More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay introduction on andrew jackson
Essay introduction on andrew jackson
Essay introduction on andrew jackson
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Andrew Jackson: Good or Bad? Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States and was one of the most controversial presidents ever. Jackson initially gained national fame through his role in the War of 1812, where he led a victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans. Three year laters, Jackson invaded the Spanish-Florida territory which directed to the Adams-Onis Treaty. Although Andrew Jackson proved to be a great military strategist, his unneeded hostility, which was brought out in the Spoils System, the Indian Removal Act, and the ongoing feud with the National Bank, ultimately classify him as poor president. Jackson’s spoils system opened government positions to only his supporters and he had little tolerance for …show more content…
The Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress in order to allow the growth of the United States to continue without the interference of the Native Americans. Jackson believed that the Native Americans were inferior to white settlers and wanted to force them west of the Mississippi. He believed that the United States would not expand past that boundary, so the Native Americans could govern themselves. Jackson evicted thousands of Native Americans from their homes in Georgia and the Carolinas and even disregarded the Supreme Court’s authority and initiated his plan of forcing the Natives’ on the trail of tears. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Indians, however Jackson ignored the ruling and continued with his plan. The result of the Indian Removal Act was that many tribes were tricked or forced off their lands, if they refused to go willingly, resulting in many deaths from skirmishes with soldiers as well as from starvation and disease. The Cherokee in particular were forced to undergo a forced march that became known as the Trail of …show more content…
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
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.
Throughout Jackson's two terms as President, Jackson used his power unjustly. As a man from the Frontier State of Tennessee and a leader in the Indian wars, Jackson loathed the Native Americans. Keeping with consistency, Jackson found a way to use his power incorrectly to eliminate the Native Americans. In May 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act. This act required all tribes east of the Mississippi River to leave their lands and travel to reservations in the Oklahoma Territory on the Great Plains. This was done because of the pressure of white settlers who wanted to take over the lands on which the Indians had lived. The white settlers were already emigrating to the Union, or America. The East Coast was burdened with new settlers and becoming vastly populated. President Andrew Jackson and the government had to find a way to move people to the West to make room. In 1830, a new state law said that the Cherokees would be under the jurisdiction of state rather than federal law. This meant that the Indians now had little, if any, protection against the white settlers that desired their land. However, when the Cherokees brought their case to the Supreme Court, they were told that they could not sue on the basis that they were not a foreign nation. In 1832, though, on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokees were a "domestic dependent nation," and therefore, eligible to receive federal protection against the state. However, Jackson essentially overruled the decision. By this, Jackson implied that he had more power than anyone else did and he could enforce the bill himself. This is yet another way in which Jackson abused his presidential power in order to produce a favorable result that complied with his own beliefs. The Indian Removal Act forced all Indians tribes be moved west of the Mississippi River. The Choctaw was the first tribe to leave from the southeast.
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).
d. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a. a This letter he wrote to Congress was one of his many times when he was “selfish” and used his powers unjustly to make something go the way he wanted. Was Jackson trying to inflame the classmen? Is this a democratic policy? In 1829, Jackson forced the Cherokee out of their land.
Was Andrew Jackson great as everyone thinks? Andrew Jackson was born in the back woods settlements in the Carolinas in 1769. He was born to Elizabeth Jackson, who came from Ireland. It is said that she was traveling across the Appalachian mountain after she was done burying Andrew Jacksons father when she had him. That is why Andrew Jackson exact location was unknown. Also he had two brother named Hugh, and Robert. Andrew Jackson was not very well educated he had an education that was not as regular as the other kids. Andrew Jackson joined the local militia when he was only thirteen years of age. He was the courier in the revolutionary war. Later on during the war his brother Hugh died in battle in 1779. After that both Andrew and his brother were captured by the British. Later they were released by the British, then later his brother Robert died. After he had been released from the British his mother died from a disease called cholera. Then, he became an orphan at the age of fourteen. His uncle took him in and raised him. Then, when he became in his teens Andrew Jackson he picked up the passion for being a lawyer. So he started to read law books, and educate him self about being a lawyer. He became a very young lawyer in Tennessee, and he was very good at what he did. in 1796 he was elected the first representative in the U.S house of representative from Tennessee. The next year, in 1797, Andrew Jackson was elected to have a chair in the senate, but then he resigned after eight moths later. In 1998, was also elected to be a judge of the Tennessee supreme court, and was only in that position for six years. In 1804, he bought an expensive land that had a plantation, and his mansion which was nicknamed “the hermitage”. He had gro...
