Andrew Jackson's Legacy In American History

970 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Andrew jackson.. villain qote

Since his debouchment into American politics in the early 19th Century, nearly every American has had an opinion about Andrew Jackson. His legacy defined an entire age of American history and has resided with us in our wallets for nearly nine decades. American identity has rapidly changed throughout the last few years. Naturally, the meaning of Andrew Jackson in American history is the topic of many of these discussions. I believe that while Old Hickory was one of the most important presidents in our history, it is time to leave that legacy behind. We as Americans are gradually reaching out to the margins of our society. Diversity and inclusion are now among our most sacred values. A reasonable next step in the definition of contemporary American identity would be to reevaluate who we honor on our currency. That being stated, one should not simply undermine the prominence of Andrew Jackson’s legacy. This can be summarized into two terms: democracy and federal authority. Jackson was a man of simple beginnings who brought a powerful personality to the White House, along with a defiant repertoire. He promoted himself as the claimant champion of the common people, unlike the many other ‘aristocrats’ of the age. Farmers and laborers were now offered a seemingly equal say in their own circumstances. This …show more content…

Yet it is hard to let go of the great ideas that the Jacksonian Era left us. The ideas that wealth should not rule numbers, that in a democracy every citizen, regardless of circumstance, should have an equal say in government. Perhaps Harriet Tubman could represent the progressive America, which values diversity and inclusion, and Andrew Jackson could represent the traditional America, which upholds democracy and

Show More
Related

  • Andrew Jackson And The Search For Vindication Summary

    420 Words  | 1 Pages

    As the author of Andrew Jackson and the Search for Vindication, James C. Curtis seems to greatly admire Andrew Jackson. Curtis pointed out that Jackson was a great American general who was well liked by the people. As history shows, Andrew Jackson had his flaws; for example, he thought the National Bank of the United States was going to kill him but he was determined to kill it first. He resented the Bank because he thought it was the reason for the Panic of 1819. Andrew Jackson was elected to the presidency in 1824 after first being nominated in 1822. He was sixty-one when he was elected the seventh president of the United States.

    Read More

  • DBQ On Jacksonian Democrats

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    It is agreeable that the Jacksonian Democrats perceived themselves as strict guardians of the United States Constitution. It is not agreeable with how they went about preserving the political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity they stood for. While trying to create this balance, Jackson used tactics favorable only to his opinion. Jackson’s main idea was to rid of aristocracy, giving the power to the poorer classes, standing against rich white men. The flaw in their scheme was that the people who came up with this idea were all rich white men.

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson and the Bank War

    2332 Words  | 5 Pages

    The validity of President Andrew Jackson’s response to the Bank War issue has been contradicted by many, but his reasoning was supported by fact and inevitably beneficial to the country. Jackson’s primary involvement with the Second Bank of the United States arose during the suggested governmental re-chartering of the institution. It was during this period that the necessity and value of the Bank’s services were questioned.

    Read More

  • Jackson Should Be Removed From the Twenty Dollar Bill

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    Recognizing the injustices president Andrew Jackson performed, Americans have considered the dispute over the removal of Jackson 's face from the twenty dollar bill. The real question remains why place America 's figures in iconic positions based on fame? Benedict Arnold is famous, yet he was a traitor to America . Why not place figures that contributed to the well-being of the country and upheld humane morals? Jackson 's administration only improved the system, initiating the progress toward a modern democratic government. Under President Jackson, the elimination of voter property qualifications allowed a variety of citizens from different social classes to elect government officials 1. Jackson also ended the national banks that resembled the greedy monopolies of the late 1800's 1.

    Read More

  • Jacksonian Democracy Dbq

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jackson was a strong opponent of the unequal and aristocrat dominated economic structure of most of America. He was very against the Bank of America because he believed it to have a monopoly on banking and felt that it was owned and run unjustly by wealthy aristocrats who were not always Americans (B). It must also be noted however, that while the Bank of America was undoubtedly corrupt (Nicholas Biddle is known to have given sums of money to close friends, and was also known to regularly bribe newspapers and similar media.) it also did what it was supposed to do very well. It provided money and credit to many of the lower classes that Jackson defended, and also was the source of much economic growth. As a result of this veto Jackson established pet banks in many Western areas to try to appease his main group of supporters and build up the rivalry between the agrarian South and West and the industrial North (C). Many immigrants found that one of the first things they discovered upon entering America was a sense of economic equality and lack of poverty, which are exactly the things Jackson was working towards (D). The case Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge decided that a charter given a person or group to do a service does not allow that group to have complete rights over this service. This decision supports the Jacksonian Democracy ideas that the rights of the community are more important than the rights of business (H).

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson Document Based Question

    1140 Words  | 3 Pages

    During The Jacksonian Era many different views and ideas were predominant about the United States. The Jacksonian Democrats were a loose coalition of different peoples and interests pulled together by a common practical idea. That idea was that they all were followers of President Andrew Jackson. Jacksonian Democrats viewed themselves as guardians of the Constitution when in fact they were not. When dealing with politics and ideas within the Democratic Party of the time the Jacksonians proved to be both guardians and violators of the Constitution. Individual liberty is another area in which the Jacksonians were advocates to different sides of the topic at different times. The Jacksonians also proved to be champions for equality of economic opportunity. The Jacksonians demonstrated themselves to be, not the proponents they thought they were, but instead violators of the US Constitution.

