Andrew Jackson was a man of many contradictions.
Although he had little formal education (Adams called him “a barbarian who could not write a sentence of grammar”), Jackson was capable of genuine eloquence in his public statements. A self-proclaimed champion of the common man, his vision of democracy excluded any role for Indians, who he believed should be pushed west of the Mississippi River, and African-Americans, who should remain as slaves or be freed and sent abroad. Although he rose from modest beginnings on the South Carolina frontier to become one of the richest men in Tennessee, he had an abiding suspicion of banks and paper money, and he shared the fears of many Americans that the market revolution was a source of moral decay rather than progress. A strong nationalist, Jackson nonetheless believed that the states, not Washington, D.C., should be the focal point of governmental activity. He opposed federal efforts to shape the economy or interfere in individuals’ private lives.
By the time of Jackson’s presidency, politics had become more than a series of political contests—it was a spectacle, a form of mass entertainment, a part of Americans’ daily lives. Every year witnessed elections to some office—local, state, or national—and millions took part in the parades and rallies organized by the parties. Politicians were popular heroes with mass followings and popular nicknames. Jackson was Old Hickory, Clay was Harry of the West, and Van Buren the Little Magician (or, to his critics, the Sly Fox). Thousands of Americans willingly attended lengthy political orations and debates. An audience of 100,000 was said to have gathered on a Massachusetts hillside to hear a speech by the great Whig orator Daniel Webster.
“Politics,” one newspaper editor remarked, “seems to enter into everything.” Indeed, party machines, headed by professional politicians, reached into every neighborhood, especially in cities. They provided benefits like jobs to constituents and ensured that voters went to the polls on election day. Party functionaries were rewarded with political offices. Government posts, Jackson declared, should be open to the people, not reserved for a privileged class of permanent bureaucrats. He introduced the principle of rotation in office (called the “spoils system” by opponents) into national government, making loyalty to the party the main qualification for jobs like postmaster and customs official.
Large national conventions where state leaders gathered to hammer out a platform now chose national candidates. Newspapers played a greater and greater role in politics. Nearly 400 were published in 1830, compared to 90 in 1790. Every significant town, it seemed, had its Democratic and Whig papers whose job was not so much to report the news as to present the party’s position on issues of the day. Jackson’s Kitchen Cabinet—an informal group of advisers who helped to write his speeches and supervise communication between the White House and local party officials—mostly consisted of newspaper editors.
Stump Speaking. In this painting from the 1850s, George Caleb Bingham depicts a candidate in a county election addressing a group of voters, an illustration of grassroots democracy in action One of the listeners appears about to question or challenge the speaker. Bingham’s paintings generally depict scenes in the American West, including exploration, landscapes, and life on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. But he was also fascinated by democratic politics. A founder of the Whig Party in Missouri, Bingham himself ran for office several times and was elected to the state legislature in 1848.
QUESTIONS
1 What does the painting tell us about the extent and limits of American democracy in the mid-nineteenth century?
2. What does the clothing of those in the painting indicate about their occupations or status?
Procession of Victuallers, a lithograph commemorating a parade of butchers through the streets of Philadelphia in 1821. Their banner, “We Feed the Hungry,” illustrates the belief among members of the “producing classes” that their work led to practical benefits for society, unlike the activities of “nonproducers” like bankers.