<p>I am trying to go over the AP US test essay questions. I am a little confused by the 2001 free response on the Jacksonian Era.</p>
<p>Jacksonian era was viewed as the era of the common man. To what extent did this period live up to its characterization. Consider two of the following: reform movements, economic developments, and politics.</p>
<p>Now for economic developments I have pet banks, bank veto, circular species. Is there anything more to add?</p>
<p>As for reform movements and politics I really have no idea. Can you guys tell me some information about these two fields? Thanks.</p>
<p>history!!! well anyway...Jacksonian era remember its called common man because: the voting rights were lowered and there was male suffrages. Now almost all white males could vote because the land requirement was gone. Also, people. Economic is right, the bank veto is very important, how he challeneged the banks for public support. umm..lets see..circular species seems right...not sure if pet banks is a very Jacksonina thing to do though. hmm..o yeah Jackson tried to push something like the rotation system or something like that, meaning that each job government position could be given to anyone. Another that might (maybe, its hard to talk about this) be talked about is the spoils system(i think thats the name), the victorious party gets to put all the people in charge. Umm...o yeah i believe the second great awakening is during this time. about like 1800-1850 (around there)...this was very important because it allowed the intellectual barrier to be removed (in which people distrusted the uneducated etc...). It also made the thought that every man gets a vote. Well thats what i can think of now. Tell me if you need some more. I can read some stuff for you if yo need.</p>
<p>So I am thinking on choosing politics and focusing on it. Is there any other stuff that may be incorporated into this essay from politics? Actually while you are at it why not even put some reform movements up :).</p>
<p>np man.. just some advice..when your writing, you should have a broad statement encorporating anything about the age of jackson. that way you can list a bunch of stuff that happened, so your not just limited to political. but if you choose to do so, umm....i might have different ones then those listed. i recieved the same essay prompt and talked about all..its easier and shows a surround knowledge..i cant think of much i havent mentioned though sorry</p>
<p>here are most of the reform movements for jacksonian era in brief...i highly suggest doing reform movements because it bettered the lives of the common man:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>second great awakening. men like finney running around preaching christianity. they are great orators and as a result, people feel like they are worth something.</p></li>
<li><p>communal experiments. numerous groups rose up in attempts to create a utopian society. although they all basically failed in one way or another, it increased Americans' confidence that they could change the world and make it a better place. Some communal experiments included the shakers, who were, quite frankly, retarded because they were against sex and relied on converting people to expand their beliefs. they concentrated on expelling sin from ones body (they "shook" sin out from their fingers lol, hence their name). because of the shakers' anti-sex stance, there are only 4 shakers left today. ROFL!!!! also, there was new lanark which i believe was similar to the ideas of marx and of course the mormons who were polygamists and were persecuted for their polygamist beliefs so they ran away to utah. they were led by josseph smith and brigham young. there were many other communal experiemtns too lol</p></li>
<li><p>campaign for urban workers. obviously, this helped the common worker because labor unions formed, strikes were able to form, shorter work day, and better wages</p></li>
<li><p>temperance, abolition, and women's suffrage. the three biggest reform movements of the jacksonian era. they are all grouped together because many women like cady stanton and susan b anthony and lucretia mott were also involved in aboliton (sara grimke made lots of anti-slavery talks) and temperance (susan b anthony started "daughters of temperance" and in giving women the vote (anthony led some women to the polls to "vote' but they were arrested." there's a lot about these reform movements</p></li>
<li><p>transcendentalism. another big one. basically, thoreau and emerson and some other people began formulating ideas about a more perfect society. for example, thoreau wrote "civil disobedience" telling people to disobey unjust laws and therefore make america better for everyone!</p></li>
<li><p>campaign for education. mention horace mann who was on the mass board of ed and campaigned for better teachers, more supplies for schoolchildren. also mention mcguffey, whose mcguffey readers preached punctuality and moral values to kids</p></li>
<li><p>campaign for the poor and disabled. the big girl here is dorothea dix. she ran around and felt sorry for insane people (who were tied down like 24/7) and poor people in almshoueses and decided to start up insane asylums and poorhouses where people could find shelter.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>thus, all these reform movements benefitted the common man, from the poor and mentally retarded to the urban working class. again, reform movements is very strong in this era.</p>
<p>I’m sure most of what I’m going to say has already been mentioned, but anyways.</p>
<p>Politics: Like you said, this was the era of the common man. Jackson worked very hard to establish the practice of granting federal office jobs on the basis of merit and ending the practice of patronage. You should also talk about the spoils system which goes hand-in-hand with the whole patronage ordeal.</p>