The chapter opens with an account of Franklin Plummer, a Mississippi politician whose public career exemplified the new trends of democratic politics. Born without the advantages of an elite social background, Plummer rose to power by portraying his opponents, including the hapless Powhatan Ellis, as aristocratic snobs indifferent to ordinary folk. A brilliant if unscrupulous campaigner, Plummer knew how to cater to popular tastes and portray himself as one of the people. His rise and eventual fall (when he began to act like an aristocrat himself) illustrated how profoundly American politics had changed since the time of Hamilton and Jefferson.

Equality, Opportunity, and the New Political Culture of Democracy

Expanded economic opportunity challenged the concept of equality because it allowed some citizens the chance to become much richer than others. Consequently, the Jacksonian generation had to confront in its political affairs the fundamental tension that existed between those two basic American values: opportunity and equality. The Democratic Party system sought to preserve both equality and opportunity by defining equality to mean equality of opportunity rather than condition, and by safeguarding opportunity through the exercise of government power.

This new emphasis on democracy arose in response to the Panic of 1819 and was reflected in the political career of Andrew Jackson. A socially unsophisticated product of the southern frontier, Jackson lacked the usual background and training of presidential candidates, but his strong showing in the 1824 election, in which he finished first in the popular vote, revealed his popularity with the American electorate. His defeat in that election launched a new generation of party conflict. Jackson's supporters took the name Democrats, while his opponents, led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, eventually coalesced into the Whig party.

The hard times produced by the Panic of 1819 also brought forth a clamor for government policies to provide economic relief as well as the demand for a more open and responsive political system. For the first time, politics seemed relevant to many people's lives, and as a result popular participation in elections soared. The new political culture of democracy included the use of conventions to nominate candidates, the public championing of "the people" against "aristocracy," the adoption of white manhood suffrage, and the acceptance of political parties as essential for the working of the constitutional system. As campaign pageantry gained prominence, politics became mass entertainment involving men, women, and children, although voting remained solely a privilege of males (and in most states of white males).

Jackson's Rise to Power

John Quincy Adams, with his reserved, almost aloof personality, did not fit into this democratic system and failed to generate any popular enthusiasm. In 1828 Jackson defeated Adams for the presidency. Much more comfortable with these democratic changes than was his predecessor, Jackson rose to power by portraying himself as a representative of the people who would remain sensitive to their interests. During his presidency, he faced the three major problems of Indian removal, nullification, and banking with his usual combative populist style.

Democracy and Race

Democracy strengthened racism in American society. African Americans remained largely excluded—and Indians entirely so—from the new democratic system. As a result, the position and rights of both groups seriously deteriorated during this period. The federal government dispossessed Indians east of the Mississippi of their lands and forced them to migrate to new lands across the river. Even southern tribes such as the Cherokee that had adopted white ways could not prevent the government from removing them to western lands. Most black Americans remained in slavery, but even free men and women were subject to harsh discrimination and led lives of hardship and exclusion. Democracy and racism became increasingly linked, in part because racism offered whites a refuge from the uncertainties of living in a market-oriented, supposedly egalitarian society.

The Nullification Crisis

The rise of democracy also involved a growing concentration of power in the federal government. This process emerged most clearly during the nullification crisis, in which South Carolina, economically depressed and fearful about the future of slavery, endorsed Calhoun's theory that states could eradicate any federal laws in which the state believed Congress had exceeded its constitutional authority. The crisis pitted Andrew Jackson, determined to enforce federal power and the tariff, against the state of South Carolina. In the end a compromise negotiated by Clay and Calhoun gradually lowered the tariff and ended the crisis.

The Bank War

Jackson also moved to destroy the Second Bank of the United States. He feared the great economic power private investors in the bank wielded over state banks and the national economy. When the bank's president, Nicholas Biddle, refused to compromise, Jackson vetoed the bill rechartering the bank. He then crippled the bank further by refusing to deposit federal funds (as was required by law) in the bank. The national bank went out of business in 1836, without a national banking system to replace it.

By the time he left office, Jackson had greatly strengthened the role of the presidency in the American political system. He used the veto to control Congress, insisted he championed the interests of the people, and converted his reelection campaign into a referendum on his policies.

Martin Van Buren, Jackson's hand-picked successor, took office just as the nation entered a severe depression. Consequently, Van Buren devoted most of his term to economic questions, with which he dealt ineffectually. By successfully blaming the Democrats for the hard times and exploiting the new system of democratic politics, the Whigs gained national power for the first time in 1840.

The Jacksonian Party System

In the new system that developed, Democrats became the party that feared the commercialization of American society and wanted government to both guard against monopolies and not interfere with individuals' moral beliefs. Whigs, on the other hand, were more comfortable with the mechanisms of the market, and advocated an active government to promote economic growth. They defended the need for banks and paper money in the new commercial economy, and insisted that government regulate the morals of society. Whigs built greater strength among the business class, but both parties drew support from workers and farmers. Attitudes toward the market, rather than wealth, distinguished Whigs from Democrats. Yet Democratic efforts to escape the consequences of the market, while preserving its benefits and wealth, were doomed. No party could roll back the market—or the tide of democracy that was growing across the Western world.