5.2Jackson and the Democrats

Jackson cast himself as champion of the ordinary white citizen against entrenched elites. His Democrats stood for a small federal government, hostility to special privilege, hard money, and the spread of white settlement westward. He rewarded loyal supporters with government jobs—the "spoils system"—and wielded the veto more aggressively than any predecessor.

His defining fight was against the Second Bank of the United States, which he saw as a corrupt tool of the wealthy. He vetoed its recharter and destroyed it, triggering financial instability. To admirers, Jackson embodied democratic energy; to critics, he was "King Andrew," a demagogue trampling the balance of powers.