Treasury Secretary Jack Lew’s proposal to introduce a woman onto American currency, although meant to make up for an injustice, does not come without a major flaw. Lew’s proposal to remove Alexander Hamilton from his prominent position on the ten dollar bill relegates an influential historical figure. Although it is important to recognize women’s contributions to America, it should not be done at the expense of Hamilton when an undeserving man such as Andrew Jackson is honored on the $20 bill. Due to the debate surrounding America’s currency, Thomas Jefferson’s worthiness of being on the nickel has also been questioned. Admittingly, all men and women have their weaknesses, but it is important to recognize when those weaknesses outweigh their strengths. …show more content…
Throughout his time in office, Jackson set an important example by exercising the president's right to veto. Apart from setting this precedent, he did not help paint American in the best light. When Jackson forcefully removed Native Americans from their land, he opened up land for white subjects, but the ends did not justify the means. He went against the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Worcester v. Georgia case and ended up indirectly killing thousands of Native Americans on the Trail of Tears. Jackson’s racism towards Native Americans can be attributed to the time period but his blatant disregard of the law was inexcusable. Furthermore, it is ironic that Jackson, a man opposed to the Bank of the United States and the “economic aristocracy” he believed it represented, was placed on paper currency. His active resistance towards the Bank of the United States eventually led to its end which resulted in the Panic of 1837, a financial crisis that continued into the mid 1840’s. Removing Hamilton in order to retain Jackson, a president worthy of impeachment, on the ten dollar bill would be a significant blunder on Lew’s
THESIS: Thomas Jefferson was a wealthy plantation owner and politician that would speak out about slavery on a regular basis but would still employ slaves for his own use.
Recognizing the injustices president Andrew Jackson performed, Americans have considered the dispute over the removal of Jackson 's face from the twenty dollar bill. The real question remains why place America 's figures in iconic positions based on fame? Benedict Arnold is famous, yet he was a traitor to America . Why not place figures that contributed to the well-being of the country and upheld humane morals? Jackson 's administration only improved the system, initiating the progress toward a modern democratic government. Under President Jackson, the elimination of voter property qualifications allowed a variety of citizens from different social classes to elect government officials 1. Jackson also ended the national banks that resembled the greedy monopolies of the late 1800's 1.
Thomas Jefferson has an amazing role in our lives today from the hard work and time he spent to make an easier future for all of us. There are days that some of us could not thrive as the people we are without the appliances he made to make challenging tasks easier for us. Some people look up to him because he never stopped doing great things and never stopped showing unselfishness. Thomas Jefferson revolutionized the world of the 18th century and centuries to come. Thomas Jefferson was one of the most influential people of the 18th century because he was one of the founding fathers of America, he was the founder of the University of Virginia, and he was the creator of many life changing inventions, which drastically changed the world.
guilty of reckless disregard for the economic interests of the citizens of the United States. The national bank only benefitted the wealthy. Jackson vetoing the National Bank and Taney’s agreement to moving federal funds to the
In “From Notes on the State of Virginia,” Thomas Jefferson includes some proposed alterations to the Virginia Laws and discusses some differences between blacks and whites. First, he describes one of the proposed revisions regarding slavery: All slaves born after the enactment of the alteration will be freed; they will live with their parents till a certain age, then be nurtured at public disbursement and sent out of state to form their own colonies such that intermarrying and conflicts can be avoided between blacks and whites. Next, Jefferson indicates some physical differences between blacks and whites, including skin color, hair, amount of exudates secreted by kidneys and glands, level of transpiration, structure in the pulmonary organ, amount of sleep, and calmness when facing dangers. As he notes, these differences point out that blacks are inferior to whites in terms of their bodies. In addition, Jefferson also asserts that the blacks’ reasoning and imagination are much inferior to the whites’ after he observes some of the art work and writings from the blacks. As a result, based on his observation, he draws a conclusion that whites are superior to blacks in terms of both body and mind. However, Jefferson’s use of hasty generalization, begging the question, and insulting language in his analysis is a huge flaw which ruins the credibility of his argument and offenses his readers.
Andrew Jackson has been described as a great hero of his time and a man who was atrocious and would destroy the Union. Andrew Jackson accomplished a great number of things during his life but some of his actions were quite questionable. Looking from the present to the past gives insight into areas where the events can be examined more objectively. However, it is vital when examining past events to keep in mind the mindsets of the past. People had a different point of view and a different perspective than the current one. This must be kept in the forward part of the mind to understand the actions of those in the past. This paper will serve as a guide into the life of Andrew Jackson, his trials and tribulations, decisions and contradictions. From the beginning of his life, he was headstrong and that would lead him straight into the history books.
Jackson believed that the National Bank system was corrupt and unjust, so it was justifiable to withdraw federal funds. The National Bank was only useful for the rich, which were a minority in the United States. As a representer of the entire country, he needed to ensure that all systems were in favor of the general people, not just the elite. He “destroyed” the national bank by vetoing the charter that was approved by the senate. When he vetoed the charter, he lost a few of his wealthy voters, but Jackson gained votes from the common people in the election of 1832 (King Andrew and the Bank). Then, Jackson withdrew federal funds and created pet banks. This was an attempt to help the common man become equal individual of the US. Jackson’s efforts failed because these banks raised the demand of paper money, leading to inflation and an unstable economy. Even though this idea resulted in an economic downfall, it was a neither a crime nor treasonous; it was merely a poor decision. Jackso...
