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EPISODE · Mar 23, 2026 · 6 MIN

The Rise of American Democracy

from A Journey into Human History · host Miranda Casturo

The Democratic-Republicans’ “corrupt bargain” that brought John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay to office in 1824 also helped to push them out of office in 1828. Jackson used it to highlight the cronyism of Washington politics. Supporters presented him as a true man of the people fighting against the elitism of Clay and Adams. Jackson rode a wave of populist fervor all the way to the White House, ushering in the ascendency of a new political party: the Democrats. Although Jackson ran on a platform of clearing the corruption out of Washington, he rewarded his own loyal followers with plum government jobs, thus continuing and intensifying the cycle of favoritism and corruption.            All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/10-2-the-rise-of-american-democracy            Welcome to A Journey into Human History.    This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story.       The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.     Access for free at https://openstax.org/details/books/us-history Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/a-journey-into-human-history--5860966/support.

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