How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson?

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“Democracy means that all branches and agencies of the government – the President, the Congress, the National Bank, even the Supreme Court – must listen to and follow the wishes of the People.” Andrew Jackson was one of the best democrats in office to date. Five out of eleven documents support this claim. Four of them have issues with power and land. Two of them were unclear. The first five documents include; a data table from Historical Statistics of the United States: Part 2, a couple paragraphs from The American Pageant, “Andrew Jackson’s Bank Veto Message to Congress July 10, 1832”, “Andrew Jackson’s Letter to Congress December 8, 1829”, and “Letters written by Andrew Jackson to his wife regarding their Creek Indian son, Lyncoya”. The data table titled Methods of Electing Presidential Electors: 1816 to 1836 begins with 1816 having all by legislature or none for all states listed. In the year 1820, three states switched to being by people. Three more were switched the first year Jackson ran for president. Between 1824 and 1828, four more were switched to by people the year Jackson became president. Jackson managed to switch one more state, leaving only one left for by legislature all the way to 1836. The comparison of the increasing stand for the people and Jackson rising position in office shows his compassion for the People. In The American Pageant, Thomas and David mention how Jackson’s election “was a peaceful revolution, achieved by ballots instead of bullets…”. The Jacksonians roared, “The people shall rule!”. The People also show their compassion. In “Andrew Jackson’s Bank Veto Message to Congress July 10, 1832”, Andrew Jackson states, “ It appears that more than a fourth part of the stock is held by foreigners and the (rest) is held by a few hundred of our own citizens, chiefly of the richest class”. This shows Jackson’s concern for

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