Andrew Jackson and Populism in the Democratic Party, 1828-1836

The rise of populist discontent following the 1824 presidential election, in which John Quincy Adams won the presidency in a congressional “corrupt bargain,” centered around the new feeling of democratic disenfranchisement in the western and southern states. The embodiment of these feelings came in the “outsider” candidacy and presidency of General Andrew Jackson, who wanted to bring the power to the American people for the first time since the Revolutionary War. Jackson was best known as the hero of the Battle of New Orleans, a critical military victory in the War of 1812. Jackson was also a local justice, Tennessee state legislator, and farmer who relied on grassroots political efforts to win the popular vote in the 1824 presidential election. Scorned by the “corrupt bargain” of Adams and Henry Clay, Jackson built a new party, the Democratic Party, to aid his efforts in bringing the American people into Washington D.C.

Jackson’s early presidency was unlike many others because his agenda was ad hoc and his general guide was to bring American people into the presidency. While he was a strong presence in Washington, he held events to open the executive office to the American public and hear out the problems of the common man. This showed his faith in the wisdom of the American people to know what is in the best interest of the nation. Jackson also wanted to expand the power of the executive office because of his contempt for elitist politicians and his belief in Jeffersonian, laissez-faire economics. Jackson, overall, wanted to increase the equality of economic opportunity for all Americans and to strengthen the American government to provide more for the public.