Should Andrew Jackson Be On The 20 Dollar Bill Essay

“After eight years as president I have only two regrets: that I have not shot Henry Clay or hanged John C. Calhoun.”(Jackson, 1837). Andrew Jackson is shown here to have immeasurable contempt for his enemies and a murderous instinct. An angry and selfish politician, he was elected the seventh president of the United States and ended up having his face permanently plastered on the 20 dollar bill. He should not be on the 20 dollar bill because he ended the era of good feeling, was an alcoholic with anger issues, and a ruthless slaughterer of Native Americans.

To begin, Jackson was responsible for ending the “Era of good Feeling” in politics by creating another political party and introducing the spoils system. “ It was settled by the Constitution,

federal government with his constant dueling and drinking.Jackson had at least three famous duels with people he had grudges against because of their opposition or not bending to his will. Once he lost in a court case against a lawyer better than he was, Waightstill, and was so angry that he challenged the man to a duel twice until he agreed.(3 Famous Duels Involving Andrew Jackson, 2016). Andrew Jackson was forceful in his actions and stopped at nothing to get what he wanted, including forcing Indians off their land without permission and starting a dirty campaign against John Quincy Adams. Moreover, he also spent a startlingly large part of his presidency at bars and pubs, getting drunk instead of making good decisions for the country. Jackson’s bad habits and negligence of keeping down his temper were severely counterproductive and made him an inferior

ruled Georgia had no right to interfere with the Cherokee. The Native Americans, he said, were protected by the federal government and the Constitution. President Jackson had supported Georgia’s efforts to remove the Cherokee. He vowed to ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling.”(Appleby, 2000)Jackson had no regard for the rest of the government or what the rest of the country thought, he just did what he wanted, which was kill the Native Americans and use military force although he wasn’t authorized to. He forced the Cherokee off their land after they won the court case with the Supreme Court, and was as in humane as possible in doing it, forcing them to march over 1,000 miles in what was later called “The Trail of Tears” by Native Americans. He also was responsible for the Indian Removal Act, which exterminated the remaining tribes east of the Mississippi. Another opinion on this matter is that without Jackson’s actions America would be much smaller, which is worth some concern because relocating Native Americans opened up a lot of land and set an example. However, just because that method of removing the Native Americans worked didn’t mean others wouldn’t, and using treaties, following laws and court rulings, and being humane to the Native Americans would have worked as well.Jackson was someone who would do anything to get what he wanted, and as such was often too quick and