States has never been lost; it was for this unity that the Civil War
was fought. Lincoln spoke in the Jacksonian tradition when he
placed the preservation of the Union above the abolition of slavery.

Jackson stood forth as symbol in another sense, too. His prede-
cessors in the Presidency came of the "best" families, were well
educated men, and scorned, feared, or distrusted the "rabble." Jack-
son, though better educated than he has been given credit for being
and wealthier and more aristocratic than most accounts of his times
allow, came from the frontier, was an "outsider." Thus he came to
symbolize for the American people the possibility that any citizen
might become President. Again the similarity to Lincoln is clear.
However rare such an elevation may be, the examples of Jackson and
Lincoln can always be cited to prove the freedom of opportunity in
America. The Jacksonians thus brought a new hope to the "common
man."

Partly, too, the reason for this hope was that Jackson's appoint-
ments to Federal offices were based upon a frontiersman's ideal, the
equicompetence of most men to most tasks. Thus, Jackson has been
unjustly credited with inventing another characteristic of modern
party government in the United States, the "spoils system." True,
he made use of the system for his special end; he may even have been
the first to apply to American politics the classic line, "To the victors
belong the spoils." This method of guaranteeing administrative
officers favorable to the point of view of the new President had,
however, been used before. What was distinctive about Jackson's
way was that his appointments were based not on proved competence
but on party loyalty. He proclaimed the theory that any citizen was
competent to the performance of any duty within the government.
Perhaps, then, he should be credited with this continuing tradition
rather than the one he did not originate.

There was another aspect of Jackson's party which foreshadows the
parties of today. It was not so much a single, unified party, main-
taining a single point of view, as it was an aggregation of diverse
groups, covering well-nigh the entire spectrum of political, social, and
economic thought. These groups were able to unite, more or less
stably, for a time, in opposition to certain characteristics which were
emerging in American life. They were unable, however, to find a
more permanent basis for union than this opposition. The party's

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