Jacksonian Democracy

Essay questions:

1. Why was the election of 1824 so ridden with conflict and confusion?  What was at stake between the competing candidates, especially Adams and Jackson?

2. Write your definition of political favoritism.  Then use this definition to argue that the rotation in office / spoils system of the Jacksonians was or was not crass political favoritism.

3. If you had been living in the age of Jackson, would you have been for or against the following:  nullification, veto of the bank, and Indian removal.  Justify your position.

4. Why has Andrew Jackson been called “the first modern president”?

5. Explain the part played by each of the following in terms of their contribution to industrialization:  cotton gin, principle of interchangeable parts, Erie Canal.  Justify your ranking.

6. Compare and contrast the Irish and German immigrants of early-nineteenth century America in terms of their motives for leaving Europe, pattern of settlement in the United States, impact on American life, and reception by native-born Americans.

7. What do you find the single most worthwhile reform movement of the early nineteenth century?  Why?

8. How do the Knickerbocker group, Hudson River school, and transcendentalists all reflect the “nationalism” of the early-nineteenth-century America?  What particularly “American” values did each reflect?

Internet-based assignment:

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