Andrew Jackson, the most controversial president out of the 7 so far. The Era of Jackson was the most eventful and significant Era. Many people wonder if electing Jackson was a mistake and others think that he is the best president yet. I think Jackson should be impeached because of abusing his powers, killing the Cherokee Indians on the Trail of Tears, and for taking down the national
Right off the bat, Jackson wasted no time in making his first unconvincing decision as president. Jackson’s first action as president was to instill his own format of government. The style of government Jackson favored was the “Spoils System”. In this system, Jackson initially fired seasoned and experienced government workers, only to hire his friends. As the president of a large country, such as the Untied States, the president’s goal should be to assist the entire nation, not just his friends. Jackson only benefitted his companions in this system by bringing them in as people unfamiliar with the duties of a government official. Despite it only being the very beginning of Jackson’s presidency, he had hastily instituted a poor and inexperienced government that could sacrifice the well being of the nation.
Jackson did not fear the use and enforcement of violence to prove his points and acquire what he thought necessary. Public opinion was not a large concern of the seventh president either. Jackson usually sought to implement what he wanted personally rather than what may have been more beneficial for the country. For example, he was a slave owner. He also supported the ban of anti-slavery pamphlets in the mail.2
When Jackson was appointed president of the United States, he was appointed by the Electoral College but in other occasions if neither of the candidates receive a majority, the election is decided by the House of Representatives. He wasn’t very fond of the idea the people in high political positions had the power to choose what was best for the citizens of the United States without their voice. Jackson stated that he believed that the president’s authority was derived from the people and presidential was above party politics. He believed in the theory of giving the power to the people by abolishing the Electoral College. In today’s world, politics is still ran by the people and for the people. If we do not like the political figures we are represented by, we can boot them out of their positions by speaking our voice as a
Jackson signed over ninety treaties with the Indian tribes but did not honor them. He also instated the Indian Removal Act; this Act moved thousands of Indian families from their homes to lands designated for them in Oklahoma, even after the Native Americans had made so many advances in becoming civilized, so they would be accepted by the government and by other American citizens. The natives who were evicted from their homes were forced to walk all the way from Southern United States to west of the Mississippi River in the cold winter, with nothing but the clothes on their backs. This walk was responsible for the death of nearly four thousand Native Americans. A good president would not have jeopardized the lives of innocent people, or have tried to steal power to make himself the center of the government. Referring to his intention to move the Native Americans towards the Mississippi, despite the Supreme Court rulings, Andrew Jackson says, "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce
From what I have learned from President Andrew Jackson’s administration, i have come to the conclusion that the three words I would chose to describe Jackson’s presidency are: hostile, chaotic, and failure. Andrew Jackson was the 7th president from Tennessee, a short tempered person, and under his presidency many events occurred such as the Nullification Crisis & States’ Right Doctrine, the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Second Bank of the United States, Worcester vs. Georgia, and Trail of Tears which all affected his career and reputation in a negative way. To begin with, The Indian Removal Act of 1830 is an great example of evidence since the Natives were only given two options: to either adopt white culture and become a U.S. citizen or
One of the finest military heroes during the War of 1812, and an independent and diligent man, Andrew Jackson left a permanent influence upon American politics and presidency after he sworn in as the seventh President of the United States on March 4th, 1829. Within the eight years of presidency, Jackson engendered a potent and corrupt political party, which was composed of his supporters during the election of 1828. Consequently, his provocative and controversial behavior in office aroused his adversaries to organize the Whig party, which strongly opposed Jackson’s economic, political, and social views during his presidency. Since Jackson and the Congress did not agree with each other’s views quite often, his drive for synthesizing political
Enemy of Foe? Brave or coward? Good or Evil? Hero or Villain? Which category does our beloved seventh president Andrew Jackson fall into? Did he do more good or bad for our country? Did he make efforts to advance America or to just push us backwards? Many will argue either side fully. However, with such major contributions such as, the victory of the Battle of New Orleans, the Indian Removal act, and bailing our country out of a national debt. These few things along with many other march (I feel) Andrew Jackson as a bracer, do-right HERO of his time.
Andrew Jackson created a spoils system which gave jobs to his followers and created the first ever democratic system. “Jackson’s supporters worked to make the political system more democratic…” (Appleby, 2000) Jackson wanted to make a democracy because he thought that the old Caucus System was unfair. As a result of this Andrew Jackson created a democratic system in which many people can be involved in the election process. This process greatly changed the way the government worked because it made it so that the President is the choice of the people and not a political party. Also, “...Jackson fired many federal workers and replaced them with his supporters.” (Appleby, 2000) The practice of replacing government employees with your supporters became known as the spoils system. These two systems shook the government's system. Because of Andrew Jackson we have the presidents that we know today. This shows that Andrew Jackson should be on the 20 dollar
There is a pattern with malevolent tyrants in history. They cast themselves as the ”Champion of the People”. They fight for what they say is the betterment of the country for the people. Leaders like Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong employed these strategies. History shows that Andrew Jackson does not deserve to be compared with them, however, he committed similar acts like theirs , that were on a much smaller scale. The facts of the matter are, he forced a financial crisis onto the US because he was angry at the second national bank, he instituted a system that cost almost 1,000 people their jobs, and he ordered the genocide of over 4,000 Native Americans. The facts show that Andrew Jackson is infamous.