Mount Rushmore: The Jacksonian Democracy

The Bank war started in 1832 when the congress, lead by Henry Clay, renewed the Second National Bank's charter even though it wasn't meant to expire till 1836. The Second Bank centralized financial might, jeopardizing economic stability, and it did not answer to anyone within the government. That partly concerned Jackson because he had no way to control it. Also because of his previous election experiences, he thought that a bank with that much power could not remain free from the electoral process. That was one of his reasons for wanting the bank gone, the other was that he saw the national bank system as corrupt and unjust because it only benefited the elites and was suspected to favor the wealthy. Jackson knew that if the bank was not shut down the gap between the rich and poor would keep growing, resulting in an unstable economy. By vetoing the bank’s charter, withdrawing the federal government's deposits from the Bank of the United States, and placing it in state banks called pet banks he was helping then general people and working for the good of the nation. Taking out money from the Second National Bank was a clever way to get what he wanted, but he was simply looking out for the common man. Because the bank only helped the wealthy, a small percentage of the population, he was taking care of the general people and not letting the priority fall to a minority who was

Another reason why Andrew Jackson’s presidency was different was because of his attack on the Bank of the United States. In 1832, Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill to recharter the bank. Jackson believed the bank had an unfair advantage over the other banks. The national bank would get all the federal tax revenues instead of the state or private banks. Also the bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle would extend loans to the men in the congress at lower rates of interest than he would do to regular people. Because Jackson thought the bank was unjust he took away its federal charter and the bank became a state bank. Jackson appointed a secretary of treasury after his reelection in 1832. The secretary of treasury placed all government funds in certain state banks, otherwise known as the pet banks. The national bank became the Philadelphia bank for a while until it went out of business.

We are gathered here today to remember Andrew Jackson. President Jackson was among one of the best presidents we have ever seen. President Jackson was the first president to be relatable to the average person. As President Jackson once said, “The planter, the farmer, the mechanic, and the laborer… form the great body of the people of the United States, the bone and sinew of the country men who love liberty and desire nothing but equal rights and equal laws.” This showed how much he supported in the common people who are truly the backbone of our country. Andrew Jackson was the first president elected by normal people, not just wealthy landowning men and through him we showed what kind of president the people of this country want, a mans

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 firmly believed in quality of economic opportunity, which he showed several times throughout his presidency. He believed the national bank helped the wealthy elite and that state banks would help the common man more. Also by

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.

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. His presidential term was from March 4, 1829 to March 4, 1837. Jackson was not about banks. Jackson hated the idea of the Second Bank charter renewal. One of Jackson’s famous quotes was; “The Bank… is trying to kill me, but I will kill it.” Jackson’s opinion of the Bank of the United States was that it was dangerous to the liberty of the people. Jackson’s opposition to banks became like an obsession. In 1832, Jackson vetoed the bill calling for an early renewal of the Second Bank’s charter even though the renewal was still possible when the charter expired in 1836. In order to prevent that from happening, Jackson set out to reduce the Bank’s economic power. Jackson acted against the advice of many congressional committees and several cabinet members. On October 1, 1833, Jackson announced that federal funds would no longer be deposited in the Bank of the United States. Jackson began placing the

Andrew Jackson was probably one of the most powerful and influential presidents during his time at the white house. He was hated, yet loved by many. Jackson was an American soldier, who gained fame as a general in the U.S and served in both houses of Congress. He was soon elected the seventh president of the United States. After Jackson took charge, he wanted immediate change as to how the government was being run. For starters, he came with a new idea of voting. Allowing the common people to vote for whom they believe was the right person for the job. Before the introduction to

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 resented banks because he was a man who came from a family of poor farmers who paid with goods and crops. He saw banks as only useful to the wealthy, so when Henry Clay proposed “The Bank Bill”, which was in favor of the recharter, Jackson vetoed it. Andrew Jackson only thought about himself, and people who were like him, poor farmers. In total, vetoed twelve bills during his presidency, which was more than all of the preceding presidents combined. Again, Jackson set his mind to do something, and it was done.

Jackson was a supporter of the working class; he was viewed as a true liberal democratic. The Second Bank appeared to be monopolistic and aristocratic. This did not coincide with Jackson’s views on politics, economics, and society. Jackson did not

The Bank of the United States was technically the second bank of the U.S. since the first bank’s charter ended in 1811. The second bank held a monopoly over federal deposits, provided credit to growing enterprises, issued banknotes that served as a dependable medium of exchange, and used a restraining effect on the less well-managed state banks. Jackson didn’t trust the bank and thought it had too much power, so Jackson sought out to destroy it. There were two different groups when it came to opposition, “soft-money” and “hard-money”. Soft money supporters were progressive, they believed in economic growth and bank speculation. They supported the use of paper money and were mainly made up of bankers and allies to bankers. Hard money supporters were against expansion and bank speculation. They supported coinage only and rejected all banks that used paper money, which included the federal bank. Jackson was a hard money supporter although, he felt sympathy to the soft money supporters. Jackson could not legally end the bank before its charter expired. By removing the

On October 4, 1927, work on Mount Rushmore began in the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota. The monument took 12 years to complete and shows four presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The monument was from the idea of a historian named Doane Robinson. Doane was looking for more ways to attract tourists to his state of South Dakota. He hired a sculptor named Gutzon Borglum to carve the faces. The first face Gutzon sculpted was George Washington. He then started on Thomas Jefferson and placed his face on the right side of Washington. But two years later the face became badly cracked and workers had to blast the face with dynamite and Borglum started on Jefferson on the left

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States; he was the first “people’s president”. Jackson has had many accomplishments throughout his lifetime: he won the battle of New Orleans, he compromised and stopped South Carolina from seceding, and he got Florida from Spain. Though he has many accomplishments, Jackson also had had his downsides: he used the spoil system, he didn’t renew the national bank and he told lies about his component, John Quincy Adams, during the Election of 1824. Although, Andrew Jackson did many undemocratic things, Andrew Jackson was still very much democratic because he set the foundation of democracy, he changed the political process and he was for the common man.