Back in the 1800's the government went through many drastic changes. During this time there sprouted two different approaches to how the American Democracy was to be run. Jefferson and Jackson had two completely different views that each had pros and cons.
It all started back in 1817 during the era of "good feelings-. It was right after the war of 1812 and the nation was feeling a sense of pride and had come closer together. It was a time of social harmony and nation building. Tons of new territories were mapped and civil crimes were unordinary. In the political scene, federalists were gone and the democratic republicans were the only major political party. This era of good feelings lasted until the presidential election of 1824. The election began the era of "hard feelings-. There were five nominees in the election including John Adams and Andrew Jackson. Jackson earned the highest percentage of the popular vote at 41.3 percent. Since this was still not majority the twelfth amendment stated that the winner would have to be chosen by House of Representatives from the top three candidates. Jackson expected to win, figuring that the House would act on his strong showing. However, Clay, as Speaker of the House, used his influence to sway the vote to Adams. This created the two party system.
Jackson formed the Democrats who consisted of small farmers, new businessmen and city workers. They were against an extremely powerful federal government and wanted a greater democracy. Clay formed the other party and they were called the National Republicans. They tried to appeal to the masses and got their strength mostly from wealthy citizens. They favored the interests of businesses since they were gaining most of their power from that source. They were also for a strong federal government and protective tariffs. Then Jackson got another chance in 1828 to run for president.
Jackson's victory showed that even the "common man- had chance to change the nation.