He declared the Union indivisible. He then branded nullification as treason. Congress reduced the tariffs in 1833, defusing the crisis. The Second Bank of the United States was a corporation controlled by Congress to ensure a national paper currency, and manage government banking. Similar to Thomas Jefferson, Jackson believed such a bank to be dangerous and corrupt.
Throughout the Jacksonian era the Jacksonians proved to be violators of the United States Constitution and not the guardians they believed themselves to be. Both the Jacksonians and President Jackson went against the Supreme Courts regarding cases that were said to be constitutional. An instance in which the Jacksonian Democrats violated the Constitution was in the "Trail of Tears". The Supreme Court stated that the Jacksonian Democrats' actions were unconstitutional because they had issued the "Indian Removal Act". By doing this, they were in violation of the treaty of New Echota. In the 1832 decision Worcester v. Georgia, Chief Justice Marshall ruled that the Cherokees had their own land and that they did not need to follow Georgia law in their own territory. This ruling of the Supreme Court did not stop Jacksonians from driving the Cherokees off of their land. Jackson used the Constitution to benefit himself when he vetoed the national bank, even after the Supreme Court had already ruled that the bank was constitutional. When South Carolina declared a reduced tariff void and threatened to secede, President Jackson responded in an unconstitutionally. He threatened to send militia to enforce the tariff and the Jacksonian Congress passed a bill approving this military force, if necessary. This was in direct violation of the Constitution. They continued to violate the Constitution by placing censors on the mail and intercepting abolitionist literature or mail into or from the south. This was an infringement on the Constitution because it violated the first amendment.
Thomas Jefferson was the third American President. Due to the fact that he was such an early President, he influenced our political system greatly, both in the short and long term with his seemingly quiet approach to congressional matters. During his presidency, many things happened that changed the United States as we know it. He coordinated the Louisiana Purchase, assisted in implementing the twelfth amendment, formed the character of the modern American President, and cut the U.S.’s war debt by a third.
In the summer of 1832 and Congress renewed the Bank’s charter even though it wasn’t due until 1836. Jackson hesitated to approve of the charter, so Henry Clay and Nicholas Biddle went on the offensive to attempt to persuade Jackson to pass the bill. Jackson, having had his opinion on the banks cemented by Clay’s presence in the organization, then committed to de-establishing the Second National Bank. He waged war against Biddle in particular to make sure Biddle lost power. He vetoed the bank bill, and after winning the race to be reelected, he closed Biddle’s bank. He ordered his Secretary of the Treasury to move money from the Second National Bank to smaller, state banks. When Congress returned from its summer recess, it censured him for his actions. In 1836, Bank of US was dead, and the new democratic-congressmen expunged Jackson’s censure. Because Jackson had no formal plan for managing the nation’s funds after the Second National Bank closed, it caused problems in Van Buren’s administration. He destroyed the Bank of the United States, in the main, for personal reasons. Jackson hated the bank before his presidency because as a wealthy land and slave owner he had lost money due to its fiscal policies. He believed that Congress had no right under the constitution to charter a
Jackson was a strong opponent of the unequal and aristocrat dominated economic structure of most of America. He was very against the Bank of America because he believed it to have a monopoly on banking and felt that it was owned and run unjustly by wealthy aristocrats who were not always Americans (B). It must also be noted however, that while the Bank of America was undoubtedly corrupt (Nicholas Biddle is known to have given sums of money to close friends, and was also known to regularly bribe newspapers and similar media.) it also did what it was supposed to do very well. It provided money and credit to many of the lower classes that Jackson defended, and also was the source of much economic growth. As a result of this veto Jackson established pet banks in many Western areas to try to appease his main group of supporters and build up the rivalry between the agrarian South and West and the industrial North (C). Many immigrants found that one of the first things they discovered upon entering America was a sense of economic equality and lack of poverty, which are exactly the things Jackson was working towards (D). The case Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge decided that a charter given a person or group to do a service does not allow that group to have complete rights over this service. This decision supports the Jacksonian Democracy ideas that the rights of the community are more important than the rights of business (H).
One of the Jacksonian Democrats’ attempts to reduce the influence of the rich was by vetoing the charter to the Bank of the United States. Jackson stated his reasons in Document B mainly as a precaution of...
The validity of President Andrew Jackson’s response to the Bank War issue has been contradicted by many, but his reasoning was supported by fact and inevitably beneficial to the country. Jackson’s primary involvement with the Second Bank of the United States arose during the suggested governmental re-chartering of the institution. It was during this period that the necessity and value of the Bank’s services were questioned.
“[T]he man on the ten-dollar bill is the father of the American treasury system, a signer of the Constitution, one of the primary authors of the Federalist Papers, and the loser of the infamous duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. Alexander Hamilton's earlier career as a Continental Army officer is less well known. Yet Hamilton's first experience in public service is important, not only because it was the springboard to his later career, but because it also deeply influenced his values and thinking” (Hamilton).