Jacksonian Democracy

The era in American history that witnessed Jacksonian Democracy is viewed in strikingly different ways by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Bray Hammond, and Edward Pessen. In the 19th century America was transforming from an agrarian to an industrial nations. During the 1830s, the Bank Crisis pitted Whigs against Jacksonian democrats for control of the country's monetary system. The transforming young nation was beset by many changes and challenges. It is the nature of handling such crises as the expansion of suffrage, the banking system, and growing industry that these three authors present us with their differing views of Jacksonian Democracy.

Arthur Schlesinger's portrait of Jackson and his motives is a glowing and noble one. In Schlesinger's viewpoint, Jackson was a champion of the common man akin to the likes of a Lincoln, a Roosevelt, or a Kennedy. As the author notes, "The people called him, and he came, like the great folk heroes, to lead them out of captivity and bondage...Their faith in him had survived ordeals and won vindication" (Feller 139). Schlesinger views Jackson as a reactive leader, one who could exploit the changing times in ways the Whigs could not. His thesis is that the success of Jacksonian democracy came from Jackson's ability to manage well the "enduring struggle between the business community and the rest of society" (Feller 141). This is a positive virtue to Schlesinger, who feels struggle among competin

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Category: Government - J