Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay’s American System

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Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay are some of the political figures whose input has greatly helped in shaping America. The high political opposition between these two politicians set a foundation for American politics after independence. Jackson and Clay differed in almost everything. The two politicians had differing opinions on various issues facing the country. As a consequence of the broad difference in their opinions, American masses were partitioned between the two leaders. The major rift between Democratic and Republicans in America today can be traced back to Jackson’s and Clay’s political differences.

Andrew Jackson is considered one of America’s great presidents. He went to the elections as the president of the poor. He was considered a leader to the common.

American as his approach towards various issues had an impact on them. Jackson served as the president of United States of America from 1828 to 1832. Unlike other presidents before him, Jackson did not come from the western aristocracy. His election was considered a revolution because of how he was able to gain support from majority of people, despite the fact that he did not have material wealth as other politicians (Kennedy & Bailey pp. 317-368). Jackson was popular among majority of the people and used his popularity to counter opposition and carry out his political agendas.

The election of Jackson has a lot of significance to American politics today. Jackson was a populist president who used his popularity to win support of the people. His election marked a change in American politics and beginning of modern politics. His election brought new understanding of democracy. It was during Jackson era that the significance of a president grew immensely among American people. Jackson used his influence as president and the power vested on him to accomplish various goals. He used veto power vested on him extensively. He used this power to veto more bills than all the presidents before him. Jackson is also remembered for using an informal cabinet referred as ‘kitchen cabinet’ to make decisions in his government. Jackson used his populist politics and veto power to accomplish various important issues.

Jackson’s election led to a paradigm change in American politics. A new generation had developed from social economical conditions. The new generation was confident and wanted to separate itself from older political ideology. The new generation of people saw in Jackson a person that represented their world view. This new generation did not agree with the older notion of leadership but embraced Jeffersonian dogmas. Because of his personality and world view, Jefferson was appealing to the people. His leadership brought a new system of democracy. The new form of democracy was characterized by people being most divided along their support of an individual. Immediately after being elected, Jackson started a new form of leadership that was marked by redistribution of offices. As a result of the new democracy, American masses were partitioned to Jacksonian Democrats and National Republicans (Oates & Errico pp. 212-247). The democrats were centered on President Jackson while the republicans rallied behind Henry Clay, Quincy Adams and others. By so doing, Jackson election helped to define democratic and republican future principles.

Andrew Jackson rule was marked by high opposition from Henry Clay. The two politicians differed on various issues on governance and development but most of all on their world view. Jackson viewed the economic situation at that time as a threat to freedom. He viewed economic situation resulting from market economy as a hindrance to democracy. Jackson went into power as a representative of common people. On the other hand, Clay was more concerned with development and seemed to represent the early aristocracy. Clay was not comfortable with the new populist democracy and feared that such a democracy could lead to demagogy. Jackson believed of the freedom of common people through increasing their involvement in decision making. On the other hand, Clay believed on liberation of people, but through economic development. There were many occasion of opposition between the two leaders. For example, the two differed on the bank war, the removal of Indians, nullification and economic issues (Hofstadter 214). Jackson made use of his veto power to counter opposition from Clay and other opponents. Henry Whigs party opposed almost every proposal made by Jackson leading to one of the most competitive leadership.

American system was a plan aimed at improving the economic condition of America. The plan had been proposed by Whigs party led by leaders such as Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams and john Calhoun. The national economy plan proposed to introduce high tariff in order to protect young manufacturing companies from excessive competition. The plan also wanted to ensure that prices of land were high in order to generate revenue. Another objective of the plan was to maintain Bank of the United States. Bank of United States was supposed to ensure currency stability and offer financial support to the state and other local banks. In addition, the plan proposed to implement various internal economic developments. The internal improvements, which included road, canal and other amenities, were to be financed through the increased tariff and sales on land. Clay was the main proponent of this proposal. He made various arguments for the plan but did not succeed to have the plan fully implemented. To support the economic plan, Clay asked people from the west to support the plan since it could create market for their products. People from the south were asked to support since it would create market for cotton (Berkin, Miller & Mainwaring 432).

This proposal for America system was heavily opposed by Jackson administration. Among the issues under contention was construction of Maysville road. Despite Clay being able to acquire support for the plan, Jackson used his veto power to stop the plan.

Henry Clay’s Whig party was the main opposition to Andrew Jackson. The party had a vision for a country that was economically free. The American System proposed by the party was aimed at ensuring that America was economically free from Britain (Baxter 137). The federal proposal was to protect young American economy from unhealthy competition from developed economies in Europe. The internal improvements were aimed at improving the living condition of Americans by ensuring that they had essential facilities.

Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay are very important figures in American politics. Election of Andrew Jackson led to a great paradigm shift in American politics. His rule led to new face of democracy and led to full development of Democratic and Republican parties. Political opposition between Jackson and Clay helped to develop democracy in America. Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay will always be remembered not for their differences but for how they helped to shape modern democracy.

Work Cited

Baxter, Maurice. Henry Clay and the American System. New York: University Press of Kentucky, 2004. Print.

Berkin, Carol, Miller, Christopher & Mainwaring, Thomas. Making America Brief Edition: A History of the United States. New York: Wadsworth, 2000.

Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made it. New York: Vintage Books USA, 1989.

Kennedy, David & Bailey, Thomas. The American spirit 12 TH, edition. New York: Wadsworth Pub Co., 2001.

Oates, Stephen & Errico, Charles. Portrait of America: Volume 1: To 1877. New York: Cengage Learning, 2006.

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Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay’s American System

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