All hail King Andrew Jackson. In the election of 1824, presidential candidate Andrew Jackson had lost to John Quincy Adams, son of former president John Adams, in a brutal campaign war. Jackson sought revenge and did everything to sabotage Adams term as president, including branding his presidency the “corrupt bargain”, and giving his wife so much grief that she died. When Jackson finally became president and defeated Adams in 1828 his mantra was that the voice of the People must be heard, however many felt that he did not live up to his mantra. This raises the question: How democratic was Andrew Jackson? The term democratic can be defined as a government ruled by the people. Andrew Jackson was not democratic because of his mistreatment of the Native Americans, the decision of the bank, and his abuse of power. One reason why Andrew Jackson was not democratic was because of his mistreatment of the Native American. Today, the population of Native Americans are significantly less than when Jackson served as the leader of the free world. From the early 1830’s until 1840, Jackson forced 5 separate Indian tribes onto a small piece of land (Doc L). A likely reason for this sudden move …show more content…
He made the Native Americans feel unwelcomed in their own country by taking their land and shipping them off were they would not bother a white man. Jackson also changed the voting system to benefit his own needs while in office. He was also overwhelmed by the amount of power he possessed and eventually succumbed to the temptations of selfishness. Although President Andrew Jackson was certainly not democratic, he allowed future presidents to learn from his mistakes so that history does not repeat itself. His time as president offered guidance to the true democracy America uses today in its
It is agreeable that the Jacksonian Democrats perceived themselves as strict guardians of the United States Constitution. It is not agreeable with how they went about preserving the political democracy, individual liberty, and equality of economic opportunity they stood for. While trying to create this balance, Jackson used tactics favorable only to his opinion. Jackson’s main idea was to rid of aristocracy, giving the power to the poorer classes, standing against rich white men. The flaw in their scheme was that the people who came up with this idea were all rich white men.
Before Andrew Jackson became president, he had a rough life. His parents died when he was young so he grew up without guidance. Jackson was in all the fights he could pick and to many, a wild child. By age 17, he calmed down and began planning his life. It wasn’t until after he had enrolled in the war of 1813 and showed great leadership and strength, that he was in the spot for presidency. (BG Essay) Many people believe in a Democratic nation. Not everyone follows one though. In a democratic nation, the voices of the people are heard. The leader(s) listen and make changes the people want done. Throughout Andrew Jackson’s time in office, he showed his country many undemocratic actions. He made some great changes and some not so great friendships. How democratic was Andrew Jackson? In the eyes of some, Jackson was not democratic. In many of his actions, he is shown to take one side of two things and do anything to make sure that side
Andrew Jackson had many significant contributions to the democratic state of the country. One of those contributions, as stated in document B, was Jackson’s victory of the 1928 Presidential election. What this election did was accelerate the transfer of power from the national elite to the common-man; the universal-white-men now had a larger role in the government. As the graph in document A shows, the methods of electing Presidential electors before Jackson’s Presidency was for-the-most-part dominated by state legislature, it was during Jackson’s administration by which the people were electing Presidential electors. As President, Jackson sought to rid the government of all its corrupt officials. This is backed up by the information in document D, which states that Jackson believed that the offices should be rotated every four years and filled by the people. The same document states that Jackson believed the president should serve a single term of no more than four or six years; the senators should have similar constraints with subjection to removal. All of this was fueled by his theory that there was more to be gained with the rotation of office holders that the long continuance of them and that office were not created to give certain men support rather than help the people, as ex...
Andrew Jackson was the epitome of the American Dream. He worked his way from being an orphan and a war prisoner before he was 14, to being the greatest military general America had ever seen. He won the battle of New Orleans and took over Florida with his own army. Common citizens marveled at his war tactics and his record of cheating death. He ran for President in 1824 and nearly won, if not for a “corrupt bargain”. He was the champion of the people, and the common men loved him. Despite all this, Andrew Jackson is infamous as one of the worst Presidents in the history of the United States. As President, he caused the economic crisis of 1837, he implemented the spoils system to reward cronies, and he ordered the genocide of Native
Andrew Jackson was like no other president before him. The previous presidents had one thing in common, they were all part of the founding fathers or in John Quincy Adam’s case was the son of a founding father. However Jackson was a plantation owner from the west who had no connections with the government. He also had different views from other presidents that made his presidency unique. Two things that separated Andrew Jackson’s presidency from previous presidencies were he reached out to the common people and he was disapproving of the Bank of United States.
