Jackson came into office with the platform to return the power, which had long been in the hands of the elite, to the people. The Jacksonians prided themselves on majoritarian politics, but as Jackson would see, being president meant trying to please many different groups of people, and in doing so, not always protecting the common man. While historians often represent Jackson as a man who stood by his own beliefs no matter what others said, Wilentz describes how even Jackson got caught up in trying to please too many people. For example, abolitionists thought Jackson was trying to annex Texas in order to spread slavery and help the planter elite, while on the other hand the southern elite were angry about Jackson\u2019s attacks on the Bank and on their appeals for a nullification law. I agree with Nate\u2019s point (http:\/\/sites.davidson.edu\/his141\/an-era-of-uncertainty\/<\/a>) that Jackson tried to balance his own beliefs with the beliefs of all the different groups he was trying to appease. In doing this, he ended up being attacked by most people and left office with the country on the brink of financial disaster and a sectional battle still brewing. Van Buren, like Jackson, spent his presidency attempting to satisfy as many people as possible, but in the end, he was also attacked from both sides and was not able to accomplish much during his presidency because of it.<\/p>\n While Jacksonians took power with the idea of a party for majoritarian politics, they did not truly stick to that notion. The party constantly tried to maintain their bases of elite voters while not worrying as much about the common man. This could be seen as a misstep in the fight to return the government to the people, but I like Wilentz\u2019s opinion that Jacksonians actually helped advance the people\u2019s struggle. By not actually staying true to their promise to the people, it allowed for the Whig party to develop with a platform that attacked Jacksonians on the basis that they were not for the common man. Future party developments, then, were based on which party could appeal to the common man more, which actually propelled majoritarian politics to the front of the minds of party leaders and government officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jackson came into office with the platform to return the power, which had long been in the hands of the elite, to the people. The Jacksonians prided themselves on majoritarian politics, but as Jackson would see, being president meant trying to please many different groups of people, and in doing so, not always protecting the … <\/p>\n