How Did Andrew Jackson Abuse His Power

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Andrew Jackson With a desire to free themselves from the shackles of Monarchial rule, our nation’s Founding Fathers established a system of checks and balances, which would limit the power of each governmental branch. In the history of the United States, each president has tried to use his power in order to effectively govern the people of the country. Some times, the president oversteps his boundaries and makes use of his power for the better. Through the years of 1829-1837, the seventh president of the United States of America did not comply with either of the governmental branches (the judiciary branch or the legislative branch), but also abused his own power in the executive seat. For this reason I believe that Andrew Jackson was a bad …show more content…

Jackson signed over ninety treaties with the Indian tribes but did not honor them. He also instated the Indian Removal Act; this Act moved thousands of Indian families from their homes to lands designated for them in Oklahoma, even after the Native Americans had made so many advances in becoming civilized, so they would be accepted by the government and by other American citizens. The natives who were evicted from their homes were forced to walk all the way from Southern United States to west of the Mississippi River in the cold winter, with nothing but the clothes on their backs. This walk was responsible for the death of nearly four thousand Native Americans. A good president would not have jeopardized the lives of innocent people, or have tried to steal power to make himself the center of the government. Referring to his intention to move the Native Americans towards the Mississippi, despite the Supreme Court rulings, Andrew Jackson says, "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce …show more content…

An example is that Jackson's presidency marked the beginning to the ascendancy of the "spoils system" in American politics. As President, he initiated sweeping removals among high-ranking government officials—Washington bureau chiefs, land and customs officers, and federal marshals and attorneys for his own gain. Jackson claimed to be purging the corruption, \ and arrogance that came with long tenure, and restoring the opportunity for government service to the citizenry at large through "rotation in office." Many offices were distributed out as rewards for political services. Newspaper editors, who had championed Jackson's cause, came in for special favor. An old army comrade and political sycophant named Samuel Swartwout was his most appalling appointee. Against all advice, Jackson made him collector of the New York City customhouse, where the government collected nearly half its annual revenue. Swartwout absconded with more than one million dollars in the year of 1838, an astounding amount for that day. The end result was that Jackson was surrounded in the government by people he knew liked him as their president; they all trusted him and he trusted

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