Category: Andrew Jackson

President Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States between 1829 and 1837. As a president, he had a tough and aggressive personality, though he was still famous even before he became president. He was elected as a president in 1828 and acted to represent the common man. He strengthened his presidency by acting as a spokesman for the people. During his reign, Jackson relocated most Indian tribes to the western part of the Mississippi river by demolishing the national bank. Unlike other presidents who had reigned previously in the United States, Jackson did not defer to Congress in the making of policies. Instead, he assumed commands by his power and leadership of his party (Axelrod and Phillips, p.89).

Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act

The act was signed into law by Jackson after two years of his presidency. In the southern part, states were eager to be accessible to lands whose inhabitants were the five Indian tribes. During this time, Georgia was engaged in a confrontation with Indians. This is concerning the Cherokee nation. At the same time, Jackson thought the removal would bring a solution to the crisis, but the act was very controversial. The great Cherokee nation had fought Jackson in 1788 and was now to face him at this time when he became president. Many of the leaders in this nation had education hence were civilized and had their language. They were to be expelled from their land because of the ways of their intention to fight Jackson. They finally decided to bring suit to the Supreme Court (Stewart, p. 49).

Under the new treaties, the Indians were to exchange their lands east of Mississippi with the west. This act affected both the northern and southern nations. All this was to be voluntary and peaceful, but after the resistance from the southern nations, Jackson had to force them to leave. Jackson was of the view that removing the Indians to the west of the Mississippi river would benefit them. The United States struggled with this for 28 years, but at last, a small group signed the removal treaty and the majority refused. The result was a war that led to the loss of life. Towards the end of Jackson’s reign in 1837, several Indians had been removed from their land (Stewart, p.48).

The nullification crisis, the Federal Union, and the Force Bill

The crisis came about due to issues of sectional strife and disagreements over tariffs. High tariffs were imposed on manufactured goods from Europe. This made the goods expensive hence only benefiting capitalists in the north and not the farmers in the south. The opponents of this thought Jackson would reduce the tariffs, but he did not. Jackson requested a force bill from Congress. This bill was to use military force to enforce the tariff. However, this was delayed until protectionists agreed to reduce the tariff. Both the force bill and the compromise tariff passed in 1833 and were signed by Jackson. Again, Jackson opposed the federal government that was to protect a national system (McNeese, p. 70).

Works Cited

Axelrod, Alan, and Charles Phillips. What Every American Should Know About American History: 225 Events That Shaped the Nation. Avon, Mass: Adams Media, 2008. Print.

McNeese, Tim. The Revolutionary War. St. Louis, Mo: Milliken Pub. Co., 2003. Print.

Stewart, Mark. The Indian Removal Act: Forced Relocation. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2007. Print.

My reaction to president Andrew Jackson is rather controversial and uncertain. He is considered to be emblematic of the “common man” and the reason for him to rise to the top of the United States’ political power system. A “common man” is an ordinary person from the working class, a politician, or an unwealthy landowner. Since Jackson himself was a self-made and non-educated man from humble beginnings who succeeded in becoming a president, he personifies and represents this concept.

To ride the wave of the “common man” to political office, such politicians typically exploit some regional, class, racial, and ethnic issues. For instance, Donald Trump, who is also a representative of a “common man” politician, attacks the norms of American politics, singles out several groups for derision based on religion and race, and attacks the political process’s legitimacy. Moreover, such politicians tend to ignore common decency, employ casual vulgarity, and even rain personal humiliation on critics in the media and political opponents. All similar actions performed by “common man” politicians make less-educated white people support them.

As for Jackson, his policies were beneficial to poor whites in the U.S. in this period. He expanded suffrage to most white men, gave them land and slaves, and removed Native Americans. During his presidency, Jackson clashed with Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. He proved that he was unafraid of opposing them and defeated both of them by making Calhoun resign as Vice-President and Clay – lose the Presidential election of 1832. He also had a clash with the banking and court systems. Jackson killed the National Bank and entirely changed the system, as well as criticized Chief Justice John Marshall’s decision regarding the Cherokee Indians.

Jackson has shaped his legacy as a devoted representative of the “common man” and a political rebel. Nowadays, his legacy is seen as a source of controversy since some consider Jackson a hero, while others see him as the destroyer of American values. Such controversies mean that U.S. society and politics are diverse and have too many differences, while both need to be a united mechanism.

Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay are some of the political figures whose input has greatly helped in shaping America. The high political opposition between these two politicians set a foundation for American politics after independence. Jackson and Clay differed in almost everything. The two politicians had differing opinions on various issues facing the country. As a consequence of the broad difference in their opinions, American masses were partitioned between the two leaders. The major rift between Democratic and Republicans in America today can be traced back to Jackson’s and Clay’s political differences.

