From 1810 through the 1840, American political life became much more democratic. One element of what some historians have called the Democratic Revolution was the expansion of suffrage. Starting with Maryland, state after state in the 1810s and 1820s eased requirements for voting. Several new states, such as Indiana, Illinois, and Alabama in the 1810s, all ensured that most white men could vote. This movement for greater democracy culminated in a series of popular conventions between 1818 and 1821 that made many local government offices elected rather than appointed. The conventions also tied the districts for state legislatures more closely to population. As a result of all these reforms, the number of eligible voters had greatly increased by the 1820s.

Since the collapse of the Federalists in 1820, the only party in the United States had been the Republican party. But by 1826, a new political party system began to emerge. Between 1826 and 1828, the presidential candidates, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson,  called themselves Republicans. Adams called himself a National Republican and Jackson was known as a Democratic Republican. After Jackson's election in 1828, it became clear that a new two- party system had arisen. Jackson’s party came to be known as the Democratic Party. With the extension of suffrage throughout the 1820s, presidential elections developed a more democratic cast. Presidential candidates sought to gain the support of a mass of voters, while the institution of the political party became an important part of the political landscape, with the accompanying campaign hoopla that continues today.

The parties used the personalities of their candidates to mobilize the electorate. Jackson himself was the first presidential candidate to be known by a nickname, Old Hickory, a reference to a solid Tennessee tree. Yet some elements of the earlier presidential elections persisted into the era of greater democratic participation. Sectional voting patterns, for example, played a role in both the 1824 and 1828 elections, and in this era, sectional interests began to strain the bonds between the states. In reviewing the series of maps that follows, ask yourself: What effect did the increase in democratic participation have on the presidential elections of 1824 and 1828?

Source

A map charting the rise of the two-party system

Quiz  

1. In which election were regional voting patterns most pronounced? 

a. 1824.
b. 1828.
c. Both elections had the same regional voting patterns. 

2. What section of the country did Andrew Jackson not win in either election?

a. Northeast
b. South
c. West

Short Answers

1. Compare and contrast regional voting and the elections of 1824 and 1828. What reasons can you give for the stark regional division in one election and not the other?

2. Assess the relationship between an expanded electorate and the emergence of political parties. Did the increase in voters cause the rise of parties? Or did other factors contribute to the emergence of political parties at this particular time? Frame your answer around the presidential elections of the 1820s. How do these campaigns illustrate your more general points about the growth of party politics?

Project

Using your, textbook find other times in American history when a change in the composition of voters has altered the nation’s political culture. Some examples might be the aftermath of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the success of women in getting the vote in the 1920s, or the early period of Reconstruction after the Civil War. In these other periods, did the substance of politics change along with the expanded electorate?

Resources

Internet sources: To get a sense of Andrew Jackson’s political style, see his veto of the U.S. National Bank at http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/aj7/writings/veto.htm.  Images from Andrew Jackson’s home are at http://www.thehermitage.com/.