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson Dbq Essay

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of America who had a very unique time in office. Jackson advertised as being for the people of the United States but then his actions proved otherwise at later times. While Jackson did things for the people, he was as much of an autocrat as he was a democrat based upon the documents that were formed during his time in office.

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson Dbq Essay

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Andrew Jackson was a man that people see that he is a good person and others say he is a terrible person. Andrew Jackson can be bad person and a good person it depends what type of person is Andrew Jackson is he going to help out the world or is he going to mess up the world? Democracy is a form of government were the people have a right to assist in the law making process. If Jackson didn’t support the people and wasn’t in the government the bank and the people would be in a huge mess. Andrew Jackson was very democratic and there are political , economic and geographic ways to prove it.

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson's Presidency

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the ways Andrew Jackson was different than the previous presidents was he connected with the common people. During his second election Jackson won by speaking to the middle- class. Although he was a wealthy plantation owner himself he dressed in casual clothing and did not show off his riches. Unlike his opponent, John Quincy Adams, Jackson spoke to the concerns of ordinary people. The Jackson campaign was the first to appeal to common people. Because of his new style of campaigning he became very popular and won the el...

    Read More

  • A Brief Biography Of Andrew Jackson

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jackson remained in the military after the war. Late in 1817,he received orders to subdue the Seminole Native Americans, who were raiding across the border from Spanish Florida itself. He captured its bastions at St. Marks Pensacola and arrested, tried, and executed two British nationalists whom he charged with abetting the Native Americans.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Philosophy and Presidency of Jackson and Jefferson

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    The presidencies of Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson were based on similar political philosophies. Both men believed in the common man having a voice in government, and opposed too much power being given to the federal government. Both were educated men, with an extensive knowledge of the law, who believed that an agricultural based economy was the key to America’s economical growth. However, since they were both planters who owned slaves, and Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, it was obvious that their philosophy of defending the common man did not pertain to minorities. Jefferson was raised on a wealthy tobacco plantation, and Jackson, although born poor, was raised by a wealthy uncle after being orphaned at the age of fourteen. Even though they grew up in a wealthy lifestyle, they both opposed the corruption of a government that did not have the individual states’ needs at heart. Although there was controversy on their somewhat racist beliefs, their accomplishments during their presidencies set a precedent for a fair and democratic government that restrained the power of the wealthy and elite. (Boyer, et. al., 2008)

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson Pros And Cons

    1248 Words  | 3 Pages

    America has many presidents who are still remembered with their legacies, but President Andrew Jackson’s presidency is a history of which the Native American will never forget. Jackson’s democracy was not in support for women to vote, and black men to join in armies. The people who paid the greatest price through his presidency were the Indian tribes, whom he forced to move from their land which belonged to their ancestors.

    Read More

  • Jacksonian Democracy

    1629 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Age of Jackson, from the 1820's to the 1830's, was a period of American history full of contradictions, especially in regard to democracy. The period saw an increase in voter participation, nominating committees replaced caucuses, and electors began to be popularly elected. Yet, all of these voting changes affected only a minority of the American people: White, Anglo-Saxon males. So, though one can easily tell that White, Anglo-Saxon males were gaining

    Read More

  • Democracy In The 19th Century

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    However, critics of Jackson and democracy called him “King Andrew I” because of his apparent abuse of presidential power [vetoing]. These critics believed he favored the majority so much that it violated the U.S. constitution, and they stated he was straying too far away from the plan originally set for the United States. Because of the extreme shift of power to the majority, the limiting of rights of the few [merchants, industrialists] and the abuse of power under Jackson’s democracy, the foundational documents set in the constitution was violated, and the work of the preceding presidents were all but lost. During the construction of the new Constitution, many of the most prominent and experienced political members of America’s society provided a framework on the future of the new country; they had in mind, because of the failures of the Articles of Confederation, a new kind of government where the national or Federal government would be the sovereign power, not the states. Because of the increased power of the national government over the individual states, many Americans feared it would hinder their ability to exercise their individual freedoms.

    Read More

  • Jacksonian Democracy

    1144 Words  | 3 Pages

    Andrew Jackson began a whole new era in American history. Amongst his greatest accomplishments were evoking the "common man" to be interested in government and tailoring democracy to satisfy the same "common man's" needs. Of course, Jackson could not go about making such radical changes without supporters, but that never surfaced as a problem. Jacksonian Democrats, as they came to be called, were great in number during the 1820's and 1830's. They advocated all of the issues that President Jackson did, and did so with great vigor. They thought of themselves very highly because they recognized their responsibilities as American citizens. They realized that as political leaders they had a true purpose- to protect and serve the American people. The Jacksonians justified their view of themselves in their sincere attempts to guard the United States Constitution by both promoting equality of economic opportunity and increasing political democracy, but they had their downfalls with issues of individual liberties.

    Read More

More about Andrew Jackson's Legacy In American History

Open Document