What Hath God Wrought and how the Whigs defeated Jacksonianism?
What Hath God Wrought and how the Whigs defeated Jacksonianism? Daniel Walker Howe
Ezra Klein's guest today, Congressman Jake Auchincloss, recommended “What Hath God Wrought,” by Daniel Walker Howe, which is the Oxford history of the United States. It discusses how Andrew Jackson built the Democratic Party in 1828 as a Christian nationalist anti-elitist party — if that sounds familiar to people — and then how the Whigs came to contest him and ultimately won in the 1840 election. And I find that template to be informative for the political era we’re living in now.
So I asked Claude, "How did Andrew Jackson build the Democratic Party in as a Christian nationalist anti-elitist party?" and got this reply:
Jackson and his allies built the Democratic Party by combining populist economic messaging with Protestant Christian nationalism and anti-elite rhetoric in several key ways:
Religious Framing: Despite his own complex relationship with religion, Jackson portrayed himself as defending Christian virtue against corrupt elites. His supporters, especially in frontier regions, framed political battles in religious terms - casting the Bank of the United States as a materialistic, anti-Christian institution and portraying Jackson as a Christian warrior fighting corrupt money interests.
Anti-Elite Messaging: Jackson positioned himself as a champion of the "common man" against what he called an aristocratic elite. He attacked the Second Bank of the United States, paper money, and Eastern financial institutions as tools of oppression used by privileged elites against ordinary Christians. His veto message of the Bank recharter painted a stark picture of virtuous common people versus corrupt monied interests.
Protestant Identity Politics: The Democrats built a coalition that appealed strongly to evangelical Protestants, especially Baptists and Methodists, who felt excluded from the established power structure. They portrayed their opponents (especially John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay) as representing an aristocratic, secular elite that looked down on ordinary Christian citizens.
Patronage System: Jackson used the spoils system to build party loyalty, but justified it in populist Christian terms - arguing that rotating ordinary Christian citizens through government positions was more democratic and moral than allowing an entrenched elite to dominate.
Media Strategy: The Democratic press, especially papers like the Washington Globe, consistently portrayed political battles in terms of virtuous Christian democracy versus corrupt aristocracy. They attacked National Republicans/Whigs as being anti-Christian and elitist.
The combination proved politically potent because it united economic populism with cultural and religious identity politics - allowing Jackson to build a coalition of farmers, urban workers, and evangelical Protestants who saw themselves as defending Christian democracy against corrupt elites.
The party's messaging emphasized:
- Defense of Christian values against secular elites
- Opposition to monopolies and special privileges
- States' rights against federal power
- Strict construction of the Constitution
- Celebration of frontier virtues and common citizens
This framework helped establish the Democratic Party as a dominant force in American politics through the 1850s and shaped how future populist movements would combine religious and economic messaging.
Would you like me to elaborate on any particular aspect of how Jackson built this coalition?
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I also asked "Can you summarize What Hath God Wrought and how the Whigs defeated Jacksonianism?" and got this reply:
I'd be happy to discuss Daniel Walker Howe's "What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848" and the Whig response to Jacksonianism.
The book examines America's transformation during the early republic period, focusing on how communications and transportation revolutions (particularly the telegraph, referenced in the title) reshaped American society. Howe argues that this period wasn't simply about Jacksonian democracy, but rather a complex interplay between competing visions for America's future.
The Whigs challenged Jacksonianism through several key strategies:
1. Embracing Modernization: While Jacksonians often glorified agrarian simplicity, Whigs championed internal improvements, banking, and industrial development. They supported Henry Clay's "American System" of protective tariffs, a national bank, and infrastructure development.
2. Moral Reform: Whigs emphasized education, temperance, and moral improvement. They saw government as a positive force for social betterment, contrasting with Jackson's limited government philosophy.
3. Economic Vision: Whigs promoted a market economy with diverse economic activities, opposing Jackson's hard-money policies and war on the Bank of the United States. They argued this would create opportunities for all social classes.
4. Political Coalition-Building: The Whigs united diverse groups opposed to Jackson's policies: New England merchants, Western farmers wanting internal improvements, and urban professionals. They successfully painted Jackson as an autocratic "King Andrew."
The Whigs' greatest victory came in 1840 with William Henry Harrison's election, though Harrison's death and Tyler's presidency complicated their agenda. Ultimately, while they didn't defeat Jacksonian democracy entirely, the Whigs succeeded in implementing many of their modernization policies and establishing a competing vision of American development that emphasized economic progress, moral improvement, and national development.
The book challenges the traditional narrative of this period as simply "the age of Jackson," showing instead how the Whigs offered a compelling alternative vision for American society that in many ways proved more influential for the country's future development.