Political Campaigns: North America

Essay by coocooo3 November 2014

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Marlee Michaels

31 October 2014

Participation in Political Campaigns and Elections

The amount of participation in political campaigns and elections often depends on what else is going on during that period of time. For this reason, between 1815 and 1840, the United States saw a significant increase in the participation in political campaigns and elections as a result of the effects of the War of 1812. Such changes brought about a new era, known as the "Era of Good Feelings" that helped to pave the way for change within the elections and campaigns of the United States. Most importantly, the War of 1812 had led to the end of the Federalist Party after the Hartford Convention, which marked the demise of the nation's first political party and the competition between the Federalists and Democratic Republicans. A result of the significant effects of the War of 1812, including the collapse of the Federalist Party, the Era of Good Feelings opened up new possibilities for the involvement in political campaigns and elections in the United States.

During the Era of Good feelings, there was only one political party: the Democratic Republicans. As a result, tension among voters was greatly diminished since there was little competition between political parties. However, during the election of 1824, John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay adopted a new system of campaigning that involved them teaming up to capture the electoral votes from their opponent, Andrew Jackson. As a result of their teamwork, Adams is elected and appoints Henry Clay as Secretary of State. In Document C, Martin Van Buren is describing his support for Andrew Jackson, claiming that "we must always have party distinctions and old ones are the best". Buren is describing the way in which "Jackson's personal property with the portion of old...