Answer: The presidential campaign of 1828 proved to be an engagement that was precisely incomparable to any other previous election. For the first time in most states, Americans experienced a political campaign where the electors were chosen through popular vote. For this election, the electorate had also been heavily expanded so that there would be universal suffrage among whites males. Though, most interestingly, this was the campaign that will forever be remembered as America’s first election that included two distinct political parties, each with separate ideological backgrounds. As well as the election in which the party flag-bearers were chosen for the very first time, making the campaign of 1828 unlike any other that had come before it. This campaign saw the running election between the educated world traveler, John Quincy Adams, and the national hero during the time, Andrew Jackson. Although it is a fact that by the end of the campaign of 1828, Andrew Jackson was elected to be the seventh President of the United States. I am convinced that John Quincy Adams should have been re-elected for his second four-year term. If I was alive during the time period of this campaign, I definitely believe that I would have voted for the re-election of John Quincy Adams for a number of reasons.
Explanation:
For starters, John Quincy Adams was the more educated choice between the two. Adams was the eldest son of former President John Adams, giving him a brief political background, however, he was a man that embarked on his own knowledge of politics. At a young age, Adams was already extensively traveled and tutored on the subjects of Latin, Greek, and Law. Later, Adams attended Harvard University, where he became a successful attorney. Deeper in his career, Adams became the secretary of state for James Monroe and even served in the United States Senate, as well as the United States ambassador to the Netherlands, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain. These experiences alone provided John Quincy Adams with a personal connection towards European rulers, as well as an immense understanding of European politics. I strongly believe that all of these factors should have given John Quincy Adams more leverage within the campaign of 1828 because to be the president, I personally think that every candidate ought to obtain a previous background in politics, which Andrew Jackson did not entirely have.
Secondly, I trust that John Quincy Adams would have earned my vote, based on my acute knowledge of Andrew Jackson’s questionable past. Andrew Jackson had harshly grown up during the time period of the Revolutionary War, without the warmth of a father, the experience of childhood, and had deeply felt the loss of every single member within his immediate family before he even reached the age of fifteen. Andrew Jackson was a man that had undertaken the life of an orphan and a hardened soldier, way too early within his youth. He received an elementary education but was limited to the element of higher schooling. From my primary source I learned that at the start of his career, Jackson taught school for a short amount of time in North Carolina and began to educate himself in law. Later, he served as a public prosecutor in the Metro District of North Carolina, where he went on to successfully build a legal practice in the year of 1788. Andrew Jackson then served in the convention that established Tennessee’s constitution in 1796 and was elected as the state’s first representative in the House of Representatives. Though it was short-lived, Jackson was even elected to the Senate and served as a judge on the Tennessee Supreme Court for five years. Despite the fact that these achievements were extremely impressive, Andrew Jackson was solely known for his involvement in bloodshed, as well as his dislike towards Indians and the British. He was remembered in the hearts of Americans for being a self-made frontiersman who had led the Tennessee militia into the battle against the Creeks. And celebrated as a man that earned the right to be called General because of this service and eventually brought honor to that name, as he bravely took on the battle of New Orleans. These victories that were accomplished by Andrew Jackson went on to become symbols of national pride, however, Andrew Jackson himself was no politician, he carried with him the heart of a soldier.
