Oh, dear, forgot to mention why I was harping on Jackson. I was assuming you'd know, which is that Jacksonian democracy is shorthand for the ascension of the masses to power in the US. When the country was founded, only land-owning white males had the vote, and this was taken for granted. Jacksonian democracy means that non-land-owning white males got the vote, and the power, and they were not any nicer to non-whites and non-males than the men they displaced.
"White" means Anglo, which I am sure you know. The Irish aren't "white" because they're Catholic, same for the French and Spanish and Italians and Greeks and Eastern Europeans. I can't remember why the Dutch and Scandinavians aren't "white." Maybe they are. Scots-Irish didn't start out as "white" because they were poor, but eventually became "white" when they achieved power through, for example, having large farms that made a lot of money, like Jackson and his fellow slave owners.
The beauty of America is that you, too, can become honorary "white" and honorary "male" if you make enough money and have enough education. |
