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About the Jacksonian Era
Between 1820 and 1840, most states eliminated
property qualification office-holding. To encourage popular participation
in politics, states reduced residency requirements for voting, opened
polling places in more convenient locations, and eliminated the practice
of voting by voice. In addition, direct methods of selecting presidential
electors, county officials, state judges, and governors replaced indirect
methods. But while white manhood suffrage was becoming a reality, women
and most African Americans were denied the right to vote.
Two new national political parties arose. Unlike America’s first parties,
the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, the Jacksonian Democrats
and the Whigs were parties with grassroots organization and support in
all parts of the nation.
Andrew Jackson, the dominant political figure of the era, helped institute
the national political nominating convention; defended the spoils system;
opened millions of acres of Indian lands to white settlement; and vetoed
the recharter of the second Bank of the United States. When South Carolina
asserted the right of a state to nullify the federal tariff, Jackson made
it clear that he would not tolerate any attempt to resist federal authority.
A surge of democratic
fervor swept the country in the 1820s and 1830s. Top open up the legal profession,
many states dropped formal training requirements to practice law. Some states
also abolished training and licensing requirements for doctors. In New York
State, between 1839 and 1843, tenant farmers tarred and feathered sheriffs and
agitated for a new state constitution. In Rhode Island, insurgents tried to
capture the state arsenal in order to force the state to abolish voting restrictions.
More on the Jacksonian
era: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/subtitles.cfm?titleID=83
"I
recognize no ALLEGIANCE, as paramount to that which the citizens of
South Carolina owe to the State of their birth"Robert Hayne, 1832
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/documents/documents_p2.cfm?doc=63
To
learn more
Maps:
Map
of territorial growth, 1820.
Map
of territorial growth, 1830.
Map
of territorial growth, 1840.
Map
of the United States, 1830
Images:
To
learn more
Timelines:
Click
here for timeline.
Fact sheets and lesson plans:
Fact sheets:
Jacksonian
Democracy
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us11.cfm
Indian
Removal
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us12.cfm
Political Battles
of the Jacksonian Era
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us13.cfm
Recommended
lesson plan:
Indian
Removal
http://ohioteach.history.ohio-state.edu/Lessons/Indian%20Removal.htm
Fact checks:
Test
your knowledge by taking our Jacksonian Era quiz.
Recommended readings:
Charles
Sellers, The Market Revolution
A sweeping political and social history of the Jacksonian era that includes
such topics as the birth of Mormonism under Joseph Smith, Jackson's
Indians removal policies, and from the growth of women's rights and
the spread of the temperance movement.
 Recommended
films:
The
President's Lady (1953)
This film concentrates on Andrew Jackson’s relationship with his wife
Rachel, whose reputation causes scandal.For a synopsis of and stills
from this film, see
http://charltonhestonworld.homestead.com/PresidentsLady.html
The Buccaneer
The story of the battle of New Orleans has been filmed twice, in a
1938 version directed by Cecil B. DeMille and a 1958 version directed
by Anthony Quinn.For additional information, see Sean Wilentz, “The
Buccaneer” in Mark C. Carnes, ed., Past Imperfect: History According
to the Movies.
Learn
more:
learn
more film
 Recommended
Web site:
Medicine
of Jacksonian America
http://www.connerprairie.org/historyonline/jmed.html
To
learn more
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