But Jackson’s victory did not actually register a “vast” outpouring of voters. It just looked that way. In a country of nearly 13 million, some 1,155,340 white males participated in the election, which is statistically rather small. Even so, that small number represented an increase of more than 800,000 over the previous presidential election, so it appeared at the time to signal a far-ranging awakening of public interest in the election of the chief executive.
