Andrew Jackson became the nation’s seventh president in 1828. He was—and still is—one of the country’s most controversial presidents. To his supporters, he was a war hero and a true man of the people. His presidency helped to make the United States more democratic. He challenged powerful elites and drove the expansion of the United States westward. But his critics charged that Jacksonian democracy benefited only his supporters. To beat his rivals, he was ruthless. He waged campaigns to remove Native Americans from their homes and limited the rights of African Americans.

Jackson’s career forces us to ask: What values do Americans hold dear? Did Jackson take the country in the right direction or the wrong one?

Democracy in America
The Declaration of Independence states that the government’s role is to secure the rights of the people: “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Democracy, however, was not included among these rights. Many founders, such as Alexander Hamilton, did not believe democracy was necessarily a good thing. They feared that too much democracy would lead to tyranny—not from a king, but from the masses of ordinary people.

These founders wanted democracy, but not democracy as we think of it today. Yes, the founders wanted “the people” to elect their own representatives, but what they meant by “the people” was very limited. In early America, “the people” referred to a small group: white men who owned property.

North Carolina Emigrants: Poor White Folks. Source: Wikimedia Commons, James Henry Beard, Cincinnati Art Museum
White Americans who did not own land, however, wanted more democracy. They used what rights they had to vote in large numbers and participate in public demonstrations. As the nation’s population grew, so did this thirst for democracy. Political leaders of the time could not hold back the building desire for real democracy. More and more people wanted to be able to vote and have politicians listen to their concerns. This was especially true in the new states and territories in the west.