What Is The Role Of Democratization In Mid-19th Century America
Nathan Jones
Dr. O 'Sullivan
History 1111
10 September 2010
Democratization in Mid-19th Century America
Democracy in the United States became prominent in the early to mid-19th century. Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, was inaugurated in 1829 and was best known as the pioneer who mainstreamed democracy in America. While market economy grew in the early 1800s, by 1820 U.S, “political life grew more democratic than ever before” (Schaller et al.377). Democratization spread political power to a new class of individuals, expanding future opportunities mostly to poor white males who now had the ability to debate and influence political life in an emerging United States. Democratization, which is a time-bound process to make a group more democratic, subsequently affected American culture, religion, politics, and overall governmental reform during the first …show more content…
The increasingly secular culture expressed through novels, newspapers, and the work of mass political parties matched the spiritual movements of the day (466). Traditionalists became frustrated due to the popular rise and social reach of these new media forms, but America was successfully building its national cultural identity. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s work pushed for change in the American lifestyle, and encouraged readers to reject tradition. Henry David Thoreau on the other hand published work attempting to live in solitude and removing himself from the modernizing world. Although Thoreau’s attempt at solitude was foiled, both Thoreau and Waldo were associated with the philosophy of transcendentalism, this philosophy would compute with trends toward democratization in American
Dr. O 'Sullivan
History 1111
10 September 2010
Democratization in Mid-19th Century America
Democracy in the United States became prominent in the early to mid-19th century. Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, was inaugurated in 1829 and was best known as the pioneer who mainstreamed democracy in America. While market economy grew in the early 1800s, by 1820 U.S, “political life grew more democratic than ever before” (Schaller et al.377). Democratization spread political power to a new class of individuals, expanding future opportunities mostly to poor white males who now had the ability to debate and influence political life in an emerging United States. Democratization, which is a time-bound process to make a group more democratic, subsequently affected American culture, religion, politics, and overall governmental reform during the first …show more content…
The increasingly secular culture expressed through novels, newspapers, and the work of mass political parties matched the spiritual movements of the day (466). Traditionalists became frustrated due to the popular rise and social reach of these new media forms, but America was successfully building its national cultural identity. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s work pushed for change in the American lifestyle, and encouraged readers to reject tradition. Henry David Thoreau on the other hand published work attempting to live in solitude and removing himself from the modernizing world. Although Thoreau’s attempt at solitude was foiled, both Thoreau and Waldo were associated with the philosophy of transcendentalism, this philosophy would compute with trends toward democratization in American