In what ways did American politics and elections become more democratic in the 1820s and 1830s?

The 1820s and 1830s are known as the era of "Jacksonian Democracy" after President Andrew Jackson. In the election of 1828, when Jackson was first elected, voter participation reached an unprecedented 60%, meaning 60% of the population that was eligible to vote cast ballots. By comparison, voter participation in the 2016 election was 60.2%. Jackson considered himself a "Champion of the Common Man" and appealed to a wider variety of voters. He was the first president who came from a state other than Virginia or Massachusetts, and, instead of being a former lawyer or politician, Jackson was an army hero from the War of 1812. However, he was also a controversial figure: most notable was his Indian Removal Policy (among other undemocratic policies).
Several changes facilitated the rise of voter participation in US politics. In the early nineteenth century, states began implementing changes that made more people (though still only white men) eligible to vote. In most states, property qualifications were abolished, meaning men no longer had to own property in order to be eligible to vote. Previously, property qualifications were intended to prevent poor people from voting, concentrating electoral power and interest in the hands of the wealthy. In addition, many states changed the ways governors and legislators were elected. Previously, governors and electors (who were responsible for casting votes for president in the Electoral College) were elected by state legislators, another policy that concentrated political power into the hands of few. Beginning in the early 1800s, governors and electors were increasingly elected by direct vote, opening up the number of offices for which eligible voters could vote. Again, despite these changes, there were limits to this increase in democracy. Women and most African Americans, along with Native Americans, could not vote. Thus, while the Democratic Party of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren (1830s–1840s) claimed to champion the interest of the "common man," they often did so at the expense of minority groups.
For more info: https://www.history.com/topics/jacksonian-democracy
https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/jacksonian-democracy

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