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Andrew Jackson DBQ

632 Words3 Pages

Lily Thomas
Ms. Scott
Honors US History Period 4
15 November 2016
A Demagogue in Disguise Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States, was undoubtedly an immoral demagogue who abused his position of power to promote his own selfish interests and disregard the rights of many. One of the most notable moments during his time of leadership was the “Trail of Tears”, or forced removal and relocation of all Cherokee tribes on American soil. The Indian Removal Act, passed in 1830, ultimately caused the death of 4,000+ Cherokee people (Doc 4, par. 3). This historic event was nothing short of ethnic cleansing, a disgusting and hateful act. After the passage of the Indian Removal Act, Jackson proceeded to disregard the rules of his own proposal: …show more content…

Due to his authoritative status, however, many American citizens at the time saw him as a democratic hero whose sole purpose was to reach economic and social equality. In Chapter 7 of A People’s History of the United States, historian Howard Zinn describes Andrew Jackson as “the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history”, and applauds him on the land he acquired during his presidency (Doc 3, par. 7). Zinn completely disregards the negative impact that white settlement had on Native American communities and incorrectly portrays Jackson as a hero who defeated an enemy. He fails to recognize the innocence of the targeted native tribes, as most Indians were not a threat to American society. Similarly, in Jackson: The President Who Made Us Who We Are, an article written in 2008, Jon Meacham argues that while President Jackson made a few devastating mistakes, his “love for democracy” and goal of “social justice” justified his racist and intolerant acts (Doc 12, par. 5). Unfortunately, Jackson’s positive accomplishments are far outnumbered by his wrong-doings. Despite his best efforts, his goals of peace, justice, and equality were not realized within his

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Jackson took on a new persona, he still embodied the West but was stained by his ruthless takeover of Indian Land and the forced relocation of Indians. It is evident there are many different perspectives on

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Under influence of president Andrew Jackson, the congress was urged in 1830 to pass the Indian Removal Act, with the goal of relocated many Native Americans in the East territory, the west of Mississippi river. The Trail of tears was made for the interest of the minorities. Indeed, if president Jackson wished to relocate the Native Americans, it was because he wanted to take advantage of the gold he found on their land. Then, even though the Cherokee won their case in front the supreme court, the president and congress pushed them out(Darrenkamp).

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The Jacksonian Era was the time period of Andrew Jackson’s presidency. This began in 1828 when Jackson was elected president. The era is sometimes described as a time when the United States experienced the “democratization of politics.” In a democracy every citizen has an equal say in the government's decisions and actions. Some people of this time period believed that Jackson is notable for democratizing the United States during the Jacksonian Era.

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Jackson shut out the Indians from states that what lead to the event “Trail of Tears”. The Trail of Tears would be his lowest point in the presidency. Even though the Five Civilized Tribe adopted American culture, speaking English, and try to become more “American”, but Andrew Jackson still did not want to accept them as a part of American people. He defended his policy as he proclaimed that Indians were a major problem for state sovereignty and obstacles to white

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Andrew Jackson, being a tyrant, abused his power in his time of presidency.   He was the 7th president, but before Jackson’s presidency, he had no political experience. One of the only things that really qualified him was the hardships he went through when he was younger. His father had died while Jackson was young and Jackson received the reputation as a “self-made man”, or an independent man.

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Although this act was harsh, to some it overshadows the good that Jackson did. In the source: Letter from Elias Boudinot, Cherokee Indian, Elias says, “Removal, then, is the only remedy, the only practical remedy. Our people may finally rise from their very ashes, to become prosperous and happy, and a credit to our race.” The quote is from a Cherokee Indian agreeing that the removal might be the best thing for the Native Americans. Andrew Jackson is a hero because he worked to bring more democracy to the

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In the end, it is my belief that Jackson has to be looked at from a non-biased perspective. As Sellers pointed out, interpretations that Whigs and Progressives have about him are not wrong. There is just a need for more information on the topic. As Sellers pointed out at the end, the Jackson era is filled with controversy and the multiple viewpoints from historians “suggests that we are poor in the data by which our hypotheses must be

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According to “The Trail of Tears,” American History Illustrated, 97% of Georgians voted for Jackson for president because he supported their expansion into Indigenous lands to the northwest (Document A). This made westward expansion a major policy goal of the Jackson campaign, which was possible only by relocating Indigenous peoples. So what? Moreover, in President Andrew Jackson’s message to Congress on Indian removal on December 6, 1830, Jackson presented the removal of Indigenous “savages” as a positive idea for the growth of the nation (Document E). He presented the building of cities, farms, and industries as natural progress, which the Indigenous peoples were blocking.

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The Indian Removal Act is heavenly frowned upon for a sound reason, even if Jackson followers decide to avoid the countless amount of deaths Jackson

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No living human is either entirely virtuous or wholeheartedly evil. Sometimes it can seem that way, but that’s because most of the time individuals hear want to hear what they want to hear. This concept is entirely true in regard to Andrew Jackson, who people can see as a heroic American war hero who came from nothing and stood by his beliefs or the complete opposite. People could also perceive him as an evil, tyrannical leader who forced thousands of Native Americans out of their homes. I believe Andrew Jackson was not a hero but a villain because of the way he treated Native Americans, the actions he took during his presidency, and the fact he was a slave-owner.

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Although Jackson was important, he was part of many terrible things. Around the 1820s there were many major indian tribes in eastern United States such as Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole. This soon came to a change. Andrew Jackson thought these Indians were in the way of eastern development, using the Indian Removal Act which the congress had approved he decided to kick them out and send them west. In 1831 the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee Indians had the right to self government and the United States could not interfere with that.

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The era of Andrew Jackson which was nicknames the era of the “common man” certainly lived up to its name. As the seventh President of the United States, Jackson had a major effect on the life of the common man, in such a way that the life of the common man would never be the same again. Jackson’s aim, after the manner in which he was defeated in the Presidential Election of 1824, despite receiving more popular votes than John Quincy Adams who took on the office, was to reduce the power and the authority of the elite. When he came into power after the 1828 election Jackson began to carry out his proposals. Jackson expanded the voting right to all men, in accordance with the Declaration of Independence of 1776 which declared that “all men are created equal” instead of just the elite.

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Born into a non-aristocratic poor family, somewhere in the Carolina’s on March 14, 1767, was a man named Andrew Jackson. Jackson, also called “Old Hickory” was a very bold proactive man in American history. From being a military hero and founding the democratic party to enacting the trail of tears and dismantling the of the Bank of the United States, the man and his legacy are a prominent topic for scholarly debate. Some believe he was a great president and some believe he was the worse president. But if you look at it from a moral perceptive or in the eyes of a foreigner, Jackson’s legacy was far more villainous than heroic.

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Andrew Jackson disobeyed a direct order from the Supreme Court, which it means he was above the law. I really wonder how Americans tolerated him, at that time, he was cruel to the Indian common man. Because of him, the Native Americans have the worst end of the Trail of Tears. They are the ones who are forced out of their traditional homes and sent away on a journey of pain and death. Those who had fallen ill, most of the time died, and those who had the will to move on were able to make it to the end and start new lives.

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