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How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson Dbq

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Andrew Jackson was not democratic. Jackson was stubborn and was not open to other decisions but his own. For example, Jackson made the decision to help out a former supporter and appoint Samuel Swartwout as a collector in office, even though he had a past history of “criminal tendencies”. Because of Andrew’s poor decision, Samuel stole over $1,000,000; this was a very monumental theft. The robbery could have been avoided if Jackson listened to the people around him saying “no”. In addition, everyone was supporting the Bank of the United States back then, but Jackson did not like it, so he vetoed the bill. Again, he did not listen to everyone around him, he went by what he thought was right. In the political cartoon in Document 3, Jackson …show more content…

Jackson was known to be a man of the people, but he messed up his relationship with the people when he denied the bill. Supposedly, the bill put the common people at a disadvantage and the higher class at a benefit. Jackson claims that the wealthy control the bank, and he did not like that at all. For example, he says that too often the “rich and powerful” bend the acts of government to what they want, and they don’t think about other people. I personally think that is a little hypocritical because Jackson made his own decisions without others approving at all, and now he is turning around saying the rich and powerful are twisting the rules of the government. In Document 4, Andrew Jackson says that “It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.” This is why Jackson vetoed the bill, and he felt very strongly about the common people, and wanted to help, not knowing that everyone did benefit from the national bank. Daniel Webster, and enemy of Jackson, says in Document 5, that it “seeks to inflame the poor against the rich...attacks the whole classes of people...of turning against them the prejudices and resentments of the other classes.” Basically meaning that vetoing the bill will “raise a cry” and will not help the system of

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Jackson didn't do this out of purely selfish reasons, he wanted to stop a monopoly or lessen the chances of one. However, when he vetoed the renewal of the Bank of the United States he withdrew funds

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However Jackson believed that the bank was unconstitutional. He was not very fond of the fact that the wealthy people in the country benefited from the bank, while the people in poverty did not. Like many other Americans at the time, Jackson strongly believed that the National Bank had too much power, however he also believed that the bank was bad for the economy which was not true. The National Bank strongly backed the United States economy. Many knew this, including Henry Clay, who knew that if the bank no longer existed the economy would soon fall apart.

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700 Words | 3 Pages

In Jackson's Bank Veto Message, he states that his principal reason for his veto was that he wanted to prevent the existence of monopolies. This is a fine reasoning that also goes along with is political views. The objection to this is that he was warned on how it would be detrimental to the United States economy but still went through with it. It cannot be overlooked that he had to fire two different secretaries until he finally appointed a close friend to agree with him. This is an obvious abuse of power, seeing as he fired two people simply for telling him that his idea would not work.

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135 Words | 1 Pages

Jackson and the Democratic Party believed in limiting the influence of the federal government, with more power lying with the states. While in office, Jackson used his executive power to veto laws more times than any other president before him. One of these veto choices involved allowing the Second National Bank charter to expire. Jackson believed that the national bank only helped the wealthy, not the common people in America. He removed all the money from the national bank, transferred it to the states, and let the charter expire.

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346 Words | 2 Pages

Even having a whole age named after him, Andrew Jackson’s decisions darning his presidency caused divide between the American people; ether they commended him on his impulsive behavior or despised it. Many American’s felt this radical change of their nation as a betrayal to the goals of the Jeffersonian Republicanism. The demolition of the national bank, though Jefferson was against it, in turn destroyed trust with in the elite. The total disregard to the Supreme Court leading to the “Trail of Tears” represented un-democratic ideals.

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965 Words | 4 Pages

Andrew Jackson was very against the growth of the new upcoming banking system in the

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726 Words | 3 Pages

Even though Jackson did despise the bank, many of his ¨Jacksonians¨ supported the idea of a Second Bank. The bill eventually passed both the House and the Senate. President Jackson STILL vetoed the bill a week after it was passed. He explained heavily why he felt that he needed to veto the bill. This was one of the most important state papers of his entire presidency.

