Andrew Jackson's Legacy

As the seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson had a significant presidency that is still debated about today. Andrew Jackson’s legacy is tarnished by his treatment of slaves, removal of Native Americans with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and the political turmoil involving his cabinet. Despite this, Andrew Jackson is ranked among the top ten presidents because his presidency significantly shaped the United States. From a very young age, Andrew Jackson was a patriot at heart and fought for his country. During the Revolutionary War, young Andrew Jackson was a messenger boy who delivered letters and messages through the dense woods of the Carolinas to the American troops. Jackson served again as a patriot against the British

The Nullification Crisis of 1832-1833 could have caused a civil war. According to “Andrew Jackson Shifting Legacy” the Nullification Crisis was caused when “South Carolina declared the tariff law unconstitutional and therefore null and void” (Feller). The protective tariff was an “import tax that provided much of the government’s revenue and also aided American manufacturers by raising the prices of competing foreign (mainly British) goods” (Feller). This meant that the southern economy would suffer because they would have to pay more for manufactured goods as competition was decreased. South Carolina schemed to get other southern states to nullify the tariff. However, to this Jackson responded “Our Federal Union, it must be preserved” (PBS:Jackson).This showed that Jackson was determined to solve the nullification issue and stop South Carolina from causing a civil war. Fortunately, a compromise was passed through Congress which South Carolina accepted and Andrew Jackson approved. Without Andrew Jackson’s determination to stop the Nullification Crisis, there would have been no incentive to pass a compromise, and the issue could have resulted in a civil war. In addition to saving the country from war, Andrew Jackson attempted to save an economic

He argued that the bank made the rich richer and didn 't benefit the poor. Jackson believed that the Bank of the United States had too much power over people’s lives. The Bank was dangerous to the common people because their money and lives were controlled by rich bankers that were not elected. (PBS: Jackson). Additionally, the bank only favored the businessmen and rich people of the North, which was where the major industries and manufacturing were. As a result, Jackson vetoed the recharter of the Banks of the United States in 1832 to protect the common people from the “Monster Bank” (PBS: Jackson). The rich bankers would not be able to bend the rules for their own profit because the federal entity no longer existed. Jackson destroyed the Bank of the United States to protect the common people from the control of rich northern bankers. Despite Jackson’s best interests for the common people, his actions did have dire economic consequences. However, his actions proved that Jackson was truly the common man’s president and supported the majority