Essay On How Did Andrew Jackson Act Like A King

Andrew Jackson was a man of action not of philosophy people say. He once was a slave owner before his presidency years. He took up the matter of slavery in only a political aspect. America was supposed to be a land of the free, and yet we have slaves. On July 5, 1852 people gathered in New York to here a speech about Independence Day by an African American former slave Fredrick Douglas. He blamed Andrew Jackson for the spread of slavery in America. He saw him as a hypocritical politician and a hypocritical American. Jackson transformed millions of acres of land that Indians lived on (Indian removal act) in the south into cotton plantations. This probably would have happened without Jackson but he was the heart of this whole idea in making plantations for slaves to work on. Now if he was the man he says he is why would he want more land for African Americans to work on?

There are many who are against Andrew Jackson because he is a hypocrite. An example of this is how Jackson states he is against slavery but still owned slaves. One has to understand that America was founded on hypocrisy. Essentially what Jackson is trying to do is to make compromises on situations so he can support both sides of an argument to represent as many people as possible.

This quote by Jackson underlies the fact the he was a selfish, tyrannical ruler. He did not make decisions based on the interests of the whole nation but on his own personal benefit, in search of self- achievement. Although he was portrayed or possibly manipulated the citizens to believe that he was a president for the common man, that was simply not the way he acted. As president, he purposely ignored the power of the Judicial branch to judge laws, and strengthened the power of the Executive branch above the limits in the Constitution. He was also said to be rude and uneducated, which

One reason why Jackson was not democratic is his use of the spoils system. “King Andrew the first...born to command” (cartoon of Jackson that appeared in the presidential election of 1832). This cartoon shows how he felt like he could do whatever he wanted to further himself. “no one man has any more...right to (government jobs) than another” (Andrew Jackson’s letter to Congress). The spoils system gave government jobs to supporters of the political leader, often leading to fraud and inefficiency. Using power to reward people who are your supporters, rather than due to skill and experience, is wrong. It is also excluding certain people from having a say in the government, and getting what should be theirs, which is not democratic.

Jacksonian Democrats believed that they were protecting individual liberty, political democracy, the equality of economic opportunity, and upholding the rights of the Constitution of the United States. In my opinion, the Jacksonians were, to some extent, guardians of the United States. However, the Jacksonians did have their flaws.

Andrew Jackson has gone down as one of the best presidents in United States history and that’s because he did many great things to improve the United States. Throughout his presidency he constantly abused his power as the president and did many things that expanded the powers of the president. One of the biggest things that President Jackson did while in office was pass the Indian Removal Act. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was when Jackson forced all the Indians to move to the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, while the Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional. Many of the Indians went peacefully, but many of the Indians also decided to protest and take it to the Supreme Court (Darrenkamp). While the court did side with the Indians Jackson and Congress forced the Indians to give up their land. The federal troops were called in to escort the Indians to their new land. Fifteen thousand Indians were forced to move and while on their way about a third of the Indians died, and this event became to be known as the Trail of Tears (Darrenkamp). Jackson had

With the dissipating property qualifications, Jackson did little to help others who needed rights for which the Constitution was created. “We hold these truths self evident that all men are created equal” (Doc. A). Yes, it does say all men, but Jackson did nothing to help men who needed it the most. He did not help men such as blacks and native americans and did nothing about women's rights. During his presidency, women were petitioning for rights and jobs besides factory workers, stay at home mothers, and school teachers and yet he did nothing about it. Also, he did not help workers who wanted labor unions. Instead, he stated that the employer has full control over them and that it was illegal to form labor unions. Then there is the slavery issue which no president had yet

There are many different views of Jacksonian's being guardians of individual liberties. Andrew Jackson gave white males a much greater opportunity for expansion. Jackson was a true believer of Western expansion, and Indian removal, something that would get him much criticism from historians today. He believed that both were a necessity for white expansion and American prosperity. Jackson still did not try to help women, Indians, or African Americans, both slave and free to have any actual rights. Even so you can still make the argument that he was still a guardian of individual liberties, since they rarely had any rights previously as it was. He was a keeper of liberties to those white males who were the only ones allowed specialized liberties.

Even though Jackson was very successful during his presidency, there were some events in history that really showed his “weaknesses”. Jackson was classified as a lunatic. He was feared by many, especially his opponents. Due to his temper and poor decisions, Jackson did not mind to go to war for what he believed in or did not care to remove anyone against him. He was a real savage, and I feel the country at this time of period needed this type of mentality in the presidency. A negative event that took place during his term was the Trail of Tears, which was the forced removal of Native Americans from their homeland, resulting in the death of thousands of people. He also promoted slavery and he himself owned many and showed cruelty towards them. Andrew Jackson was stubborn and only cared about himself, but I do believe he

Jackson was more like a king for lots of reasons. Like the Nullification Crisis &

Andrew Jackson abused his power, and did not promote democracy. He forced Native Americans off their lands and into reservations and suppressed the protest against the tariffs of 1828. Due to his frontier beginnings Andrew Jackson did not feel sympathetic to Native Americans. He thought that the Indians in the east should be taken away from their lands and put in small reservations in the west. Even though he faced tough resistance from the Supreme Court, Jackson pushed through with his plan, “In 1831 the Supreme Court held that Indians had the right to keep their lands. An angry Jackson disagreed. Groups that refused to move west voluntarily were met with military force usually with tragic results” (265). In this quote Jackson defies the Supreme Court and uses the

     Andrew Jackson was born in the Waxhaws near the border of North and South Carolina, on March 15, 1767. When Andrew Jackson was born, no one probably guessed that he would be the seventh president of the United States of America. He wasn’t a “high class” person or had all the same credentials, but he became a war hero thus lifting him to his presidency.

When Jackson was President, he acted more like a King. A King is a man who holds by life tenure, and usually by heredity right, the chief authority over a country and people. The spoil system, Removal of deposits, and ignored major problems are some issues when Jackson acted like an King.

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States of America. He came into the presidency during a time when America had plateaued in its expansion west, the issue of slavery causing issues between the states, and corrupt government officials were abundant.

If I lived back in the Jacksonian Era, my view of the man would be very unpleasant. These actions are something that a tyrant would do, like King Louis XIV or Muammar Gaddafi, who totally ignored their nations’ rights. I believe Andrew Jackson ignored two branches of the United States government; the legislative and the judicial branches. He vetoed laws that he believes that hurt the country, but in my eyes, the Bank was always needed, especially in their time of economic crisis. He also ignored the decision of the Supreme Court in the Cherokee vs. Georgia case, something that a President should not do. I do acknowledge Andrew Jackson’s protection of democracy and