J

Jackson, Andrew (1767–1845) American
politician, president, and soldier

“Andy” Jackson’s political legacy is the POPULISTAmeri-
can DEMOCRATIC PARTYor Jacksonian Democracy. This
involved the expanding of SUFFRAGE(voting) rights to
poor or common people (mostly farmers) and the
extensive use of federal PATRONAGEemployment (giving
government jobs to political party supporters). Such
radical EGALITARIAN democracy made the Jacksonian
Democratic Party the party of the people as opposed to
the more elitist or ARISTOCRATIC FEDERALISTand Whig
(later REPUBLICAN) parties. Jackson as U.S. president
further advanced the cause of common folk by ending
the official national bank and putting government
funds into various private state banks. He furthered
population expansion into the Western frontier, bene-
fiting average U.S. farmers but displacing Native
American Indian tribes. He advocated more power in
the federal government and offended the nullification
Southern Democrats who wanted STATES RIGHTSover
national legislation (causing the resignation of John C.
CALHOUNas vice president).
A colorful, rustic figure from Tennessee, Andrew
Jackson, nicknamed Old Hickory, was revered as a mil-
itary hero (winning a decisive battle against the British

in the War of 1812), an effective spokesman for the

common people, and a shrewd national politician and

party leader. He descended from Irish immigrants; his

informal style and democratic principles made him

popular among U.S. farmers, workers, BAPTISTS, and

southerners. He retired to his plantation in Tennessee,

The Hermitage.

Further Readings

Remini, Robert Vincent. Andrew Jackson and the Course of Amer-

ican Democracy, 1833–1845.New York: Harper & Row,

1998.

———. Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire,

1767–1812.New York: Harper & Row, 1998.

Jackson, Jesse, Rev. (1941– ) African-Ameri-

can political activist, minister

Most noted for his Operation PUSH (People United to

Save Humanity), Jesse Jackson is a prominent LIBERAL

DEMOCRATIC civil rights leader and LEFTIST political

ACTIVIST. Combining traditional black CHRISTIANchurch

oratory with radical political theory, Jackson attacks the

American corporate establishment and advocates major

restructuring of the United States’s economic, military,

and political system. His liberal policy statements drew

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