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313 Words | 2 Pages

Thus Jackson had pitched himself the champion of the people, he had won the popular vote, but the people’s mandate had been usurped by an allegedly corrupt political elite. Furthermore, whilst president, in 1832 Andrew Jackson faced the renewal of a banking institution deemed to be counter to the interests of the people: the Second Bank of the United States. In the event that the Bank be reinstituted, the Bank would receive exclusive privileges in the legislature granted in favour of financial interests over public interests. Consequentially, this move was viewed by Jackson as counter to the people’s interests, and he executively opposed the bill by vetoing its approval.

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1475 Words | 6 Pages

According to “Andrew Jackson’s Veto Message,” “It is easy to conceive that great evils to our country…might flow from such a concentration of power in the hands of a few men irresponsible to the people.” Jackson believed that the bank was corrupt, as “more than a fourth of it was owned but foreigners, and the (rest) is held by a few hundred of our own citizens, chiefly of the richest class.” Thus making it easy to take advantage of and throw off the economy because of it being privately owned. This choice was good, although many people viewed it as a bad discussion such as Daniel Webster, who said in “Daniel Webster’s Reply to Jackson’s Bank Veto Message,” “(President Jackson’s message) extends the grasp of (the chief executive) over every power of the government.” Without getting rid of the bank, it could’ve led to many issues in the future because of it being privately owned, and although vetoing it and getting rid of the bank led to the Panic of 1837, a financial depression, keeping the national bank would have led to future problems due to it being privately owned and easy to take advantage of if you owned part of it.

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628 Words | 3 Pages

He mistrusted paper money greatly, as well as believed in power to the common people. Andrew Jackson feared the Bank’s power. He was afraid of the Bank becoming stronger and lending that power to the elite without holding accountability towards them, something he believed great powers should have; accountability. Jackson specifically stated that he believed the Bank made “the rich richer and the potent more powerful.” Jackson liked the so-called farmer’s economy since it motivated people to be hardworking and independent.

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780 Words | 4 Pages

Starting in 1828 the United States experienced the “Jacksonian Era”, where Andrew Jackson, the first recognized democratic president, lead our country. His time of rule is often looked at as of time of “democratization of politics.” This means that the government was becoming representatives of the people's voice, and this is exactly what Jackson believed in. He showed his democratic beliefs through many things throughout his presidency. The democratization of politics is very evident in the Jacksonian Era through things such as voting, Indian removal, and being financially in favor of the people’s wants and needs individually, rather than as a whole, because although many times he was harsh in his ways, his end goal was to ensure the people

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513 Words | 3 Pages

According to Thomas P. Abernethy, Jackson was “a frontier nabob who took sides against the democratic movement in his own state…an opportunist for whom democracy was good talk with which to win the favor of the people and thereby accomplish ulterior objectives.” Different views of Jackson continued the debate about who he really was as a leader. It was not until historian Arthur Schlesinger, took a different look at the study of Jackson. He believed that Jackson’s presidency was designed to suppress the power of capitalists, and try to help those of the lower classes. Other historians continued to disagree with Schlesinger, while others supported his idea or enhanced it, saying Jackson was almost similar to a Marxist.

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930 Words | 4 Pages

Congress passed a charter for a Second Bank of the United States, which Henry Clay himself took part in introducing it. Jackson personally thought the bank was unconstitutional and failed to establish an effective currency. Since the recharter meant that the bank would continue for seven more years and his political opponent Clay took part in establishing it, the president had to do something about it. The bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle, continued to try to stabilize the currency, helped state banks through hardship and expanded the nation’s credit for the next few years. However, it concentrated wealth and power within the economy and Jackson was against that power affecting the common people.

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902 Words | 4 Pages

Democracy can be interpreted in many ways, but among all the definitions it is clear that a democracy is at its core a government ruled by and for the people. The first democratic president was our seventh, Andrew Jackson, elected in 1829. His unfair treatment of the native American people, shady government appointments, and exploitation of the spoils system all contribute to the notion that perhaps he wasn’t so democratic after all. Many consider him a democratic icon, considering his advancements towards an equal union, but he had many shortcomings as president. Andrew Jackson could be considered democratic due to how elections changed under his presidency.

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874 Words | 4 Pages

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

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