Andrew Jackson, born in 1767, was the creator of democracy. A president of America, he won the election in 1828 and was reelected in 1832. He grew up poor, and had to work hard to survive in his younger years. This made him a great democratic candidate, appealing to the common man. Before he was elected, he was also a famous and respected war hero. But was what he did in his presidency really democratic? I think he was democratic for three reasons, the spoils system, the Indian Removal Act, the National Bank situation.
The first problem Jackson caused has to do with the spoils system. This is when a person in a high position, like Andrew Jackson, takes out people more prepared for the job, putting in his supporters instead. This encourages people to support a person for the chance of getting a governmental position. “The duties of all public officers are… so plain and simple that men of
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Jackson took money away from the National Bank and put it into more state banks, claiming that ‘It is easy to conceive that great evils to our country,’(Document 4). He says that the bank will only send out money to the right and powerful, and that distributing money to the state banks will prevent this. This was very democratic, because by giving money to the state banks, he gives money to the common man. However, Daniel Webster sent this in reply to Jackson's claim. ‘It manifestly seeks to inflame the poor against the right, it wantonly attacks whole classes of the people, for the purposes of turning against them the prejudices and resentments of the other classes.” Jackson, however, took action anyway. This lead to the panic of 1837, where paper money lost almost all value, banks went bankrupt, paper money was suddenly being traded for gold and silver. This was called inflation and depression. This was democratic, but it was just a very poor decision on Jackson’s
Jackson also encouraged the spoils system, which gave jobs in public office to the supporters of the successful political party. Was this democratic of him? As
Jackson’s version of democracy was in fact a democracy. He was not a very wealthy man, he owned a home and some land. Which was more than could be said about most Americans at the time. About ten percent of the Americans living there at that time owned enough land to vote. There was a law, stating that only white males with a good portion of land could vote in the presidential election. Andrew Jackson thought this system was so unfair, he created a new way to govern the citizens of the newly formed United States.
Andrew Jackson was democratic in geographic ways because according to Document letter J in the Indian removal Act Andrew Jackson wanted to set apart a territory for the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi River and outside the limits of any state or territory now formed. Also if they remain within the limits of the states they must be subject to their laws. Although some people might think he is not democratic because he forced the Indian tribes out of their land and they went on the Trail of Tears, he is democratic because he found them new land west of the Mississippi River and according to American Journey History textbook he adopted a small Native American boy who was left from the rest of the tribe.
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.
Andrew Jackson the seventh president of the United States who was beloved by many. He was born between North and South Carolina in 1767. He grew up poor. Democratic means that the people determine the President, Congress and all public offices. People does not include Native Americans or slaves. Andrew Jackson was Democratic. Andrew Jackson was democratic because of government equality, the Indian Removal Act, and because he was a common man.
Was Andrew Jackson the democratic figure our great nation needed in the mid 1800’s? From 1828 to 1836, Andrew Jackson served as president in the United States of America. During that time, the country was torn in half due to controversies such as the eviction of the national bank, the Indian Removal, and the spoils system. Although some people believed Jackson was fair to the common man, Jackson acted undemocratically during his presidency because he was not fair to everyone and only listened to his supporters.
In addition to creating a more democratic country, Jackson also tried to establish equal economic opportunity for the people of America. The best example of this is the vetoing of the charter of the Bank of the United States. The bank was a huge monopoly. It was ran by aristocrats, most of which were from England. Nicholas Biddle, who was the president of the bank, often used funds from the bank to lend money to the members of Congress, thus wining their support.
Jackson also gave government jobs to regular people. This was called the spoils system. He appointed people to federal jobs depending on whether they had campaigned for the Democratic Party. Anyone currently in office who was not a democratic was replaced with a democrat. This was called the spoils system because it promoted a corrupt government. He also believed in rotation in office. He wanted to make it possible for more democrats to have government jobs, so he limited a person's time in office to one term. The spoils system showed how one man was no better than another and helped build a strong two-party system.
When Andrew Jackson was denied presidency in 1824 due to “the corrupt bargain” between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, he was furious at the lack of democracy in the election system. He became determined to institute a new age of genuine democracy in America where the voice of the people wouldim being monarchal, Andrew Jackson was a very democratic president evidenced by his drive to give the people more representation and also his attempted transfer of power from the few to the many.
Nicholas Biddle proved great opposition to President Jackson. He wanted to re-charter the National Bank; however, many people were against Biddle’s decision. This was particularly true of people in the west. They were still wary of a national bank, after the Panic of 1819, which involved mishaps in land speculation. Jackson shared the predominately western opinion that several small banks would be a better service to the nation than one, large bank would. A major problem with a national bank would lie in it’s willingness only to make loans to the wealthy. This would be of no use to the middleclass. Jackson would not allow Biddle to gain any more power than he already had.
During the administration of Andrew Jackson, the United States was a nation of change both politically and socially. American society was a society of opportunity. Americans felt that, given a chance, they could make a better life for themselves. This was the era of the common people, the era of democracy. Andrew Jackson appealed to the American people because he stood for values many regarded with favor. However democratic Jackson may seem, he was more tyrant-like than any of his predecessors. His major offerings to the nation included majority rule and a popular presidency, however offered no benefits to women, African Americans, nor Native Americans. Jacksonian Democracy was
In addition to creating a more democratic country, Jackson also tried to establish equal economic opportunity for the people of America. The best example of this is the vetoing of the charter of the Bank of the United States. The bank was a huge monopoly. It was ran by aristocrats, most of which were from England. Nicholas Biddle, who was the president of the bank, often used funds from the bank to lend money to the members of Congress, thus wining their support.
Andrew Jackson, whose presidential term lasted from 1829-1837, was the first president to ever be chosen by the people to lead. Because he was not born into a rich family, people felt that they could relate to him better. He too preferred supporting the common public over the wealthy aristocrats. During Jackson’s period in office he was able to shift the majority of power in the United States to farmers and small businesses in the western part of the country. Jackson vetoed many bills in order to benefit common people and also created the spoils system to balance out his cabinet. Like Jefferson, Jackson was extremely opposed to the Bank of the U.S., believing that it would only make the wealthy even
Jackson was the most democratic of any president at that time to come to power. In practically all areas of political application there was the existence of liberal thinking. This was especially apparent in his previously mentioned appointment of officials. Jackson considered the roles of officials fairly simple and could and should be carried out by all people not just the members of the socially and intellectually elite. The belief of complete equality is with out a doubt Jacksonian. Despite this already democratic view, Jackson took it one step further and appointed the illiterate and plain incompetent members of society to office.
Andrew Jackson was a formidable opponent to the continued existence of the Bank of the United States. The motion to extend a new charter to the Bank of the United States became a topic of great concern for President Jackson during the election year of 1832. The bill was sent to Jackson, to either sign his approval, or veto. The president vetoed the bill, therefore, depriving the Bank of the United States a new charter and its continued existence after 1836. In Jackson’s veto message to the United States Senate, he declared that the Bank of the United States was a menace to the institution of equal rights. Jackson stated in his communication with the Senate, that the risk presented by the Bank of the United States was that it enabled vast and large sums of money to be handled by only a few stockholders, who out of greed or possibly temptation, would be more inclined to see to their own needs and whims than see