The Elimination of the National Debt in 1835 and the Meaning of Jacksonian Democracy

Abstract

Eliminating the national debt constituted one of President Andrew Jackson's highest priorities. This policy goal underlay the great issues of his administrations—internal improvements, the Bank War, and the Nullification Crisis. Jacksonians believed that achieving national debt freedom would help realize the Jeffersonian vision of a nation truly free, self-sufficient, virtuous, and administered by small and uncorrupted government. In short, debt freedom would transform the entire nation into the image of Jefferson‘s proverbial farmer and would achieve an objective which had eluded the Founders. Yet there was more. Anticipation of debt freedom altered existing government-business relationships, fostered what Jacksonians perceived as progress, underscored American exceptionalism, and justified a more active foreign policy. In short, securing national debt freedom was a core element of Jacksonian Democracy.