Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Did the Election of 1828 Represent a Democratic Revolt of the People?

I think that the elections did represent a Democratic Revolt of the People, so i agree with Sean Wilentz argument. The campaign "produced a valediction on the faction-ridden jumble of the Era of Bad Feelings." Jackson did abnormal things in his campaign that other candidates normally would do. He had newspapers in several states publish articles about him which helped to make the people more involved. The whole election was a contest of different views in politics, since they all said they were republicans; it was a "great contest". The election contained a lot of new ideas. Jackson had successful techniques in campaigning which made them more "appealing" to vote for. The people didn't exactly revolt, but we did change our ways at viewing things. Even though i agree with Sean Wilentz i think McCormick makes very good points as well. He states that a "new democracy, ignorant, impulsive, irrational" had entered the arena of politics in the Jackson era and has become an unchallenged fact. I think this statement is sort of goes along with the YES statements by Sean Wilentz because it says yes there was a "change" and the people aren't going to argue about it.