Small farmers, working men, and frontier settlers began demanding the right to vote (the franchise).
Panic of 1819:
The Second Bank of the United States tightened lending policies to control inflation (rising prices).
Restricting funds led to the closure of many state banks, causing economic turmoil.
A decrease in demand for exported American goods like cotton exacerbated the problems.
Unemployment and bankruptcies surged.
Many people were imprisoned for inability to pay debts.
Frustration and Accountability:
Laboring men, especially in the West, wanted to hold politicians accountable for the economic crisis.
Property Ownership Requirements:
The right to vote was connected to property ownership (you ain't got no land, you ain't got no vote).
Frontier States' Example:
Several frontier states had already established universal white male suffrage without property requirements.
Reform by 1825:
Most Eastern states lowered or eliminated property qualifications for voting.
Political Realignment
Fragmentation of the Democratic-Republican Party:
The Federalist Party was defunct after the War of 1812.
The Democratic-Republican Party fragmented into factions due to the events described above.
Emergence of Factions:
Democrats: One faction that emerged from the Democratic-Republican Party.
National Republicans: Another faction that emerged from the Democratic-Republican Party.
National Republicans' Ideology:
Favored a more expansive view of federal power.
Aligned with old Federalist convictions about the national government.
Adopted loose constructionism (a flexible way of interpreting the Constitution).
Democrats' Ideology:
Followed the Democratic-Republican ideals of Thomas Jefferson.
Advocated limited federal power and strict constructionism.
Believed the federal government should only do what is explicitly stated in the Constitution.
Election of 1824
Multiple Candidates:
The Democratic-Republicans couldn't agree on a single candidate, resulting in four candidates: John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, William Crawford, and Andrew Jackson.
Popular vs. Electoral Votes:
Jackson won the most popular votes, but no candidate won a majority of electoral college votes.
House of Representatives' Decision:
The House of Representatives had to choose the president because no candidate won an electoral majority.
Clay, who came in fourth, supported Adams and used his influence in the House to get Adams elected.