The Presidency of Andrew Jackson
In this paper I'll go over his presidency, focusing on both the highs and the lows of his two terms in office, from 1829-1837. The issues that I'll focus on are states’ rights, the tariff, the spoils system, Indian removal and banking policies; these controversies brought forth strong rivalry over his years of president. He was known for his iron will and severe personality, and strong use of the powers of his office that made his years of presidency to be known as the "Age of Jackson."
Jackson served as delegate to Tennessee in the 1796 Constitutional convention and a congressman for a year (from 1796-97). He was elected senator in 1797, but financial problems forced him to resign and return to Tennessee in less than a year. Later he served as a
Tennessee superior court judge for six years starting in 1798. In 1804 he retired from the bench and moved to Nashville and devoted time to business ventures and his plantation.
In 1814 Jackson was a Major General in the Tennessee Militia, here he was ordered to march against the Creek Indians, who were pro-British in the war of 1812. Eventually he forced all Indians out of the area. His victory's impressed some people in Washington and Jackson was put in command of the defense of New Orleans. This show of American strength made Americans feel proud after a war filled with military defeats. Jackson was given the nickname "Old Hickory", and was treated as a national hero.
In 1822 the Tennessee Legislature nominated him for president and the following year he was elected the U.S. senate. He also nearly won the presidential campaign of 1824. However as a result of the
"corrupt bargain" with Henry Clay, he ended up losing. In 1828 Andrew
Jackson became the seventh President to the United States.
Instead of the normal cabinet made up by the president, he relied more on an informal group of newspaper writers and northern politicians who had worked for his election. I believe that this made him more in contact with the people of the United States, and with the public opinion and feelings toward national issues. President Jackson developed the system of "rotation in office." This was used to protect the American people from a development of a old political group by removing ...
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...xas takeover to Martin Van Buren.
Jackson was a powerful voice in the Democratic party even after retired. He died on June 8, 1845 on his plantation, the Hermitage, in Nashville Tennessee.
Andrew Jackson was the first "peoples president." This comes from his youth in a frontier territory and his "people qualities" which helped him to be more touch with the people of the United
States, and therefore the people of the United States took a more active role in the Government. He even went so far as to call himself the elected representative of all American people. I think that
Jackson's strengthening of the powers of the presidency are the biggest influence to this day. He used the power of the veto 12 times
(more times than all of his successors combined). I only wish that their was a candidate like that running for election in '04. When you gave this project, I though Jackson was a mean tempered Indian fighter who trashed the White House and found his way to office because he took over Florida and defended New Orleans Successfully. But I grew to learn that he was really a great president and did a lot for the presidency of the United States of America.
Parsons, L. H. (2009). The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Throughout his presidency, Andrew Jackson was regarded as both a tyrant (Document E) as well a democratic rembrandt. However, by the conclusion of his rule, Andrew Jackson’s America had emerged as a pseudo democracy, strongly supported and advocated for, but falling short and ultimately failing. The drastic reforms during the Age of Jackson brought about radical changes to the young nation that would be felt throughout the country and would set the foundation for politics today. President Andrew Jackson reformed the American voting system, made significant moves against the National Bank, sparked the beginning of democratic reform movements, and most importantly gave the Common Man a voice in the government. These democratic initiatives, however, were not seen everywhere as America was slowly divided by differing views on contentious topics and individualistic ideals. Jacksonian America, did not promote the democratic
In 1812 a war began. Jackson was elected the general of Tennessee Militia in 1802. Then the troops were needed on the southern and western frontiers, the War Department sent Jackson along with Tennessee Militia. Jackson became a war hero, in doing so, he surprisingly defended New Orleans against a full-scale attack by the British forcing them to withdraw form Louisiana. The unexpected victory launched an enormous sense of national pride as America began to realize its true potential.
Earle, Johnathan H. Jacksonian Antislavery and the Politics of Free Soil 1824-1854. The University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
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.
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.
President Jackson singlehandedly led the destruction of the Native Americans with his aggressive actions and hostile decisions. President Jackson shirked his responsibility to protect the Naïve Americans of the United States by ignoring the Supreme Court’s decision, promoting legislation to bring about the separation of Native Americans and whites, and his decision to involve United States Armed Forces against Indian Tribes. If it was not for President Jackson’s actions, the future of the Native Americans would have been different or at least
By the time Jackson came to power, the nation had been drastically changed by the Industrial Revolution. The simple, pastoral, agricultural lifestyle was being replaced by the manufacturing world, of cities and factories. Politically, the nation was in great turmoil. There was still an everlasting debate among men in power, over what should prevail, the rights of the states, or the rights of the Federal Government. If not for several personal reasons, Jackson would have been a staunch advocator of states rights. The right to vote was still a major issue, the middle class feeling robbed of power in governmental decisions, the upperclass feeling threatened by the growth of the middleclass. However, Jackson brought with him many new ideas and principles. Since he himself had very modest roots, he sympathized with the middle and lower classes. He had worked for everything he had of value in life, and he acknow...
Andrew Jackson was a popular hero during the War of 1812 who later became president of the United States. After losing the previous election to Quincy Adams, in 1828, Andrew Jackson won the electorate and defeated Adams 178-83 to become the 7th President of the United States. Sadly thereafter the election Jackson’s Wife Raquel died of a heart attack, nonetheless, President Jackson was inaugurated on March 4, 1829 in the presence of thousands.
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 is one of the most controversial presidents. Many regard him as a war hero, the father of the Democratic Party, an inspiring leader, and a spokesman for the common man. While there is plenty to praise about the seventh president, his legacy is tarnished by his racism, disregard for the law of the land, cruelty towards the Native Americans, and ruthless temper. Jackson was an intriguing man who was multi-faceted. One must not look at a singular dimension, and cast judgment on him as a whole. To accurately evaluate one of the most complex presidents, it is crucial to observe Jackson from all possible angles. Prior lifestyle, hardships in life, political ideology, lifestyle of the time, political developments, and his character
Jackson’s inauguration was extremely different from any past presidencies. A rowdy mob of office seekers went insane on the day of the inauguration. Many people wanted to call it enthusiasm, but the real truth was that Jackson’s supporters had been promised high political positions in return for their support, or the “Spoils System”. These promises were honored right after Jackson entered is presidency. 919 officials were removed from government positions, taking away nearly 10 percent of all government positions. The hardest changed organization in the federal government was the post office. It was the largest department in the federal government, and in one year, 423 workers were deprived of their positions, and many of them had records of good service (American 1). This shallow effect in order to achieve presidency would be considered clever and witty, if it weren’t for the fact that Jackson was employing his supporters, who were mostly lower to middle class (considering that he was “the common man”, and so were his supporters). If the Spoils System had taken place with people of a more educated rank, then Jackson could’ve had a support system, while employing his political friends to higher ran...
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).
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...
At the time Andrew Jackson was president, there was a fast growing population and a desire for more land. Because of this, expansion was inevitable. To the west, many native Indian tribes were settled. Andrew Jackson spent a good deal of his presidency dealing with the removal of the Indians in western land. Throughout the 1800’s, westward expansion harmed the natives, was an invasion of their land, which led to war and tension between the natives and America, specifically the Cherokee Nation.