Andrew Jackson Hero

Hero, noun, meaning a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. (Google-dictionary, 2018). Is this all that it takes to be considered a hero? Andrew Jackson was the fifth president of the United States of America. He was one of the most controversial presidents in this nation’s history. He had a lot of supporters, as well as abundant enemies. Jackson was a self-made man and the first president who was not well-born. Before he was born, his father passed away, leaving his family in poverty. Jackson joined the militia at the young age of 13. He was captured by the British and got his head and hand sliced. Following the war, he pursued law. Due to this, he was able to be a planter with land and

In between the election of 1824 and the election of 1828, Jackson and his supporters created the Democratic political party. According to the textbook, “This new party, they promised would would represent ordinary farmers, workers, and the poor, not the rich and well-born who had taken control of the Republican Party” (Hart, 2005). During the election of 1828, many new democrats voted. Previously, only educated men who owned property were allowed to vote. Now, the common people, like farmers from the west, were also given the right to vote. For this reason, the amount of voters significantly increased. Also, Jackson introduced the United States to the idea of mudslinging which is still used today. Mudslinging is a campaign strategy that consists of outing your opponents down in order to get more votes. Additionally, democrats replaced the caucus system with nominating conventions. So, instead of congress committees choosing political candidates, delegates from the states chose them. Furthermore, Jackson exchanged federal employees with democratic supporters. As stated in the textbook, “Rotating people in office was more democratic than lifetime service, he said, because it gave more people a chance to serve their government” (Hart, 2005). This was called the spoils system, it returned the government to a democracy, and made it equitable. Moreover, a bureaucratic government was introduced. This is a form of government that is still used today where non-elected officials can hold office positions. Though one may argue Andrew Jackson’s spoil systems resemble tyrannical acts, his intentions were to ameliorate the government. Prior to this, the government was overpowered by republicans; president Jackson returned it to impartiality. This is significant because Jackson and his supporters created a major political party that is still standing to this day. Likewise, the majority of the population were common