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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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