Democracy and Reform Movements - Essay Example

? Democracy and reform movements Democratic and reform movements in the U.S started during Andrew Jackson presidency from1829 to 1838. His influence on American politics was felt during and after the end of his time. The years between 1824 to 1840 were generally referred as the “Age of Jacksonian democracy” and the era of the common citizen. However, United States was far from democracy since women were not allowed to vote and were legally under the control of their husbands. The African American was also not allowed to vote and slavery was thriving in the Southern States. The reform movements arose from the second great awakening which was caused by moral and religious enlightenment. Most of the reform movements were geared to movement towards a democratic society which provided equal rights for all the people. One of the greatest movements was the women’s reform movement which demanded for more women participation in the state affairs like voting rights. Elizabeth Candy Stanton organized and participated in the Seneca Falls convention where major statements on the promotion of women rights were made but women seemed not interested in the movements. Other reform movements which took place include the new correctional prison system which called for better treatment of prisoners but did not emphasize on their democratic rights. Temperance movements which enforced spread of equal opportunities to all attempted to help women and children whose lives had been worsened by the drinking fathers and husbands. The blacks were considered as second class citizens who were not even allowed the right of citizenship in the American society. The period was marked by massive settlement of Native Americans in Mississippi River and the concentration of wealth in few of the American upper social class. The reform movements of that period only focused on ending the economic inequality among classes in the Native American citizens and did not advocate for the rights of the black people. Some states abolished the property and tax qualifications for voting which saw a record high of 355,000 votes cast in 1824 where the number kept on increasing to reach 1.1 million after four years due to the end of the property qualifications. The method of voting was initially orally where the voter would state his choice but the years of 1820s saw dramatic shift since few voters would hardly vote against a candidate when his supporters had crowded the voting place. There was introduction of ballot papers which gave the voter more autonomy in choosing his preferred elective candidate though the ballot papers were themselves prepared by the political parties due to lack of government bodies which could oversee the election process. Political offices became more democratic and elective rather than appointive hence leaders became more accountable to the public. By 1932, most of the states with exception of South Carolina shifted the selection of the members of the electoral college from their legislature directly to the voter hence there was introduction of more voting democracy. Democracy and reform movements Introduction The ideals of equality, liberty and pursuit of happiness characterized the desires of American population up to the period 1850. The desire was to make America civilized in order to expand democratic ideals by expanding the moral standards of the common citizens. Movements like the women and slave movements focused on the liberty (Murrin, 2012). Movements like temperance, abolitionist and natives to public schools and better living conditions were some movements which were pursed with democratic ideals (Greer, 1949). Women movement strongly reinforced the importance of morality and equality through the struggle for social justice and the desire to see a more civilized American society which would be more productive (Boyer, 2008). The rise of democratic politics can be traced back to 1824 -1832 when the republicans on suspicion of the government policies on spread of cotton to the south became democrats while the republicans who believed the national government should provide economic development became Whigs (Dunn, 1987). Elections were less influenced by education levels or wealth but the ability to influence people (Murrin, 2012). Democratization was facilitated by the elimination of the poll taxes which required the voters own property and the written boxes which replaced the oral voting. Appointive offices were increasingly elective while the federalists and republicans allowed the expression of will (Boyer, 2008). The elections of 1824 ended the era of good feelings saw Jackson win the lections but without the majority vote as required by the constitution which cause d the election to be determined by the House of representatives where Clay supported Adams with the vision of making alliance between the West and Northeast with the view of future vying of the presidency (Boyer, 2008). Adams was finally declared the president but did not consider the existing political climate and didn’t seek new bases of support since he proposed a program of federal internal aid for internal improvements which was later declared unconstitutional (Greer, 1949). He appointed the opponents to high offices which led to the single term presidency due to his dismal performance as the president. Jackson’s popularity rose as that of Adam’s went down which saw his nomination as the presidential candidate n 1828 as a democrat but the opponent National republican nominated Adams again (Greer, 1949). Election of 1828 saw Jackson become the president by majority vote despite his constant attacks by the National republicans that he was not educated and had a prostitute (Murrin, 2012). His term in office was marked with the removal of public aid as he felt that public official s used it to woo voters. 1830 he voted for the bill which provided public road in Kentucky and the Indian removal act which reinforced his popularity (Miller, 2001). The Nullification era started in 1828 with the tariff of 1828 which formed the rift between Jackson and Calhoun (Dunn, 1987). Calhoun wanted Jackson to serve for one term and succeed him with the support of the South but believed the tariffs did not favor the South. The south believed the North would pas anti-slavery laws but the reformist movements were motivated by South Carolina Exposition and Protest which made the 1828 tariff unconstitutional but Jackson maintained the key south states by distributing surplus revenues and easing the high 182 8 tariffs (Boyer, 2008). The election of 1832 saw Jacks on make bad financial choices by authorizing paper money and monopolies. The bank of United States stopped printing money and lending by demanding the redemption of bank notes in specie (Dunn, 1987). The bank controversy ad the second party system (1833-1840) saw Jackson take some steps to eradicate the U.S bank forever. In the War of banks, Jackson began removing federal deposits from the bank and placing them in state banks which increased the lending capacity of the state banks (Boyer, 2008). Jackson was forced t sign the Deposit act which increased the number of deposit banks and loosened the federal control. The bank wars led to the split of the Democratic Party due to advocates for both the soft and hard money where hard money advocates wanted free education, no debt imprisonment and ten hours working day (Murrin, 2012) The rise of the Whig opposition gave impetus to reform movements. National republicans became the Whigs in Jackson’s second term and developed strong political bases in North and South (Greer, 1949). They joined those who had alienated Jackson’s policies like the Pet banks and Nullification. Reformers in the North wanted the end of slavery and sale of liquor to end in order to foster education and public morality. The temperance and public schools movements joined the Whigs (Murrin, 2012). The Whigs got the support of immigrants especially Irish who were anti-masonry, clergymen, Protestants, farmers and manufacturers to support the reformist movements (Dunn, 1987). In the elections of 1836, democrats ran Van Buren because he was Jackson’s favorite candidate but the Whigs fielded three candidates in a bid to ensure no single candidate won win majority vote hence the House of Representatives would decide the winner with deals and bargaining but Van Buren won the elections (Dunn, 1987). 