Andrew Jackson is considered one of America’s great presidents. He went to the elections as the president of the poor. He was considered a leader to the common.

American as his approach towards various issues had an impact on them. Jackson served as the president of United States of America from 1828 to 1832. Unlike other presidents before him, Jackson did not come from the western aristocracy. His election was considered a revolution because of how he was able to gain support from majority of people, despite the fact that he did not have material wealth as other politicians (Kennedy & Bailey pp. 317-368). Jackson was popular among majority of the people and used his popularity to counter opposition and carry out his political agendas.

The election of Jackson has a lot of significance to American politics today. Jackson was a populist president who used his popularity to win support of the people. His election marked a change in American politics and beginning of modern politics. His election brought new understanding of democracy. It was during Jackson era that the significance of a president grew immensely among American people. Jackson used his influence as president and the power vested on him to accomplish various goals. He used veto power vested on him extensively. He used this power to veto more bills than all the presidents before him. Jackson is also remembered for using an informal cabinet referred as ‘kitchen cabinet’ to make decisions in his government. Jackson used his populist politics and veto power to accomplish various important issues.

Jackson’s election led to a paradigm change in American politics. A new generation had developed from social economical conditions. The new generation was confident and wanted to separate itself from older political ideology. The new generation of people saw in Jackson a person that represented their world view. This new generation did not agree with the older notion of leadership but embraced Jeffersonian dogmas. Because of his personality and world view, Jefferson was appealing to the people. His leadership brought a new system of democracy. The new form of democracy was characterized by people being most divided along their support of an individual. Immediately after being elected, Jackson started a new form of leadership that was marked by redistribution of offices. As a result of the new democracy, American masses were partitioned to Jacksonian Democrats and National Republicans (Oates & Errico pp. 212-247). The democrats were centered on President Jackson while the republicans rallied behind Henry Clay, Quincy Adams and others. By so doing, Jackson election helped to define democratic and republican future principles.

Andrew Jackson rule was marked by high opposition from Henry Clay. The two politicians differed on various issues on governance and development but most of all on their world view. Jackson viewed the economic situation at that time as a threat to freedom. He viewed economic situation resulting from market economy as a hindrance to democracy. Jackson went into power as a representative of common people. On the other hand, Clay was more concerned with development and seemed to represent the early aristocracy. Clay was not comfortable with the new populist democracy and feared that such a democracy could lead to demagogy. Jackson believed of the freedom of common people through increasing their involvement in decision making. On the other hand, Clay believed on liberation of people, but through economic development. There were many occasion of opposition between the two leaders. For example, the two differed on the bank war, the removal of Indians, nullification and economic issues (Hofstadter 214). Jackson made use of his veto power to counter opposition from Clay and other opponents. Henry Whigs party opposed almost every proposal made by Jackson leading to one of the most competitive leadership.

American system was a plan aimed at improving the economic condition of America. The plan had been proposed by Whigs party led by leaders such as Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams and john Calhoun. The national economy plan proposed to introduce high tariff in order to protect young manufacturing companies from excessive competition. The plan also wanted to ensure that prices of land were high in order to generate revenue. Another objective of the plan was to maintain Bank of the United States. Bank of United States was supposed to ensure currency stability and offer financial support to the state and other local banks. In addition, the plan proposed to implement various internal economic developments. The internal improvements, which included road, canal and other amenities, were to be financed through the increased tariff and sales on land. Clay was the main proponent of this proposal. He made various arguments for the plan but did not succeed to have the plan fully implemented. To support the economic plan, Clay asked people from the west to support the plan since it could create market for their products. People from the south were asked to support since it would create market for cotton (Berkin, Miller & Mainwaring 432).

This proposal for America system was heavily opposed by Jackson administration. Among the issues under contention was construction of Maysville road. Despite Clay being able to acquire support for the plan, Jackson used his veto power to stop the plan.

Henry Clay’s Whig party was the main opposition to Andrew Jackson. The party had a vision for a country that was economically free. The American System proposed by the party was aimed at ensuring that America was economically free from Britain (Baxter 137). The federal proposal was to protect young American economy from unhealthy competition from developed economies in Europe. The internal improvements were aimed at improving the living condition of Americans by ensuring that they had essential facilities.

Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay are very important figures in American politics. Election of Andrew Jackson led to a great paradigm shift in American politics. His rule led to new face of democracy and led to full development of Democratic and Republican parties. Political opposition between Jackson and Clay helped to develop democracy in America. Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay will always be remembered not for their differences but for how they helped to shape modern democracy.

