Andrew Jackson Ethical Analysis

Whether Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Policies were ethical has come of debate from the time they were enacted and before. The time that Jackson was president has been fittingly named the Jacksonian Era. One of the iconic images of this era is a political cartoon that depicts President Jackson as “King Jackson the First” as he steps on the constitution and the Albany Plan of Union. I think that Jackson’s actions were not ethical. The history behind Jackson’s decision is critical to determining its ethicalness. Ever since settlers have stepped foot on North American soil, they have trespassed and violated Indian Territories. The U.S. was the first country to respect the Indian nations as separate countries that have rights to their land and

It is important to remember that in these times Jackson, as well as many of the time, saw manifest destiny as almost a religious task. This fact means that inaction was most likely not a reality since the nature of the goal was not immaterial. The simple conclusion is that the removal of indians was inevitable. Jackson’s actions expedited the process in an unethical way. His actions conclude that he equated that about 11,000 consequence lives were equal to the expansion of the United States. As I mentioned in the introduction, Jackson has been written in the history book as quite the tyrant. Jackson very well did step beyond his assigned power by overruling the Supreme court and enacting the Indian Removal Act. His act of tyranny does appear to be for the general good of the people of America. Though his actions were for the good of America, this doesn’t overshadow the effects on the indian people. The most significant ethical violation was the violation of civil rights. The Cherokee were forced to leave their land even after they proved that they were in the legal right. By the use of military force the U.S. military took away their right to peaceful leave and basic civil rights. Even though Andrew Jackson’s policies were for the greater good and the prosperity of the American cause for Manifest Destiny, his actions were not ethical, did not respect civil rights granted by the U.S. Constitution, and violated constitutional review granted to the supreme court in Madison’s