1837, severe depression hit the country due to the economic policies of Jackson which had allowed the banks to double the value of bank notes in circulation (Greer, 1949). The high inflation resulted to soaring prices of land and goods (Boyer, 2008). In 1838, the Whigs took most of the governorship and legislative seats in Van Buren’s New York State (Murrin, 2012). Van Buren created an independent treasury which was an alliance of the government and banking. The Whigs continued endorsing the banks to spur economic development and blaming the depression on circulars while democrats blamed the depression on paper money and wanted hard money. The election of 1840 saw the maturity of second party system where the politicians would appeal to the ordinary people (Miller, 2001). Religious movements There was rise in religious movements like the Mormonism which was controversial where a Mormon book translated in 1827 narrated how Hebrew prophet came to America and how Jesus performed miracles in the new world (Casciato, 2008). The doctrine gained more followers and was the center of Christian history which made Gentiles hostile to religion (Murrin, 2012). The Shakers which was founded by Mother Anne Lee hated materialism and sex. The preached that God was both male and female but managed to survive by attracting converts and orphans to join their community (Greer, 1949). Age of reform Reformers included men and women who tried to improve the society by giving women and black more representation in the political affairs. They cooperated with parties sometimes but where not loyal to the parties (Miller, 2001). Most reformers where inclined to the Whig party. Reformers gave loyalty to causes and saw the social problems as a clash between the right and wrong. Reformers were fueled by religious revivalism hence drunkenness, ignorance and inequality were sins to them (Miller, 2001). The temperance movement wanted to end the alcohol problem since the annual per capita consumption of alcohol had exceeded seven gallons. Male indulgence in alcohol hurted the families hence Connecticut revivalism and Protestants demanded total alcohol abstinence (Casciato, 2008). The reformers targeted the moderate drinkers in the labor class and factory owners who later endorsed the temperance since they wanted sober workers (Boyer, 2008). Washington temperance societies sprung up where the members were laborers hence temperance movement took prominence in 1838 where small quantities of alcohol where sold to individuals. In 1851, Maine banned the buying and making of alcohol (Dunn, 1987). Public-school reformist movements Public-school reformist movements wanted to encourage orderliness wanted the schooling cost to be paid by the government (Miller, 2001). A prominent figure in the movements was Horace Mann who was a secretary of board of education hence advocated for the extension of school term from one to eight months (Greer, 1949). They also wanted uniform curriculum and uniform values which could end ignorance. Immigrants protested that the schools were anti-Irish and anti-catholic. There was enactment of the first compulsory school law (Murrin, 2012). The supporters of the movement included manufacturers who wanted the schools to teach values of punctuality and Native Americans who wanted the immigrants to conform to American values. Blacks were treated badly that they even preferred the segregated schools (Casciato, 2008). Abolition movement American colonization society had proposed gradual emancipation and the return of Blacks to African continent but free Native Americans in the south were willing to release the slaves. Blacks opposed slavery and formed abolition societies which advocated for the end of human slavery (Miller, 2001). Benjamin Lundy started publishing Genius of Universal emancipation which called for the end of slave trade while the liberator called for the end of slavery without compensation to the southerners (Murrin, 2012). Fredrick Douglass lectured against slavery but the Whites wanted the end of slavery but restricted the social equity in the society (Casciato, 2008). Protestants also joined the abolition movement which eventually led to formation of the Liberal party which was associated with abolitionist. Feminist Sarah also wanted the rights of women to be acknowledged with the Black’s rights (Murrin, 2012). Women rights movement Women were not allowed to vote or own property when married. Many feminists did not protest about sexual inequality but emphasized on the need to participate in public activities. Feminists like Lucy Stone, Abby Kelley and Quaker Lucretia were some of the prominent figures in advocating for the rights of women (Dunn, 1987). During world’s anti-slavery conference, Lucretia Mott and several other women were denied seats which prompted them to organize the women rights convention were they made the Seneca Falls Declaration (Boyer, 2008). Asylum reform movements The reformers wanted to end poverty, crime and insanity by establishing credible institutions hence they created substitutes for parental discipline which was referred as the penitentiary (Casciato, 2008). They sought better confinement of prisoners. Workhouses were built for the poor and insane asylums were built for the mentally retarded prisoners hence they could no longer be confined in regular jails (Murrin, 2012) Conclusion The history of democracy and reform movements dates back to the Jackson’s era where major political rights including secret ballot paper voting was implemented. The period saw many politicians appeal themselves to the general public. There was emergence of new political movements which were geared at economic growth. Reformist movements advocated for the rights of women, asylum seekers, blacks and religion. The reformist movements saw the enactment of various legislations which was geared at bringing equality in the society. References: Greer, T. (1949). American social reform movements: their pattern since 1865. New York. Prentice-Hall. Murrin, J. (2012). Liberty, equality, power: a history of the American People. Boston. Cengage Learning. Boyer, P. (2008). The enduring vision: a history of the American People. Boston. Houghton Mifflin. Miller, J. (2001). The 1800s. San Diego. Greenhaven press. Dunn, C. (1987). Constitutional democracy in America: a reappraisal. Glenview. Foresman. Casciato, D. (2008). Expansion and reform (early 1800s-1861). New York. Weigl Publishers. Read More