Andrew Jackson: Autocrat or Democrat? President Andrew Jackson was an autocratic leader because of the actions within The Spoils System, The National Bank Controversy, and The Indian Removal. Andrew Jackson stole from Native Americans that the nation had been in peace with for almost a half-century, gave office jobs to unqualified thieves, and put social and economic classes against each other, for his own personal benefit. Andrew Jackson displayed autocratic behavior based on Indian Removal Documents one and two. In the Indian Removal document one, there is a map that displays where Native Americans were taken from and where they ended up, depriving them of their home and natural territory. The map shows Native Americans transported anywhere …show more content…
All the while, President Jackson never changed this practice for the benefit of the people. In the Spoils System document one, there is an illustration created in 1877 depicting Jackson riding a pig followed by the caption, “ To the Victors Belong the Spoils”. This was created to show people that when citizens of a nation truly do not get to decide who is in office, the country is doomed to a system of anarchy. The document told people that Andrew Jackson was not trying to give people a chance to share new ideas, just to get enough votes and voices in for him that he could do anything he wanted to. Since the people were not in support of the Spoils System, Jockson would become an autocrat for only wanting to claim ultimate power over the people. Spoils Document three explains how one of the men who was hired via the spoils system, stole one million dollars from the government and it was known as one of the most conniving theft stories yet. The document states that Jackson’s advisors tried to remind him of this thief’s history, but he refused to listen. This act of theft is another example of autocratic power, because Andrew Jackson did not listen to the people or his advisors, then lost one million dollars to a thief in
When Andrew Jackson became president, he introduced the spoils system. This practice replaced government officials with the winning political party’s supporters. Jackson thought that the spoils system was democratic because it prevented government officials from the opposite party from becoming a powerful aristocracy. The spoils system was made famous from the speech given by Senator William L. Marcy of New York. To criticize Jackson’s political appointments, Senator William replied, “To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy.”
By a close shot, Andrew Jackson won the election. While under his power, Jackson began the Spoils System - also known as the Patronage System- where his political supporters were given positions in the public office. To which William Marcy remarked, “To the victor belong the spoils of the
Then, Swartwout stole 15$ million dollars from Jackson. Of course, this hurt the economy. In this situation, Jackson was not thinking about the nation and what's best for it. This also ties in with “Spoils System document 2” because this document talks about giving men less time in office. He felt like getting rid of time in office, Jackson also called time in office “plain and simple.”
Rennie Combs US History H Mr. Hertel-Therrien 2/16/23 Was Andrew Jackson Democratic Andrew Jackson was known for many things. He was a general, war hero, politician, and man of the people. But was he truly democratic? This essay will prove that Andrew Jackson was not democratic. Being democratic is defined as “a way of governing which depends on the will of the people” (The Council of Europe).
He wanted the people in office to support him so that he could do everything he wanted to do. Jackson made a front saying that it was because he wanted those jobs to be fulfilled by people that have fresh ideas and that he wanted to give more unqualified people an opportunity (Spoils System Document 2). In Spoils System Document 3, it tells about a time when a later supporter warned Jackson that an early supporter was bad news and shouldn’t be allowed in that position. Jackson didn’t believe him because he was a later supporter and gave the position to the early supporter anyway. Next thing Jackson knew, his early supporter had stolen tons of money.
When people voted Andrew Jackson they believed and wanted ruling to be done by the people as shown In document 2 of changes in elections. Looking at document 1 of changes in elections it is shown that during the years where most elections were done by the people was when
Historians debate whether Andrew Jackson was Democratic or not. A common conclusion has been reached: in appearance, Andrew Jackson was a democratic president, he reasoned his actions by giving the impression that the power belonged to the people. However because he
However harmless this may seem, he wanted to gain favoritism from the lower class by making it seem like he was doing good for them. But he was powering over the whole bank because of his high status, making his actions not democratic. Backing this up and arguing against Jackson's decision, Daniel Webster's response tells us that; "[Jackson’s message] extends the grasp of [the President] over every power of the government..raises a cry that liberty is in danger, at the very moment when it puts forth claims to powers heretofore unknown and unheard of"(Doc B). As Daniel Webster explained, Jackson is abusing his high
How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson? Jackson was born in the year 1767 to a poor family. When he was only 13 years old he was captured from the British during the revolutionary war. As he got older he found himself in the military and he was called a national hero when he fought in the battle of 1812. He served for two terms as president and Jacksonian or is followers say that he was democratic where the people are heard.
Because of these infringements on the rights of the people, Andrew Jackson was not a champion of the common man; the nickname “King Andrew,” from his opponents was accurate. When he was elected president, Andrew Jackson felt that he needed to remove John Quincy Adams’ appointees from office. To him, the clear answer was to replace them with his own followers and friends, creating a government where only one political party was effectively represented by presidential appointments. This use of the spoils system put people who were not qualified in powerful positions simply as a reward for supporting Jackson. He also had thirteen unofficial members in his cabinet to advise him.
Also he wanted the offices that are solely to benefit the people so that no man has more rights than another. Finally, Jackson was not democratic because he wanted the Indians to move out of his land. So he decided to have the U.S. Soldiers move them west into the Indian territory.
He started by replacing many government jobs to officials with his supporters”. This is a major reasons why Jackson was bad. He would be considered an absolute Monarch or King. An example of this is when the Supreme Court sides with the Indians against the state of Georgia, and jackson ignores the supreme court’s ruling. The “spoils system” corrupted the government because no one had a chance to get good at their
First, when Jackson won the election he implemented the Spoils System. The Spoils System is an action supposedly making government available to all by hiring the winners own people by firing old administration people. This is stating that the spoil system is making it available to the government by hiring winners by firing old administration people. Second, Jackson is responsible for the
Another reason to support why Andrew Jackson is an autocrat is that in Daniel Webster's Reply to Jackson's Bank Veto Message July 11, 1832 Jackson's message seeks to provoke the poor against the rich. It deliberately bombards entire classes of the people, for the purposes of turning against them the prejudices
This is not democratic because he is trusting unprofessional individuals who would always believe in what he says rather than having a professional. These are three reasons why Andrew Jackson did not advance the cause of