The era of the “common man” is described as the era of prosperity and power of the American, every day people; which occurred before, during, and after Andrew Jackson’s presidency. This name suits the time period fairly well if one is to consider the economic development, changing politics, and various reform movements, that took place within 1824-1848 in a thriving American nation. It was not perfect, yet it was a time of various alteration. Nearing the end of John Quincy Adams’s presidency, the Tariff of 1828 severely crippled the Southern economy. This “tariff of abominations” earned Adams a bad reputation amongst the southerners. It allowed for the Northeast to prosper by protecting them from foreign competition, while the South was stuck …show more content…
As the “president of the common man,” Jackson despised the eastern aristocracy, seeing it as an ominous chain holding back the expansion of opportunities to the “common men” in the rising Southern and Western states. His biggest enemy, Jackson believed, was the national bank. At this point, under Biddle’s management, the National Bank had a vast amount of power and was not afraid to exercise it on less well-managed banks. To destroy this “monster,” Jackson removed the government’s deposit on it and eventually failed to renew its charter before 1836. This ended the bank’s monopoly. Although this caused quite a short a depression, this was a massive victory for the Democrats; during this time period at the start of 1835, a nationwide economic boom was taking place. Canal and the railroad building was at peak activity, as well as there being an abundance of land. Thanks to this, the government was not only able to pay off any debt yet also have surplus federal budget, which it distributed to the states, in order to promote construction of highways, railroads, and canals. At this point, it seemed that Jackson and his followers were able to give the states what they needed, less restrictions and more money to provide equal opportunities for