How Should Andrew Jackson Be Celebrated Today

620 Words3 Pages

The controversial debate on the presidency of Andrew Jackson is still being argued today. Jackson was no doubt a popular president considering he is still on the twenty dollar bill; therefore, it is obvious Jackson’s presidency impacted America immensely. Jackson, born on March 15, 1767, in South Carolina appealed to the public by referring to himself as a common man contrary to the former elitist presidents. He was also a famed general for defeating the British in the war of 1812. Loved by the public, Jackson would win the election of 1824, the beginning of the coming genocide. Jackson was one of the worst presidents America has ever had and considering the pain he put the Natives through, Jackson should not be celebrated today. Jackson was a terrible and ruthless man especially towards the Native Americans. Under the Jackson administration, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee made laws forbidding the use of Indian governments. This law threatened to arrest chiefs who attempted to hold meetings and was made specifically to force Indians to …show more content…

Due to the colonists wanting the best agricultural land possible, the Natives were removed from their homes. The Natives who wanted to protect their land used American law systems in the cases Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and Worcester v. Georgia in an attempt to stop the unjust actions. The supreme court agreed that the native nations were “sovereign nations” and could not be affected by the Georgia laws. Jackson went against this ruling and told the Cherokee Nation to “accept their fate, cede their eastern territory and move west”. The Trail of Tears was an event where seventeen thousand Natives were relocated to the west. A quarter of the Native population died during the thousand mile march. Jackson’s paving of the way to genocide makes him equally responsible for the deaths and consequences the Natives were forced to