Andrew Jackson began a whole new era in American history. Amongst his greatest accomplishments were evoking the "common man" to be interested in government and tailoring democracy to satisfy the same "common man's" needs. Of course, Jackson could not go about making such radical changes without supporters, but that never surfaced as a problem. Jacksonian Democrats, as they came to be called, were great in number during the 1820's and 1830's. They advocated all of the issues that President Jackson did, and did so with great vigor. They thought of themselves very highly because they recognized their responsibilities as American citizens. They realized that as political leaders they had a true purpose- to protect and serve the American people. The Jacksonians justified their view of themselves in their sincere attempts to guard the United States Constitution by both promoting equality of economic opportunity and increasing political democracy, but they had their downfalls with issues of individual liberties.
America has many presidents who are still remembered with their legacies, but President Andrew Jackson’s presidency is a history of which the Native American will never forget. Jackson’s democracy was not in support for women to vote, and black men to join in armies. The people who paid the greatest price through his presidency were the Indian tribes, whom he forced to move from their land which belonged to their ancestors.
Andrew Jackson may just be a former president to many people, but when viewing the political history of the United States of America, it is apparent that Andrew Jackson’s legacy has been affecting the United States from before his presidency, and it continuously effecting this country today. Some key parts of Jacksonian Politics are Jackson’s platform and his log cabin appeal. Jackson built compassion in voters by fighting for his country during the War of 1812, by having the common man log cabin appeal, and by fighting the common trend of the wealthy benefiting the wealthy by standing up for the greater good of common men. To fully understand Jacksonian politics you must understand the timeline in which he held presidency, as well as the
Andrew Jackson’s influence on the politics of his time was remarkable. He was the only president to have an era named after him. He also changed the way this country was run and expanded the country’s borders. He changed much, but the four most important aspects of this era, in chronological order, were his victory over the British, his defeat in the presidential race of 1824, his successful presidential campaign in 1828, and his decision to remove Native Americans to land west of the Mississippi. His victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans lifted his popularity exponentially. He was a newfound American hero, and this pushed his political ambitions towards the White House. In 1824 Jackson was defeated in a close presidential race, dubbed the corrupt bargain by his supporters. He was not a man who liked to lose, especially when he felt that the people wanted him as president. Consequently, he ran a successful campaign in 1828, becoming the seventh president of the United States. One of the most important decisions Jackson made in office was the removal of Native Americans to lands west of the Mississippi River. These four aspects of Andrew Jackson’s life and presidency shaped this era into the Jacksonian Era.
He was elected by popular vote. Jackson wanted to cater to the common people. Jackson was the first president to become a democrat. The other presidents before him were either a federalist, democratic-republican or a republican. He vetoed more than twelve bills than his six predecessors. He wanted to make sure his people were treated fairly. The first president, George Washington, to the sixth president, John Quincy Adams, only vetoed nine bills. The first six presidents before him were wealthy and educated. Andrew Jackson did not have much money and felt education was not really necessary. Overall, Jackson seemed to be a hero compared to the other presidents before him.
Overall, I do think Andrew Jackson was democratic, but had his flaws. His overall ideas
Many actions taken by Jackson did reinforce the new Jacksonian Democracy (an increase in popular participation in government).1 He also displayed strong goals for a strengthened national government and his actions were those of a great leader. He had no affliction with vetoing bills he did not lik...
Andrew Jackson has committed numerous poor decisions that have negatively impacted America and its citizens throughout the past. Jackson’s decisions led to the death of 4,000 members of the Cherokee tribe, he ruined the economy of our new and growing nation, and killed Charles Dickinson when his pride was damaged. Many of his decisions were made out of improper judgement and resulted in many people losing their jobs and lives.
For the first time in American history, a presidential election was the focus of public attention. Jackson's election in 1828 marked a new direction in American politics. Jackson’s early presidency was unlike many others because his general vision was to bring American people into the presidency. The Age of Jackson was the widespread desire for equality of opportunity, born of the conviction that no one should have special privileges at the expense of anyone else (pg. 132). He had faith in the American people to know what is in the best interest of the nation. He spoke on behalf of ordinary people and against established elites. The Age of Jackson is a period in history referred to as the rise of political democracy in America through the creation of the Democrat party. President Andrew Jacksons goal was to reform the government by reestablishing the Spoils System, where he fired anyone that was not a loyal Democrat and replaced them with new federal workers for partisan reasons. Jacksonians’ believed that the role of the government was to fulfill the country’s destiny by looking after the economic
In the 1820-1830’s, Andrew Jacksonian Democrats boasted their glorious actions to defend the American people. Andrew Jackson claimed to be “the common man,” but some of actions seemed more like a king. Andrew Jackson’s opponents tried to exploit his overassertion of authority. Some of Andrew Jackson’s actions and policies promoted the common people, while his other actions exploited the people and created an ineffective democracy.