During his presidency, Jackson founded the party that began calling itself the "American Democracy". Changes in the electoral rules and political campaigns also contributed towards the feeling the country was becoming more democratic than it had been up to this point. For both reasons this era was called Jacksonian democracy. The period itself was from 1828 into the 1840s but its influence lasted much longer. It was a period of democratic reforms in voting and changes to the structure of the federal government. Some historians see it as a contradiction in terms since it also defended slavery, the pushing of Native Americans westward and white supremacy. Jackson's policies during his two terms were best described as "laissez-faire". 