The Jacksonian Period was known as the era of the "common man." As shown in the elements of politics, the economic development, and many others, the period lived up to its characterization a great deal.
Through the element of politics, it was shown that the common man was on the rise. During the Jacksonian years, many men took hold of the opertunity to become politians as well as their right to vote and be part of a political party. In October 1841, voteless delegates from around the state met illegally and drafted a state constitution that gave the vote to all white males over 21. Before this, only a select choosen few had the right to decide the future of their country. Martin Van Buren was thought to be a common man, during the elections, his opponets attempted to slander his name, calling him the "Flying Dutchman" for he reared in poverty. Most of the common folk turned to love him for this, because it was almost as if someone would be able to speak for them as one of them, in an authoritical place. Van Buren was a Democrat, and Democrats were seen as being the more humble of the 2 parties. Most of the commoners felt more comfortable with this party than that of the Whigs. With all these new ideas placed into the minds of the people, they began to band together as if to say, "We matter in the world of politics!" and so they did it seemed.
Economic developments changed the lives of many common folk, given them steady jobs with steady pay, however little pay that might be. In the 1830's, Cyrus McCormick contributed the a very important contraption, a mechanical mower-reaper. His horse-drawn machine did the same to the western farmers as the cotton gin, created by Eli Wittney, did for the southern planters. There were many other machines that sped up work for all kinds of things, many of these machines were placed in factories where men from all around would come to work everyday, and get paid.
