Andrew Jackson Dbq

A famous writer once described a hero as a “...person really intent on making this a better place for all people.” Unfortunately, a hero isn’t what an individual could use to describe the seventh U.S. president, Andrew Jackson. Born into a hard knock life in March of 1767 on the border of North and South Carolina, Jackson grew to be the voice of the Common Man (Background Info). He lost the presidency in the election of 1824 after House of Representatives chose to elect president John Quincy Adams, but returned four years later, taking his spot in office. Jackson grew to become a successful Tennessee lawyer and politician by the year of 1812 (Background Info). However, early on in his life during the British invasion of the Carolinas (1780-1781),

Later on, his biased decisions of who to appoint in office proved to be an issue when one member had to step down after a “well-publicized affair” (Document E). The cartoon drawn in document E shows Jackson on top of a pig, symbolizing gluttonous and filth. Also, underneath the pig are the words bribery and fraud. All of which are practices that made his presidency go downhill. In document D, Jackson is shown slumped in a chair with a sly smirk on his face that to some show a nonchalant attitude or that he has done what wanted to do. The four rats fleeing represent his cabinet members which symbolizes the corruption that was within the administration (Document D). Drawn next to Jackson is a crumbling “Altar of Reform”, symbolizing that the changes he’s made in office were unsuccessful and failed. This depiction of Jackson shown in these cartoons does give an accurate explanation of the motive behind Jackson’s decisions in the Spoils System and also the outcome of these self-concerning reforms.“To victors belong the spoils,” alludes to the fact of a winner winning an election and appointing jobs to their supporters, not necessarily meaning that they are the best choice or even qualified to do so (Document