Work Cited

Baxter, Maurice. Henry Clay and the American System. New York: University Press of Kentucky, 2004. Print.

Berkin, Carol, Miller, Christopher & Mainwaring, Thomas. Making America Brief Edition: A History of the United States. New York: Wadsworth, 2000.

Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made it. New York: Vintage Books USA, 1989.

Kennedy, David & Bailey, Thomas. The American spirit 12 TH, edition. New York: Wadsworth Pub Co., 2001.

Oates, Stephen & Errico, Charles. Portrait of America: Volume 1: To 1877. New York: Cengage Learning, 2006.

Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States of America, inaugurated in 1829, and keeping the office to himself until 1837. Jackson can be considered one of the founders of the modern-day Democratic Party. His presidency marked the end of the Federalist party, which stopped taking part in presidential elections since 1816. However, his actions and policies towards ethnic minority groups such as Native Americans and African Americans were controversial. This can be seen in the 1830 Indian Removal Act, and the number of slaves Jackson owned.

Andrew Jackson managed to build his political career by exploiting the hatred of white Americans towards other ethnic groups living in the U.S. In his message to Congress announcing the Indian Removal Act, he constantly stressed his attention on the unwillingness of Indians to “to submit to the laws of the States” (Jackson 1830). Furthermore, in 1845 shortly before his death, Jackson had around 161 slaves (Cheathem and Mark 327). Therefore, the role of slavery in his political career should not be underestimated either, as he remained a slaveowner throughout his whole life. Andrew Jackson was simply advocating the importance of white Americans in the U.S. development, which the majority saw as “the privileges of a few.” (Corbett et al. 254).

To conclude, Andrew Jackson was a somewhat controversial president who laid the foundations for the Democratic Party of the United States. He managed to gain the support of the white majority by carefully playing around with their hatred towards the other ethnic groups living in the still-developing U.S.A. Jackson ignored the needs of the minorities, reassuring them that the American government can control their fate better than themselves. This is mainly seen in the 1830 Indian Removal Act.

Works Cited

Cheathem, Mark R. “Andrew Jackson, Slavery, and Historians.” History Compass 9.4 (2011): pp. 326-338.

Corbett, P. Scott, et al. U.S. History by OpenStax. 1st ed., XanEdu Publishing Inc, 2014.

Jackson, Andrew. Transcript of President Andrew Jackson’s Message to Congress ‘On Indian Removal’ (1830).

In the 19th century, the question of American civilization was frequently raised and discussed at different levels. It was expected that Native Americans could sell their forests and become farmers on the same grounds the whites had at the moment (Takaki, 2008). Andrew Jackson was the author of this idea who demonstrated his humane and just intentions. However, when he became the President of the United States, his goals were changed and led to the creation of one of the most ambiguous and provocative movements, the Trail of Tears. American Indians were imagined as unable to civilize, and the power of white settlers was great, which allowed the government to ignore Indians’ achievements, petitions, and readiness to cooperate and maintain the Trail of Tears.

The Indian Removal Act was the desire of the government to use Native American lands for the selfish purposes of the cotton planters and railroad companies. Cherokees and other Indian tribes were defined as an obstacle to American development as a nation (Takaki, 2008). During the Trail of Tears, it was officially reported that no more than 400 people died, but it was evident that the deaths in the containment centers and the camps where the Cherokees were held reached more than 4000 (Learn Liberty, 2021). In the chosen master narrative, many facts and factors of the removal were ignored, including multiple petitions and individuals eager to support American Indians. The Trail of Tears justified the possibility of taking everything from the Cherokees and offering multiple opportunities for white American citizens. In the past, this choice was based on language, education, and constitutional differences; in the present, the differences between the representatives of these communities also exist.

Despite the intention to create an equal American society, the example of Indian removal proves the superiority of skin color and the prejudice of the government. Instead of protecting all citizens and respecting their past, the Trail of Tears showed how people could lose everything in a moment. That historical event shaped the present treatment of the American Indians and demonstrated why minorities did not protect themselves, even if they were legally supported.

References

Learn Liberty. (2021). The trail of tears: They knew it was wrong[Video]. Web.

Takaki, R. (2008). A different mirror: A history of multicultural America. Back Bay Books.

Introduction

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States, serving his two terms from 1829 to 1837. He was a controversial president, described by his biographer, James Parton, as “a democratic autocrat, an urbane savage, an atrocious saint” (as cited in Wilson & Byker, 2008, 113:46). This paper aims to discuss the most significant moments of Jackson’s presidency, including his “common man” identity, mistreatment of Native Americans, negative legacy, and other issues that have a connection with modern America.

