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 was elected by popular vote and became the seventh president of the United States in March 4, 1829.[1] In his presidency, I have known and perceived that he has done few of great actions. But in my opinion, I would not claim that he was either a good or bad president because I learned about his attainments in life, being a president, a fighter in wars, etc.; however, I have also learned some of his unimpressive performance that led to some people who did not find it convenient.
Adams was criticized by both parties: his own, the Federalists and the Republicans. He was also called a warmonger and an indecisive leader during wartime; along with his uncontrollable temper, he would make rash decisions without consulting his cabinet members (Gevinson). Britain and America signed the Jay’s Treaty in 1794, and it caused France to be highly unsatisfied ("Thomas Jefferson 's Monticello"). As a result in 1796, the French began to snatch or capture American merchant ships by surprise (“Milestones: 1784–1800 - Office of the Historian").However, the Foreign Minister decided to not be cooperative and instead insulted the American envoys; this incident became known as the XYZ affairs, and it, “sparked a white-hot reaction within the United States” ( “John Adams: Foreign Affairs”). President Adams requested Congress to to create a navy because the protecting American commerce was the top priority (Magill 46). Adams was in an unofficial war with France: Quasi War. Yet in the meantime, peace negotiations were also being held in France. In the Convention of 1800 or Treaty of Mortefontaine, peace was restored between America and France ("Milestones: 1784–1800 - Office of the Historian”). Adams’ goal was avoiding full scale with France, however his own party: the Federalists, supported war against France. That meant that
Jackson used his power as President to further his belief in a limited federal government. He accomplished this by vetoing any bill which he deemed to be either hindering the common man's rights, or expanding the federal government's power. Ironically though, in trying to limit governmental control, Jackson increased the President's power by vetoing more bills than the previous six presidents combined. These vetoes helped earn him the nickname "King Andrew I."
Andrew Jackson was a very influential, and controversial, president and Great American. Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767. He died on June 8th, 1845 (“History.net”). He was 6’1” and weighed 145lbs (“History.net”). He also was the first president to try to be assassinated (“waltercoffey.wordpress.com”).
After he graduated from college, he served as a judge in the Tennessee state district. He was also on the committee that formed the Tennessee state constitution (“Andrew Jackson,” 2014). His war career really started in his teenage years when he served as a courier during the war of 1812. His hate for the British also started at a young age. It was said that a British officer broke into Andrew's house and demanded that he shine his shoes, when Andrew refused, The drunk soldier slashed him across the face, leaving him with scars that would last forever.
Jackson did not fear the use and enforcement of violence to prove his points and acquire what he thought necessary. Public opinion was not a large concern of the seventh president either. Jackson usually sought to implement what he wanted personally rather than what may have been more beneficial for the country. For example, he was a slave owner. He also supported the ban of anti-slavery pamphlets in the mail.2
He requested these funds from congress in 1803, but was denied numerous times. Jefferson then decided to appoint James Monroe as a special ambassador to France. Due to his new authority, Monroe was then sent to try and buy land east of the Mississippi or the land in New Orleans itself. His goal was to at least secure the U.S. with the ability to access the river. Jefferson then authorized Monroe to offer up $10 million dollars for the purchase of New Orleans and part of the Floridas. If France were to refuse, they would then in return offer to only buy New Orleans. After Monroe and the Minister to France, Robert Livingston, learned that Napoleon had relinquished his desire to create an empire in North America. It then allowed them the daring opportunity to purchase the entire Louisiana territory all the way from Louisiana to the Rockies. This being the arrangement of a lifetime, Monroe and Livingston went beyond their mandate and seized the opportunity. Before the announcement of the purchase on July 4, 1803, they had already negotiated the entire treaty with
Jackson continually kept the people in mind during his choice decisions, not wanting the aristocracy to rule over America and its growing financial empires across the country. He believed everyone deserved a fair chance at life and at making money. For this reason, Jackson also wanted the federal government to have more overall power than each individual state. In 1832, the state of South Carolina argued that the state could defy Congress, and within its boundaries not abide by laws presented through the federal government, if the state did not like them. Jackson was outraged by the state’s lack of respect and refusal to come to terms with the federal government. As stated in Document E, Jackson finds the power to annul a law of the US “incompatible with the existence of the Union…”. His reasoning for not allowing South Carolina to go through with nullification is he feels a lack of unity will develop among the states if they think they can simply change or ignore a law if they feel it not fit for their specific state. With this, the federal government is left to shambles as well. Jackson continues his beliefs as shown through Document C and the Bank War of 1832. Once again his thou...
