"We are beginning a new era in our government. I cannot too strongly urge the necessity of a rigid economy and an inflexible determination not to enlarge the income beyond the real necessities of the government"
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A “new era” is doing a lot of political work here: Jackson isn’t just promising thrift, he’s declaring a regime change. The line frames government spending as a moral problem, not a technical one, and it’s aimed squarely at the habits of the old order he ran against. “Rigid economy” and “inflexible determination” aren’t neutral bookkeeping terms; they’re the language of discipline, the posture of a leader presenting himself as the nation’s stern steward, unimpressed by elite appetites or institutional inertia.
The intent is twofold. On the surface, it’s a call to restrain federal outlays and keep revenue aligned with “real necessities.” Underneath, it’s a claim about legitimacy: a government that takes more than it needs becomes suspect, and a president who refuses to “enlarge the income” casts himself as protector of ordinary taxpayers against a capital-city ecosystem that always finds reasons to grow. Jackson’s populism often worked this way, turning procedural questions into battles over virtue.
Context matters. Jackson’s presidency arrives in the wake of contentious fights over federal power: the Second Bank of the United States, internal improvements, tariffs, and the broader contest between a more activist national state and a more limited one. By insisting that income shouldn’t exceed necessity, he’s also signaling hostility to programs that require steady, elevated revenues - and preparing the ground for dismantling institutions he viewed as engines of privilege. It’s frugality as a weapon: a rhetorical austerity that doubles as an ideological map for shrinking the federal footprint while claiming to cleanse it.
The intent is twofold. On the surface, it’s a call to restrain federal outlays and keep revenue aligned with “real necessities.” Underneath, it’s a claim about legitimacy: a government that takes more than it needs becomes suspect, and a president who refuses to “enlarge the income” casts himself as protector of ordinary taxpayers against a capital-city ecosystem that always finds reasons to grow. Jackson’s populism often worked this way, turning procedural questions into battles over virtue.
Context matters. Jackson’s presidency arrives in the wake of contentious fights over federal power: the Second Bank of the United States, internal improvements, tariffs, and the broader contest between a more activist national state and a more limited one. By insisting that income shouldn’t exceed necessity, he’s also signaling hostility to programs that require steady, elevated revenues - and preparing the ground for dismantling institutions he viewed as engines of privilege. It’s frugality as a weapon: a rhetorical austerity that doubles as an ideological map for shrinking the federal footprint while claiming to cleanse it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Money |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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