Andrew Jackson, an American lawyer, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837 was viewed as a war hero and was praised for it, people thought of him as a democratic figure in society. But I think otherwise. Andrew Jackson had claimed various times that he would listen to and benefit his citizens so they can be “free” and be treated “fair”, yet, he did not take his word. And instead of helping his citizens, he mostly only benefited himself. So, here is my perspective on Andrew Jackson and how he wasn’t that Democratic as people come to believe. December 8, 1829, Andrew Jackson wrote to congress about how they were assigning people to government jobs because of favoritism. Andrew Jackson despised favoritism, he believed that people should get government jobs for the benefit of citizens, as he states in his letter, “The duties of all public officers are… so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily …show more content…
He also turned citizens against the government while he was president. On July 10, 1832, Andrew Jackson writes another letter about Bank Veto to congress about how citizens are treated because of their class and wealth. “... The present Bank of the United States… enjoys an exclusive privilege of banking,... almost a monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange…chiefly of the richest class… the rich and the powerful to often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes…” Jackson believes that the rich and the powerful are capable of “bending” acts of government because of their wealth and power allows them too. So he turns citizens from the lower classes to go up against the government and the bank of the United States. When in reality, Andrew Jackson just made more conflict in the way people were treated differently because of their
It is clear from the documents that Andrew Jackson acted like a king. One reason that Andrew Jackson acted like a king was he forced the Cherokee out of their homelands. In document 4, the political cartoon depicts Andrew Jackson is stepping on two controversial issues, The rechartering of the National Bank and the Supreme Court ruling against the Indian Removal Act because it was unconstitutional. Mr. Jackson clearly ignored the Constitution and the Supreme Court completely because the law was passed anyway. Because of this, many Cherokee families were forced from their homes and moved west to Oklahoma through a march known now as the Trail of Tears.
When reading through these documents, there are many reasons why he was democratic, but there are also many reasons why he wasn't democratic. Andrew Jackson was not a democratic president because he used the Spoils System, tried to veto a national bank, and evicted the Native Americans. Andrew Jackson used the Spoils System (Document 7). The Spoils System is a system where the winning political party gives government positions to those who supported the party. Jackson gave Swartwout the position of the collector of the Port of New York (Document 7).
Andrew Jackson paved his way to the top by serving in both the House and Senate. Gained recognition as a war hero after serving in the War of 1812. He laid the framework of democracy by endeavoring to make America superior, but the ways he handled the National Bank, Spoil System, and Indian Removal made Andrew Jackson develop into a non-democratic. One way that illustrates how Jackson is non-democratic is supported by the situation that occurred for the National Bank. To begin with, Jackson sent a veto to congress discussing the bank.
Jackson felt it was unconstitutional and would negatively affect agrarian interests in the South. Policies that benefited the South in the way Jackson went
While it is indisputable that Andrew Jackson enhanced the power of the American presidency while preserving the union and directing the country toward democracy, it is evident that his presidency has far more liabilities than benefits. By abusing his power and using cruel and unconstitutional methods, it is apparent that Jackson's administration should be seen adversely. An individual
UNIT 6 DBQ Andrew Jackson once said “Every good citizen makes his country’s honor his own, and cherishes it not only as precious but as sacred. He is willing to risk his life in its defense and its conscious that he gains protection while he gives it.” Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States from 1829 to 1837 and brought many changes to the government. He had a political movement during the Second Party System, along with his supporters, called Jacksonian democracy. It was founded in 1828, a year before his presidency.
There are many different perspectives of Andrew Jackson. Some people think that he is a hero, but others may feel that he is a villain. Despite starting out with a humble beginning and enduring numerous tragedies, Jackson grew up to be a fierce and merciless fighter who always succeeded. His many personalities included a strong will and an arrogant attitude. He didn’t care about the thoughts of anyone, he always did what he thought was beneficial to him proving that he was in fact a villain.
He declared War on the 2nd Bank of the U.S. because he felt it separated the privileged class from the common man, through the amount of control that private corporations had. This was a direct example of how Andrew Jackson used the Jacksonian belief, that the privileged should not control federal matters, but instead the common people
These abuses can be clearly mapped from the initiation of his first term. Jackson’s First Annual Message to Congress expressed his defense of rotation in office, the spoils system, as a necessary tool for rewarding his political supporters and ensuring their loyalty. He argued that “the more is lost by the long continuance of men in office than is generally to be gained by their experience” in reference to removing previously held positions, however, Jackson’s appointments were known to be unfit for their roles and placed purely on a corrupt political bias (First Annual Message to Congress). This system allowed for widespread cronyism as unqualified individuals were appointed to significant government positions solely on the basis of their political connections. These appointments favoring specific groups placed an unfair advantage on the entire population—quite against his stance on advocating fairness for the common men.
Andrew Jackson’s presidency is very much like that of a monarch. He abuses his presidential powers and forced things to go his way even if it means he has to use the military. These power-hungry qualities define him as a bad president, and good that he has done for the United States is outweighed by his cruel and unfair actions which are morally irredeemable. Firstly, during his presidency he instituted the spoils system, which he rewards his supporters with jobs.
Andrew Jackson was one of the greatest presidents who made very difficult decisions for our country. Although his choices were not always the popular decision, he made choices that were always promoting democracy. The things that make a good democracy are: giving people a say in government, having a good leader that you can trust to make wise decisions, peace and stability between each country and other states, and having equal power in the government (checks and balances). Andrew Jackson came into office with a popular vote and great support. His supporters viewed him as a man of the people.
President Andrew Jackson was a very popular president and did a lot of things during his presidency. But in my opinion, I think he was not democratic because he wanted everything done his way or no way, like during the Indian Removal act in Document 10. He wanted the Indians land so he had his soldiers move them \west into the Indian territory. One way that President Andrew Jackson was democratic was his Bank Veto Message to Congress in Document 4.
One of the biggest thing that Jackson had done as a president was in 1832. Jackson vetoed a bill that would renew the second bank charter early. Jackson stated “I will kill it!”. He said this because he didn’t like the bank at all and he believed that it made the rich richer and the poor poorer. He said in his veto message “It is easy to conceive that great evils to our country and its institutions might flow from such a concentration of power in the hands of a few men irresponsible to the people.”
But Jackson as a common man he also instituted the Indian Removal Act which promoted
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He was a president who cared for his people and did anything to protect the peoples liberty. Jackson acted as the “common man” president rather than a king. Jackson had a well known distrust and dislike for the elite class that had typically held positions in office up until his presidency. While he was the was a president who tried to the best of his abilities to protect the right of the "common man", on the other hand he abused his power during his time because he wanted to be the center of government.