KEY TERMS Key Terms and People to Know for the Regents Exam
Jacksonian Democracy
Starting with the election of President Andrew Jackson (1828), voter participation increased due to the end of property requirements for voting by many states. Jackson was seen as the political champion of the “common man.”
The Spoils System
President Jackson used the spoils system to provide jobs to political party supporters. Jackson claimed that use of the spoils system increased democracy in the federal government because it allowed larger numbers of citizens to hold office.
National Bank / Tariff Debates
During the 1830s, the development of a new national two-party political system (the Democrats and the Whigs) was mainly the result of debates over the National Bank and tariffs.
States’ Rights / Nullification Crisis
One way in which the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798) and the South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification (1832) are similar is that each claimed that individual states have the right to interpret federal laws.