During his administration Jackson was faced with many key issues, of which the Nullification crisis is an example. This was a crisis over the doctrine of nullification, which was being strongly pushed by South Carolina. According to this doctrine, the state had the right to nullify government legislature that was inconsistent with its own. This doctrine was not used until 1832 when a new tariff was imposed that would reduce some duties but retain high taxes on many imports. The south felt this tariff would make them pay for northern industrialism, and they did not want to succumb to the will of the North. Jackson was against this theory of Nullification because he was a strong supporter of the Union. He took action against this by publicly 'nullifying nullification' and by moving troops into South Carolina to help the federal marshals collect the unpaid duties. Finally a compromise tariff was passed in 1833 which increased the number of duty free items and reduced other duties. Jackson's decisive actions in the Nullification crisis helped define the powers of the central government more clearly, they made it clear to the states that he would not suffer their tyranny, which might break up the Republic, just as the States would not tolerate a tyrannical central government.
Many of our early leaders of our country like Andrew Jackson have made a huge impact in history and in our society today. Some people would disagree and argue that Jackson was a very cruel, horrid man who was nothing but selfish and greedy and he did whatever he could do to get what we wanted in life and it did not matter what the consequences were. But what they do not know is that during “The Age of Jackson”, it helped shape the national agenda that we lacked and also fix our American policies that we did not enforce. From believing that the president’s authority was derived by the people, having rotating applicants in politics, and started the power to veto, he made a tremendous impact on our society today that you would have
In the 18th century, France owned more parts of the United States than any other European power. However, after the French and Indian war, France relinquished their Louisiana land to Spain. In 1801, Spain created a secret treaty with France, which would return the Louisiana territory. This instilled fear for the Americans because many of them depended on free access to the Mississippi River and New Orleans ports. Officials feared that Napoleon Bonaparte would blockade the river and the Gulf of Mexico in response to show his dominance. Thomas Jefferson saw the threat of the France and said; “The day that France takes...
...ssly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object to which it was formed. Jackson also pushed through Congress a force bill that authorized the use of federal troops to collect the tariff. The crisis was eased when, through the efforts of Henry Clay, Congress passed a compromise tariff in 1833 along with the force bill. As a last defiant gesture, South Carolina accepted the tariff but nullified the force bill. Jackson had preserved the Union, but nullification remained a great question.
The most important expansion of the power of the presidency happened during the Jackson administration. When Jackson used the veto power of the president to influence legislation as a matter of policy and not constitutionality he arguably altered the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches. This shift in power resulted in presidents being able to dictate with the threat of a veto the way congress writes laws. This set a precedent for future presidents to push legislation such as "The New Deal", "The Fair Deal", and "a Great Society" all of which are presidential proposals.
The Louisiana Purchase came as a surprise that neither Thomas Jefferson nor anyone else had ever dreamed of. It began with Thomas Jefferson sending two men, James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston, to Paris to negotiate the acquisition of New Orleans with the government of the feared Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon had roused fears once France acquired Louisiana from the Spanish. Concerned with French intentions, Thomas Jefferson took immediate action and sent his two men to negotiate. The negotiation didn’t go as intended at all. We asked to buy New Orleans, but Napoleon offered the entire Louisiana Territory. Apparently, Napoleon had little use for Louisiana. He also couldn’t spare any troops to defend the enormous amount of territory. Napoleon needed funds more than anything, so he could support his military ventures in Europe. This led to the exhilarating time of April, 1803 when Napoleon offered to sell Louisiana to the United States.