The 1820s and 1830s in America were times of sweeping change. Jacksonian democracy brought more power to common citizens, and engendered ideals of wide spread liberty. Jacksonian democrats believed that they were guardians of the Constitution, political individual liberty, and economic opportunity. Although their beliefs did not apply to the Indians that they displaced, they were correct in their evaluation of themselves. Jacksonian democrats believed that they were guardians of the Constitution. Thy believed that …showed first 75 words of 747 total…

…showed last 75 words of 747 total…them down the infamous ÒTrail of Tears.Ó Many lives were lost, and rights of Indians were forsaken to accommodate rights of white men. Despite Jackson's tenacity in Indian relations, he worked wonders for white manhood suffrage. Decisions such as Charles River Bridge v Warren Bridge, and writings like those of Harriet Martineau, show that the Jacksonian opinions of themselves were generally accurate. They were avid social reformers, who did everything they claimed to have done.