Jackson’s Difference from Other Presidents and his “Common Man” Identity

Andrew Jackson was different from other presidents mainly by his background. He came from an ordinary family and made his way up to the presidency. He was a soldier who managed to become a general and helped the US to win the Battle of New Orleans, and this victory made him a national hero. His personality appealed to common people because they could identify themselves with him. Jackson was seen as “the frontiersman, the poor boy made good, the classic self-made man” (Wilson & Byker, 2008, 06:08). Many other politicians, such as Tomas Jefferson and Henry Clay, considered him unfit for the political career (Wilson & Byker, 2008). However, in the eyes of people, Jackson was not an insider in Congress, which meant he was not as corrupt as other candidates with experience in government service and politics (Wilson & Byker, 2008). Jackson and his supporters ran the first election campaign in US history, during which they let people feel that they had the right to choose their president. By establishing his “common man” identity and engaging people in voting for him, Jackson managed to win two elections.

Jackson’s Treatment of Native Americans

Jackson was unfair toward Native Americans, whom he first cruelly defeated in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and then banished from their lands on the east of the Mississippi to the west of the Mississippi. These actions were aimed to clear the land so that American immigrants could live there. To remove Native Americans from the east of the Mississippi, Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The Act allowed Georgia to pass laws infringing Indians’ rights to their lands. It was illegal, which was proved by the Supreme Court decision, according to which states did not have jurisdiction over Indian nations (Wilson & Byker, 2008). Yet, Jackson responded that the “decision of the Supreme Court has fallen stillborn” and enforced the Act (Wilson & Byker, 2008, 85:10). As a result of the Indian Removal, thousands of Cherokee families were forced to leave their homes, and more than two thousand Cherokees died from diseases during their journey (Wilson & Byker, 2008). The Indian Removal was a genocide of Native Americans because it discriminated against them solely based on their ethnicity and led to the deaths of many of them.

Jackson’s Legacy

As was mentioned, Jackson subverted the established policy regarding the power to regulate Indian nations. According to the policy that had existed before the adoption of the Indian Removal Act, only the US federal government could deal with issues with Indian nations, but state governments did not possess such authority. The Act of 1830 violated this policy, even though the Supreme Court ruled against it. Jackson’s presidency is also famous for his challenging the banking system. Jackson disliked banks, especially the Second Bank, because bankers, who were not elected, had too much power and could control people’s lives, as well as the country’s economy and politics (Wilson & Byker, 2008). Before Jackson’s second election, Congress passed a bill to issue a new charter for the Second Bank, hoping that Jackson would have to sign it (Wilson & Byker, 2008). However, Jackson vetoed the bill on July 10, 1832, which led to the shutdown of the Second Bank.

Overall, despite Jackson’s large contribution to American democracy, his legacy has several serious negative aspects. The most negative Jackson’s legacy causes contemporary people to view him as “the slaveholder, the Indian oppressor, even the Indian hater” (Wilson & Byker, 2008, 06:20). He owed his wealth to many black slaves who were working at his plantation, the Hermitage. Jackson is also remembered by Indians as “Jack Cena,” or “Jackson the devil” for his efforts to evict Native Americans from their homes (Wilson & Byker, 2008, 88:23). The president advocated for democracy, but his democracy applied only to white people.

Issues of Jacksonian America and Their Connection with Modern America

Jackson’s presidency revealed several racial, class, economic, and regional issues existing in America, and some of them are still relevant. For example, Jackson was a racist president, who was convinced that whites were superior to both African Americans and American Indians. The issue of racial discrimination is still present in modern America, with people of color experiencing some oppression in various areas of life. As for the class and economic issues, Jackson was concerned with preventing rich people from exploiting the working-class citizens, which was why he eliminated the Second Bank (Wilson & Byker, 2008). Today, the class struggle is still evident since there are a few people possessing most of the wealth, which is a key characteristic of capitalism. Finally, in the Jacksonian era, regional issues were related to the country’s expansion, but, today, they are concerned with the division of power between state and federal governments.

Conclusion

To sum up, Andrew Jackson’s presidency was marked with a lot of controversies. He was a democrat for whites but an autocrat for Native Americans and African Americans. His presidency was darkened by the fact that he made his fortune by owning slaves and made thousands of Indians leave their homes. Many problems that existed in the Jacksonian era are still present in contemporary America.

Reference

Wilson, M., & Byker, C. (2008). Andrew Jackson: Good, evil and the presidency [Film]. Red Hill Productions.