The Evolution of Democracy from Jefferson to Jackson Political To what extent was universal white manhood suffrage achieved? Jeffersonian Democracy – In Jeffersonian democracy, most states required white males to own property in order to vote. Jacksonian Democracy – Under Jacksonian Democracy, every state allowed white males to vote, even if they didn’t have property, except for the state of Rhode Island. Which citizens were considered eligible for office holding? Jeffersonian Democracy – Women were not eligible for office holding, for Jefferson often questioned their intelligence.
As a result of this, social mobility was limited at this time and people socialised in small circles, with only those of a similar class. Any socialisation out of this was seen as absurd. It was women especially that felt the limitations of the late 18th century/early 19th century, as there were strict expectations of them. Women were seen as possessions of men, and expected to be educated and well behaved, mostly in hope to ensure themselves a husband of wealth in order to further themselves as women did not inherit any land or money from their fathers, this went to the closest male relative. Any kind of acting out of against the expected image of a woman would be seen as shameful and would lead to isolation even further in terms of socialisation and the hope of a husband.
Although Jacksonian democrats thought themselves to be defenders of the “common man” they only reached out to white males. All white males over twenty-one gained the right to vote even though they did not own property. Women didn’t gain any new rights and neither did slaves. Jackson then passed the Indian Removal Act which gave the Federal Government power to relocate Native Americans. This led to Indian suffrage and deaths of thousands of Native Americans.
Indians and blacks in particular had very limited rights as citizens of the U.S. In Document 2, one can clearly see that, as more states entered the nation, the number of states with racial exclusions increased as well. Also, the Cherokee Indians in Document 5 take not of the fact that they are being subjected to “intolerable oppression.” They notice the fact that their national and individual rights are being withheld under the U.S. government. They are also being forced to move from their current location after being forced to move from their original land and new lands countless times. Document 3 also shows the dark side of the Electoral College.
History 201 Professor Studebaker “Her-Story of Women’s Suffrage” Makyla Pittman Imagine living a life filled with all forms of discrimination where you have no voice in the government under which you live and in the equality of social life where you are a chief factor. It is a difficult scenario to visualize and before the 19th century that was the reality of a women’s position in this world. With limited access, a young wife and mother was expected to manage a household, train her children, keep her friends and sustain the affections of her husband. In a world filled with patriarchal constraints women were forced to fall back on their instinctive resources of common sense, wisdom, diplomacy and knowledge of human nature. Education, employment, and politics are all barriers where women were held back from the full development of their faculties.
None of the colleges or universities admitted women students. She was barred from nearly all profitable employments. If she did get one of those jobs, she received only one-fourth the man's salary for the same work. She could not become a doctor or lawyer, or a minister. If she was married, any wages she might earn were not hers, but must be handed by the employer to her husband, who was in every way her master.
Changes in Marriage Marriage is traditionally dominated by the men while the society expects the women to submit in all forms. In the late 1800s, women were not expected to show their displeasure in any way in their marriages. People, indeed, considered marriage as the “happy-ever-after.” Being an independent widow, Kate Chopin decided to voice on behalf of the women of those times by writing stories concerning how women felt confined and suppressed both spiritually and sexually in their marriage. The general society during that period did not give room for women to be open-minded. Major socio-demographic change, however, have taken place over the last two centuries and has significantly brought changes to the institution of marriage.
Not all people had been given a chance to be citizens of the United States, and not all citizens have always been given the right to vote. All throughout the history of our country people have not been granted the right to vote because of their race, age, sex, and how much money they made. The lack of suffrage resulted in many attempts at political reform. Even though these reforms were met with great resistance, the Women’s Suffrage movement would gain many accomplishments over a lengthy period of time. When written and adopted the United States Constitution gave each and every state the power to give voting rights to whoever they wanted to.
Historians debate that the framers of the constitution were all rich, elitist men only looking to protect their own economic interests and power, not the majority of society’s interests. Linda Grant DePauw published an article in an issue of Maryland Historical Magazine arguing that only fifteen percent of Americans actually gained freedom because of the Revolution. The Declaration of Independence and Constitution only give power to white males with power. Negroes, servants, women, minors, and men without property essentially gained no freedom from the Revolution primarily due to their lack of right to vote (Zinn 248). For example, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband John, during the writing of the Declaration to encourage him to include the rights of women, arguing that men have turned into tyrants in the past (Doc D).
Furthermore in the Southern states of USA the abolition movement was resented. Plantation owners were unwilling to end slavery because it provided them with a free labour force. Many white Americans had justified slavery by thinking of slaves as racially inferior, as people without human needs, rights or dignity. The legal system had supported these racist views, and the rights of the plantation owners for many years. After 1890 many Southern governments passed a series of laws that set up a system of segregation that would last until the mid-twentieth century.