to unionize, planter, farmers and merchants under a single banner. ("The Legitimation of the Idea of Party and the Second Party System")

How are the evangelical religion, reform movements, and utopian communities related to the rise of industrialization and the spread of the market?

Evangelical religion has long been a part of American society. On such movement was the second great awakening, which occurred at the latter part of the eighteenth century. This religious movement occurred as a result of industrialization. The essay "The cultural response to the extension of the market" explains that the second great awakening occurred as a result of families being uprooted and moving to different towns in hopes that they would get better jobs. The essay explains that the evangelical religion and its movement came about as a result of the demise in the number of traditional churches. The essay contends

"revival religion's communal nature imparted a sense of belonging to people uprooted from kin and life-long neighbors, while its message that everyone could be saved helped to assuage peoples anxiety by providing them with spiritual refuge from increasing economic uncertainty of the emerging market society." ("The cultural response to the extension of the market")

The essay asserts that out of the "Second great Awakening" came the reform movement. The Second Great Awakening placed an emphasis on striving for perfection and the reform movement emphasized using this perfection to better society. The essay explains that there were several different types of reform that took place during this time.

The first of which was prison reform. The essay asserts that during industrialization the crime rates rose dramatically. The reason for such increases in crime was due to the development of cities. The essay explains that when people lived in small cities there was a great deal of shame associated with crime and criminals were shunned. However, the big cities provided criminals with anonymity and they did not have the same fears associated with being caught. The reform that took place in prisons dealt with rehabilitation of prisoners. The reformers felt that rehabilitation could be successful if prisoners were given strict discipline. The prisoners were forced to get up early, work, march for long periods and they were not allowed to talk to one another. ("The cultural response to the extension of the market") The essay also explains that prisoners were confined to their cells and given time to contemplate their crimes. The reformers believed that this confinement would force prisoners to draw on their inner strengths and use those strengths to avoid committing future crimes. In addition, they believed that such reductions in crime would increase productivity.

There was also asylum reform that took place during this time. The essay explains that like criminals, those living in asylums could also be rehabilitated. The reformers believed that the rehabilitation of the mentally ill could increase productivity. The essay explains that the prevalence of mental illness increased during industrialization. The author points out that this increase was probably due to the stress that developed in a market society. There were also temperance and education movements.

There was also a theory of a utopian community. The Utopian Communities were developed as a model for the rest of society. The essay asserts that these communities may have developed because of the uncertainty of a capitalistic market. Many of these communities were derivative of Christian sects who felt that the country was becoming too materialistic. ("The cultural response to the extension of the market")

Discuss the contradictory relationship between slavery and capitalism in the U.S. during the first half of the nineteenth century.

The institution of slavery has always been contradictory to the values that people living in this country purportedly believed in and capitalism is no exception. According to the essay "Slavery, Capitalism and Democracy and the meaning of Paternalism in the Antebellum South," slavery in the Western hemisphere was different for slavery elsewhere for several different reasons. The article explains that capitalism is America brought about a demand for certain goods and a demand for slave labor.

The essay explains that with America's ideology of freedom it would seem that slavery would have stopped in America first. However, it seems that the economic boost that capitalism provided was more important than the ideals of freedom and thus led to a contradiction. The contradiction of capitalism and slavery also existed because capitalism was supposed to be based on a free market society. The free market was supposed to provide people with opportunities to better themselves and increase productivity. ("Slave Culture and Resistance") The essay asserts that slavery was contradictory to capitalism because of the nature of the labor that slaves wee forced to perform. The essay explains that wage labor became a commodity and slaves were physically coerced to work.

Slavery was essential to capitalism in the North because it limited the number of Blacks that Whites in the North had to compete with them for jobs. ("Slave Culture and Resistance") At the same time, many in the North wanted the slave to be free so they could work in jobs that are more menial that whites did not want. In the south slave owners wanted to keep slavery legal because it was essential to the southern economy. The essay also asserts that the North had become a bourgeois society that thrived on capitalism and embraced many of the ideals of a democracy. However, the South had become a place of increased inequality, which thrived on slavery. ("Slave Culture and Resistance") The capitalist class in the north believed strongly in promoting a free market society in which everyone had opportunities (even if they were not equal). ("Slave Culture and Resistance") On the other hand, the South had become so dependent on slave labor they felt tat if the slave were freed there businesses and the entire economy of the South. ("Slave Culture and Resistance") The essay explains that

"North and South were thus developing a diverging set of interest which made national politics increasingly strained. Northern Capitalists, whose political power grew increasingly throughout the nineteenth century, wanted to the federal government to more actively promote economic growth. The south barely industrialized at all before the Civil War and demonstrated little desire to do so." (Slave Culture and Resistance)

This conflict created a society in which people held very different beliefs and were willing to kill one another over such differences. Ultimately, this conflict led to the Civil War.

The issue of the expansion of slavery was difficult to manage during the 140's and 1850's because slavery had become so essential to the southern economy. Although the Missouri compromise had been reached, the issue of slavery of other regions were more complicated and compromise were more problematic. The essay also explains that as states entered the union they did so in pairs; one Free State and one slave state. (The Sectional conflict) The essay contends that allowing the states to enter the union as pairs maintained a balance during expansion. (The Sectional conflict)

The north and the south were also at odds concerning tariffs. The north wanted high tariffs because of their dependence on industry. (The Sectional conflict) On the other and the south wanted to keep the tariffs low because they were very few factories in the South. In addition, low tariffs kept the price of certain goods low. In time, the tariff was nullified but the issue was so controversial that the nullification was reversed by south Carolina; this was one of the conflicts that the states had with the federal government. (The Sectional conflict)