Why Did Andrew Jackson Act Like A King?

During his rule, President Andrew Jackson acted like a king during his presidency. Events in history explain that he had acted like a king more than the common man. The firsts on is the Spoils System. Second, the Trail of Tears. Lastly, Jackson enforced what he wanted to.

By this definition, Andrew Jackson was a presidential tyrant riding roughshot over the Constitution for many reasons. First, he removed the Second Bank of the United States because it did not agree with his way of controlling financial issues. Second, he fought with South Carolina on the Nullification Act, even though he earlier was in favor of what actually became the issue. Most importantly, he removed about 90,000 Native Americans with the Indian Removal Act and in the First Seminole War, because he ignored any territorial rights and thought of his way as the only right and best one. No matter if one decides to look at Andrew Jackson as a tyrant or not, no one can deny that with what he

“Build a fire under them. When it gets hot enough, they’ll move”. There are many opposing opinions as to if Andrew Jackson abused his presidential power under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and accordingly, each side can be justified. However, there is more solid evidence proving that Andrew Jackson did indeed misuse his duties as president by transforming the free movement of Indians to a forced one. Although many believed that Andrew Jackson demonstrated a genuine concern for the well being of the Native Americans, Jackson abused his power as president by unfairly enforcing the Indian Removal Act that did not authorize him to repeal treaties or force the relocation of Indians.

Throughout Andrew Jackson’s eight years in office, many decisions he made were unsuccessful in helping our growing country continue to prosper. To this day, people still refer to him as King Andrew the First, seeing that many of his actions seemed like abuses of power. Though Jackson’s intentions had the common man in mind, the means by which he tried to please the common man, cast him as a king. Jackson’s abuse of power began when he passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. This act authorized him to negotiate land exchanges with the Natives and led to treaties that paved the way for reluctant and forcible emigration of the Indians from their native lands.

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

Andrew Jackson is a villain for many reasons. Andrew Jackson is a villain because his enemies claimed he behaved more like a dictator or king than a democratically elected president. Also, Andrew Jackson treated to bad Native Americans because he had certain ideas about who were included in the people.He never considered Native Americans as potential citizens, and he was one of the largest slave-owners in Tennessee at the time of his election. Enemies of jackson claimed he behaved more like a dictator or king than a democratically elected president.

Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States was he a hero or a villain? While there were some questionable choices Jackson made in his life. There are many reasons people consider Andrew Jackson a hero. The first and foremost reason is his military service to the country. Andrew Jackson’s actions would also lead to the expansion of the United States into Florida. Andrew Jackson as the president was known as the president of the “Common Man” and he lowered the national debt to a record low. Andrew Jackson was an honest man stood up for his beliefs of what was right that is what makes him a hero.

“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” (Andrew Jackson) In 1828, Andrew Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States of America. During his term as president, Jackson made several decisions that greatly impacted the U.S. Andrew Jackson was good for the United States and several of the decisions he made had a positive impact on our nation.

Andrew Jackson’s presidency should not be admired by our current generation because he did whatever he wanted and only that. Many, many times during his presidency Jackson decided to simply not follow the rules. One example is when the Cherokee went to the supreme court about their land being taken. The supreme court ruled that their actions in removing the Cherokee Violated their treaties with the federal government, and that they had a right to their land. To which Jackson responded by saying “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” (Crashcourse). This basically means that even if there was a new rule he had to follow, it didn’t matter because he didn’t care. He was going to do what he wanted, and only what he wanted. No matter who or what tried to stop him. Andrew Jackson treated other people just as badly as the Cherokees.

The United States government needed to become more democratic during the Age of Jackson because of the type of president that Andrew Jackson was. Even though Andrew Jackson changed voting – in most states – to be more democratic (DBQ-document 1), he was responsible for the Trail of Tears in the late 1830s. The Trail of Tears was the removal of a great deal of Native Americans of differing tribes from the eastern part of America to the west, which was unfamiliar to these people. This harrowing presidential decision made by Andrew Jackson is just one of the many examples that gives historians a representation of how undemocratic Andrew Jackson was. Jackson also appointed an important government job to Samuel Swartwout, a corrupt and untrustworthy man, because Jackson was an early supporter of Swartwout. Jackson was advised to refuse Swartwout of the job; however, Jackson’s biased attitude towards Swartwout was the reason that “Swartwout absconded with $1,222,705.09” (DBQ-document 7). Andrew Jackson is depicted more as a dictator or a king rather than a president. The Library of Congress has a picture of Andrew Jackson that gives the viewer an idea of his character throughout his presidency. In this picture, he is dressed as a king and the picture is captioned as “King Andrew the First”; he

Looking at the ballots of 1828 and 1832, Andrew Jackson was clearly labeled as a Democratic Republic, a party founded by Thomas Jefferson. These Democrats supposedly believed in the ideas of a limited central government, states’ rights, and protection of the liberty of individuals. However, based on these principles, tyrannous “King Andrew I” may not be as democratic as one may think. Jackson shifted the Presidency to a more personal style, by vetoing anything that disagreed with his own beliefs, rather than the beliefs of the people. Through the Indian Removal Act, the Spoils System, and the Bank War, Andrew Jackson revealed himself to be a non-democrat who cared more about himself than the people. And among these people, natives and slaves were given the least liberties out of all the racial groups in America at the time.

Andrew Jackson was a soldier, a lawyer, a husband, an orphan, and in his most famous status, the 7th President of the United States. Andrew Jackson was loved by the people, and hated by his political rivals. He pushed the limits of his power as the president, and at the same time restricted it, as to not overstep his place as the voice of the people. Through his terms as president he used his power to protect the rights of the people and to ensure that the United States would prosper. In the following paragraphs his contributions are highlighted and will show just what he did for America and its prosperity.

Over the course of United States history, every president has changed the country in many ways. Some have changed it for the good of the country, and some have changed it for the worse. However, some have changed it in ways disputed whether they are for the betterment of this great nation. One of these many presidents in the infamous Andrew Jackson. During his time in office, he caused many changes. Some even believed that he was abusing his executive power in ways that a king might, they nicknamed him “King Andrew.”

From being a wild boy who grew up poor in South Carolina and got enlisted in the Revolutionary War at the age of 13, Andrew Jackson became one of the most popular president in the history of the United States. Even though Jackson had the idea of creating a new era of democracy in America, most of his actions did not promote democracy to America. During his presidency, Andrew established “a law which limits appointments to four years” [Document 6]. This allows other individuals to be part of the government officials and prevent past officials to stay for a long time which is a sign of democracy because of it prevents corruption and absolute power. However, he took advantage of this executive power by appointing Samuel Swartout, his fellow friend

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