Jacksonian Era

Jacksonian Era.
Despite the fact that President Jackson Andrew was in the office between the years 1829 and 1837, he influenced the American politics, economy, and social construct well before and after his term. It is worth noting that the period from the year1824 to 1840 was termed as the Era of the Common Man and the Age of Jacksonian Democracy. However, it can be argued that Jacksonian Era participated in the strengthening of the presidency and the executive branch while weakening the Congress. Therefore, the paper will cover Jacksonian Era and how it redefined America regards federal government and the presidency. The paper will deal with three aspects that are associated with the Jacksonian Era, such as politics, social aspects, and economy.
Social events associated with Jacksonian Era
The one social aspect that reformed during the Jacksonian Era is the revival of the religion. This religious revival was commonly referred to as the Second Great Awakening. Second Great Awakening had one main objective, which was to make human condition better. To achieve this, there were various reform movements that were formed. Some of them included temperance movement and the American Female Moral Reform Society. Other movements such as the penitentiary and asylum created the rehabilitation centers for the unstable and the turbulent individuals in the society. All of this religion triggered movement had one aim of bettering the human conditions during that era.
Another social reform associated with the Jacksonian Era is the evolution of the education.

During this time, different cities began empowering public schools that provided education for the public. Numerous reformists such as the Horace Mann ensured that quality education was made available to all the citizens and the curriculum made to orient to the job market. Besides, religious indoctrination was removed from the public school curriculum and was substituted with the moral values indoctrination. The incorporation of the moral values indoctrination in the public school curriculum targeted the creation of a society that comprised of the like-minded citizens that can cope in an environment characterized by a divergent belief system.
The redefining of the human rights and equality is another social event that can be associated with the Jacksonian Era. To achieve this, two reformation movements came into place. These movements included that feminist movement and the abolitionist movements. The feminist movement targeted female equality in a male dominant society while abolitionist movement targeted bringing an end to the slavery in America. Even though the recommended equality in regards to equality as well as the women’s rights was not achieved during the Jacksonian Era, many advancements were realized. This is because, women were allowed to vote, hold public offices as well as properties during this Era. On the other hand, slavery was abolished, but they were still regarded as second class citizens.
Political events associated with the Jacksonian Era
One of the political reforms that can be attributed to the Jacksonian Era is the change in the voting method. It is worth noting that before the 1820s the voting system that was exercised in America involved the voter proceeding to the voting center and declaring orally his preferred candidate. This voting method lacked the much-needed secrecy and was prone to the voter intimidation. However, with the emergence of the Jacksonian Era, the voting system changed to the secret balloting. The emergence of the balloting system granted the voters the opportunity of exercising their independent voice.
Apart from changing the voting method to the secret balloting, another political event that can be associated with the Jacksonian Era is the making of the political offices elective as opposed to the appointment. This move made the officeholders more accountable and made the service delivery to the public more efficient. Besides, the move gave the voters more powers as far as deciding of their leaders were concerned. By the year 1832, all the states except South Carolina had changed the method of selecting Electoral College membership. Formally, the members of the Electoral College were selected by the legislatures, but with the coming of the Jacksonian Era, the members were directly decided by the voters.
The creation of the second party system is also another political reform that was brought about by the Jacksonian Era. The emergence of the second party system led to the creation of the opposition party that was named the Whig party. Therefore, the political landscape of the America became more competitive because the two active political parties that started competing for nearly all the seats be it local, federal, or state. This competition rejuvenated the American politics and attracted the Americans to be active politically. Therefore, the emergence of the second party system made the American politics to be based on ideologies rather than the usual ethnicity and religion. This concept was capitalized by the Whig party when the President William Harrison defeated President Van Buren in the 1840 election. President William Harrison took advantage of the economic hardship that was associated with the President Van Buren regime.
Economic reforms associated with the Jacksonian Era
One important aspect of the Jacksonian era is the fact that it believed in the hand-off approach to the economy. The Jacksonian approach to economic growth was associated with the building of roads, railways, modernization, as well as bank reformations. To start with, Jacksonian Era did not agree with the government supported bank monopolies. The bank reforms targeted vetoing of the recharter of the national and the central banks. Moreover, the era was also characterized by the federal reserves that made the banking institutions independent entities. The reformation of the banks was important because it assisted in safeguarding the interest of the common people from being duped by the banks.
Apart from the banking reforms, vetoing of the Maysville Road in the year 1930 was another economic reform associated with the Jacksonian era. It enabled the federal government to fund a road project that linked the Ohio River and the Lexington. This move was a pointer to the locals because it showed them that the federal government could also engage in local projects. Towards the end of the 1830s, America experienced an economic disaster. The economy was characterized by the failure of crops as well as the imbalance of the exports and imports. Despite the economic disaster, Jacksonian Era managed to reduce the federal debts.
Conclusion
A scrutiny revealed that Jacksonian Era was not all that democratic when gauged against the modern standards. This is because women were still discriminated since they were some of the rights. Besides, even though the blacks were freed from their slavery, they were regarded as second class citizens. Moreover, slavery was still popular among the southern states. Apart from the slavery and the discrimination of the women, United States of America also experienced wealth concentration among a very small fraction of the population. Furthermore, there were various instances of the resentments among the Native Americans, especially those that were residing on the Mississippi River. However, it is important, noting that his era was characterized by some reforms as far as the economy, social aspects, and politics are concerned. Therefore, it can be argued that the Jacksonian Era indeed redefined the role of both the presidency and the federal government by empowering them at the expense of the Congress.
References
Mccormick, Richard P. “The Jacksonian Era, 1828-1848.” The American Historical Review 64, no. 4
(2014): 967-78
Melossi, Dario, and Massimo Pavarini. “The Jacksonian Era: Economic Development, Marginality, and
Social Control Policy.” The Prison and the Factory, 2002, 99-142.
Tsesis, Alexander. “Jacksonian Era Democracy.” The Life and Times of the Declaration of
Independence for Liberty and Equality, 2012, 75-99.