The Two Party System and the Jacksonian Era

            Frequently recognized by historians, the period between 1820 and 1840 is known as the Jacksonian Era, where the American Democratic Revolution led to the division of the Democratic-Republicans. After the War of 1812, the aristocratic Federalist Party virtually dissipated, and the Republican Party separated into competing factions. The expansion of the franchise weakened the political systems dominated by dignitaries of high status and in its place emerged a system managed by professional politicians who were mostly of the middle-class origin. Ultimately, major conflicting political personalities and fiscal issues due to tariffs and the Second Bank of the United States eventually led to the split of two parties: the National Republicans (later to be known as the Whigs) governed by John Quincy Adams and the Democratic-Republicans (Jacksonian Democrats) facilitated by Andrew Jackson.
             Significant political personalities was one of the primary contributions to the reemergence of a two party system. During the Election of 1824, five candidates consisting of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Crawford, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun all called themselves Republicans and campaigned for presidency. Despite Jackson winning the popular vote, there failed to be an absolute majority in the Electoral College leaving the decision to fall to the House of Representatives. Personally out of the election, Clay gathered a coalition of congressmen that voted Adams into presidency and to express his gratitude, Adams appointed Clay as the new secretary of state. Jackson and his supporters called this the "corrupt bargain," and by the Election of 1828, Democratic-Republican Jackson garnered votes by appealing to the "common man" such as farmers and artisans declaring, "equality among the people in the rights conferred by government" was the "great principle of freedom." Jackson's animosity towards Clay's American System won approval from groups who felt threatened by industrialization and he also gained support from the Southeast and Midwest due to his hostility towards Indians while Adams on the other spectrum supported the land rights of Native Americans.