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Andrew jackson's influence
Andrew Jackson's controversial decisions
Essay over the major events during andrew jackson presidency
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Andrew Jackson's presidency started with a lot of promise, advocating equality, democratic change, morality in government and true representation. I believe that Jackson strengthened our democracy by his fierce commitment to our country and his large than life personality. Andrew Jackson was a self-made man that wasn't part of the establishment of his generation and was loved by his countrymen because he was one of them. President Jackson ushered in a two party system, fought against the National Bank and its' debt and vetoed mutiple bills to limit Federal power. The 7th President also had major challenges during his two terms in office. The removal of the Indian tribes from their lands and state leadership of South Carolina calling federal tariffs "unconstitutional" that almost led to a Civil War that ultimately ended in the resignation of Vice President John Calhoun of South Carolina. President Jackson enhanced democracy in a few ways. He believed that the "the presidency was the servant of the people" and that this meant that the voters were to be given what they want and the will of the people would be satisfied during his presidency. …show more content…
In the beginning, Jackson believed that he was not the right fit to be president. He could control and lead men fighting in a battle, but was skeptical in his political prowess to lead an entire country. Andrew Jackson strongly believed in his country's sovereignty and the people's right to choose and encouraged voting rights. In the book "Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Freedom", Jackson is noted for saying "when pepole called it, it was the leaders duty to act upon the service". (Remini, 1981) Jackson saw the need for government reform and ran with plan of becoming president to restore trust in the Federal government with the American people. After he was elected, with ending corruption in mind, he wanted to limit government workers to serve a four year only term in order for them not to abuse the power of the position. President Jackson was also the father of the Democratic Party that we now have to present day. He saw a need to create a second party that would be for the people so they could choose their representatives during the election processes. A “national convention of delegates elected by the people” (Meyers, 1957) transformed the political process into what we see today. This new Democratic party sought to expand the public's participation in government. This political movement during this era was geared toward greater democracy for the common man and was called “Jacksonian Democracy.” (Remini, 1981) The Jacksonians demanded elected judges and rewrote many state constitutions to reflect the new values. This new era of voters declared itself to be the party of ordinary farmers and workers and it opposed the special privileges of economic elites. The prestige, prestige and corruption of the national banks was a centerpiece of President Jackson’s opposition.
He believed that these institutions were at the core of current abuse of power and favored the elite. He believed that the economy was run by these bankers and fraud was rampant. The country had borrowed it could not pay back leaving the country in debt. The only way this could be solved was to shutter the banks and to begin paying off the debt. President Jackson ultimately vetoed the bill to re-charter the banks. (Sharp, 1970) This veto increased the powers of the executive branch. He vetoed more bills than any other of the presidents combined. Jackson’s disagreements with Congress on many policy making issues was a first for the presidency and this type of political discord made him wildly popular with the
people. Lastly, and perhaps the most controversial, was Indian Removal from American controlled territory. Jackson stood with the states in the removal of the Indian tribes. Jackson had Native Indian policy on his mind from the beginning of his presidency as he saw that Indians were a threat to the country’s power and national security and demanded they be removed. Removal to the West would increase the security of the country by solidifying it’s border’s from outside attacks. The Indians refusal to emigrate started to be influenced by those who said the Indians were stopping the progress of the US and were an "inferior race" (Satz,1975) Although he pitied their situation, he admitted they had to make way for the American Dream. This was seen in the passing of the Removal Act in April 1830. (Satz,1975) Author Robert Satz wrote in his book that Jackson was not a "merciless Indian-hater" as other historians have portrayed him but actually had no negative attitudes toward the Indians. Satz rather argues that he was moved more by an overwhelming concern for the nation's growth.
One of the Jacksonian Democrats’ attempts to reduce the influence of the rich was by vetoing the charter to the Bank of the United States. Jackson stated his reasons in Document B mainly as a precaution of...
However, Daniel Webster in his response to Jackson’s veto message (Document C) refuted Jackson pointing out the personal interests Jackson vested in this political decision. Jackson a big supporter of the expanding west wanted easily accessible credit to allow for faster speculation of land which the Bank of the United States failed to provide. Jackson was spurred to fail the re-charter of the Bank to solidify his support within the South and the West and to issue a backlash to nemesis Henry Clay who had proposed the re-charter of the bank and had prevented Jackson from obtaining presidency in 1824 by supporting John Quincy Adams. Although, Jackson justified his veto of the Bank of the United States as a action meant to uphold the Constitution in reality it was used to politically secure
In the summer of 1832 and Congress renewed the Bank’s charter even though it wasn’t due until 1836. Jackson hesitated to approve of the charter, so Henry Clay and Nicholas Biddle went on the offensive to attempt to persuade Jackson to pass the bill. Jackson, having had his opinion on the banks cemented by Clay’s presence in the organization, then committed to de-establishing the Second National Bank. He waged war against Biddle in particular to make sure Biddle lost power. He vetoed the bank bill, and after winning the race to be reelected, he closed Biddle’s bank. He ordered his Secretary of the Treasury to move money from the Second National Bank to smaller, state banks. When Congress returned from its summer recess, it censured him for his actions. In 1836, Bank of US was dead, and the new democratic-congressmen expunged Jackson’s censure. Because Jackson had no formal plan for managing the nation’s funds after the Second National Bank closed, it caused problems in Van Buren’s administration. He destroyed the Bank of the United States, in the main, for personal reasons. Jackson hated the bank before his presidency because as a wealthy land and slave owner he had lost money due to its fiscal policies. He believed that Congress had no right under the constitution to charter a
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.
