Tuesday, March 11, 2014

What was the major change to the voting population in the election of 1828?

The presidential election of 1828 represented a watershed in the history of American democracy. Previously, the only people eligible to vote were white male landowners. Restrictions on the right to vote expressed the fears of the founding fathers concerning the dangers of mob rule. However, the 1828 election was conducted on a much wider franchise; all white male citizens were now able to vote for the first time.
The method of nominating presidential candidates also changed leading into the election of 1828. Previously, candidates could only be nominated by the House of Representatives. Now, however, that role was carried out by state conventions and legislatures. This change was perfectly in keeping with the philosophy of Jacksonian democracy, with its inherent distrust of political elites and its staunch support of states' rights.
Jackson's National-Republican opponents bitterly resented the extension of the franchise, seeing it as a cynical attempt to game the system in favor of the Democratic Party. Whatever the motivations behind Jackson's democratic reforms, there can be no doubt that he reaped enormous benefits from them. He subsequently recorded a comfortable victory in the 1828 election over his opponent, John Quincy Adams, thereby cementing the place of democracy within the American body politic as well as consolidating the two-party system.
https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1828

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