influence yielding growth "both in size and productivity, especially under the impact of new farming methods and more efficient farm machinery."
Jackson's influence on politics may be his most interesting effect on the times. In the absence of established party alignments and efforts to encourage voter activism (within the limits of suffrage at that time), only 5 percent to 8 percent of the eligible voting population exercised its rights at the polls. By 1828, however, a vigorous new party established on Jacksonian principles had formed: "In a surge of egalitarian democracy, a broad range of group interests found representation, popular participation in politics increased, and meaningful options were put before the public."
One example of this Jacksonian belief in participatory principles with roots in the ideals of James Madison was his belief "in an open economic society which gave all a free, equal opportunity to exercise innate talent and ability in order to ensure continued Progress." This meant, in operational terms, the absence of artificial government-imposed restraints on financial dealings and no special favors or privileges given to any individual because of birth or government position.
In this light, he rejected the "American System" proposals offered by Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster for a Bank of the United States to stimulate economic growth. Chartered in 1816, the second Bank of the United States (modeled after Hamilton's first bank) was 80 percent controlled by private stockholders and was the sole depository for federal funds. In 1820, the bank began making special loans to members of Congress. Over Jackson's condemnation, in 1832 Clay and Webster pushed a bill though Congress w
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