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).
Throughout the Jacksonian era the Jacksonians proved to be violators of the United States Constitution and not the guardians they believed themselves to be. Both the Jacksonians and President Jackson went against the Supreme Courts regarding cases that were said to be constitutional. In the Supreme Court case of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee Nation. This ruling of the Supreme Court did not stop Jackson and the Jacksonians from driving the Cherokees off of their land, and by doing this the Constitution was violated. Also, when dealing with the south, Jackson and the Jacksonians were not guardians of the US Constitution. In vetoing the national bank, Jackson did so because he thought that the act that created it was not compatible with the constitution. However, the Supreme Court had already ruled that the bank was constitutional. In this act Jackson and the Jacksonians were not guarding the constitution, but they were utilizing it to suit their own needs. However sometimes the Judiciary and Executive branches agree such as the incident when South Carolina declared a reduced tariff void and threatened to secede, President Jackson responded in an unconstitutional manner. Jackson threatened to send militia to enforce the tariff implementation and the Jacksonian Congress passed a bill approving this military force, if necessary.
Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States and represented the common people. He did many things that he believed helped the people of the United States, but in fact were unconstitutional. In my opinion Andrew Jackson acted like a king. Some of the damaging events of his presidency include the bank war, the trail of tears and the nullification crisis.
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.
Andrew Jackson was a good president. He helped shaped the United States to the way it is today. Andrew Jackson had his up and downs as any president would. Jackson did what he thought was good for the common man. He was a common man who brought himself up all the way from he bottom.
He made the Native Americans feel unwelcomed in their own country by taking their land and shipping them off were they would not bother a white man. Jackson also changed the voting system to benefit his own needs while in office. He was also overwhelmed by the amount of power he possessed and eventually succumbed to the temptations of selfishness. Although President Andrew Jackson was certainly not democratic, he allowed future presidents to learn from his mistakes so that history does not repeat itself. His time as president offered guidance to the true democracy America uses today in its
He was elected by popular vote. Jackson wanted to cater to the common people. Jackson was the first president to become a democrat. The other presidents before him were either a federalist, democratic-republican or a republican. He vetoed more than twelve bills than his six predecessors. He wanted to make sure his people were treated fairly. The first president, George Washington, to the sixth president, John Quincy Adams, only vetoed nine bills. The first six presidents before him were wealthy and educated. Andrew Jackson did not have much money and felt education was not really necessary. Overall, Jackson seemed to be a hero compared to the other presidents before him.
Jackson detested the National Bank, so he decided to veto it once he became the president. He thought it favored the rich more than the common people. “It appears that more than a fourth part of the stock is held by foreigners and the (rest) is held by a few hundred of our own citizens, chiefly of the richest class,” Jackson stated in Document 2. To solve this problem, he transported deposits to smaller state buildings that were run by his intimates to allow for the access of people from all classes. Upon doing this, he was thinking as an autocrat. He might have been trying to balance out the money within the states, but this wasn’t the best solution, He made this decision while favoring the common people, plus he didn’t even think of the higher class
He ran on a platform that paralleled Trump’s modern day campaign; depicting Washington as a “swamp”, ruled by the elite. Unlike like Trump though, Jackson believed in a country ruled by the majority. His movement rallied nearly sixty percent of the population to participate in the election, an unprecedented amount. Jackson changed the government to be more economical, simple, and accessible to the people who it was governing. He also favored the working class, while openly calling out financiers who made money off of the toils of the working class. This led to Jackson famously vetoing the re-chartering of the national bank in his first term, not fearing the consequences. He believed the national bank stood for everything he despised. Jackson thought the bank was overly and unconstitutionally powerful, and at its core benefited the elite, instead of the common people. Through similar actions Jackson demonstrated that the presidency was more than just elites enforcing laws, he was essentially the lone representative of the people and exercised the power to carry out their
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.
He was the first president to be chosen by the people and his background was not that of a typical president. He was not born into a rich family. Jackson favored the general public rather than the wealthy. His election shifted the balance of power from the wealthy East Coast, to farmers and small businesspeople in the west. Jackson vetoed more bills than all previous presidents did in an attempt to help the common man.