Andrew jackson essay PDF

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Essay describing Andrew Jacksons importance in history...

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We all may recognize the man that resides on the twenty dollar bill; he is the seventh president of the United States Andrew Jackson. He is known as the “Hero of New Orleans,” a great military leader who fought for the common man and succeeded in avoiding North Carolina’s secession in the nullification crisis of 1832 (Miller Center at the University of Virginia). However, Jackson’s abuse of the presidential veto, failure to obey the Supreme Court and his expansionist ideology have severely damaged our country’s early roots. His actions as president led to a national financial panic, an upset of the system of checks and balances, and the forced removal of an entire race of people. Is this man, dubbed “King Andrew” by his opponents for his dictator-like tendencies (Library of Congress), the right figure to represent our nation on a bill that millions of Americans use daily? Jackson’s presidency proved rocky as soon as he entered the White House following the end of John Quincy Adams’ term. At his inauguration in 1828, Jackson was branded “King Mob” when he invited the hoi polloi to celebrate, and the group of disheveled laborers and coarse shopkeepers created a situation of bedlam. Furniture and china were destroyed, and Jackson himself had to be shepherded away from the chaotic jumble (The American Pageant). Once in office, Jackson employed the corrupt “spoils system,” in which his political supporters, the Democrats, received positions of public office. Jackson did not take into account the political experience or character of his cabinet, and once appointed Samuel Swartwout as collector of the New York customhouse. Swartwout succeeded in stealing 1 million dollars of government revenue as a consequence of Jackson’s foolishness (Miller Center at the University of Virginia). Not only did Jackson encounter issues with his representatives in the White House, but he also had his own confrontations with the two other branches of the government. In the 1832 Supreme Court case Worcester vs. Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the Cherokee Indians were “distinct, independent political communities retaining their original natural rights” and therefore they could not be forced to relocate westward. However, President Jackson ignored this judicial decision and maintained that the Native Americans either had to move or submit to Georgia’s government (New Georgia Encyclopedia). This failure to comply with a court decision explicitly upset the checks and balances system of the American government. Jackson also frequently, but legally, opposed the desires of congress as he issued twelve executive vetoes to override the legislative branch’s decisions. These vetoes often prevented internal improvement projects or other processes that congress and portions of the public desired, which in part garnered him the nickname “King Andrew.” For example, he vetoed a bill “for the improvement of certain harbors, and the navigation of certain rivers” (United States Senate). Jackson clashed with Congress multiple times, yet the most notable and detrimental instance regarded the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States. Andrew Jackson’s veto of the Bank of the United States had a significant impact on the nation’s economy. He felt the bank was unconstitutional and believed it gave an overwhelming amount of power to the rich, so Jackson decided to veto the recharter of the Bank of the United States, resulting in the bank’s collapse in 1836 (The War Against the Bank). In Andrew Jackson’s Bank Veto he states, “It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes” (Andrew Jackson’s Bank Veto). In other words, Jackson tried to justify his veto by stating that the bank was run by the rich and was not helpful to the common man. This veto angered the supporters of the bank and they tried to counterattack Jackson’s efforts which created more tension. Along with the collapse of the bank, the economy of the United States also crumbled creating the Panic of 1837. Jackson’s distrust of the bank caused him to remove federal money and place the money in pet banks. As pet banks failed, the

government funds disappeared with the banks. Instead of helping the country, this situation created unemployment, the closure of hundreds of banks, and economic tensions throughout the states (The American Pageant)....