Why Was Andrew Jackson Controversial

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

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

Andrew Jackson, born on March 15,1767 was the 7th president of the United States, who was a self made man, rising to money and power. He is viewed as a controversial historical figure in American history between being a hero or villain. Andrew Jackson is a villain due to his controversial decisions during his presidency, such as the spoils system, the nullification crisis, the Second Bank of the United States, and lastly the most impactful decision, the Indian Removal Policy. Jackson may have been seen as the common man leader,and did many things to benefit the people, but that can not justify his unacceptable actions.

Andrew Jackson was one of the most peculiar presidents of the United States. Jackson had a different past then most of the presidents because he was born in poverty and had to work for his wealth. Other presidents were born into wealth and had every opportunity handed to them. Although this played a big part on Jackson's presidency this did not play as big of a part as you would think. He had a military background, serving as a general in the war of 1812, along with experience with being an attorney, and his own private practice. Sadly, his wife died a year into his presidency causing him to become what this country knows as one of our worst presidents. The people started to view Jackson differently after this incident, he was seen as someone

He believed that the Bank has to be abolished due to several reasons. First of all, the bank concentrated the nation's wealth in a single institution which created an unhealthy for the economy monopoly. Second of all, he believed that the bank favored the wealthy over the common people. The third reason was that the bank had too much control over members of Congress. In other words, the subsidy of the bank to one particular party or the lack of the finance could influence the results of the elections at some point. And the bank also favored northeastern states over southern and western states. Thus, Jackson succeeded in destroying the Bank by vetoing its 1832 re-charter by Congress and by withdrawing U.S. funds in 1833. This action led to federal money being put into state banks who then loaned it out freely leading to inflation. State banks were issuing paper banknotes that were not backed by gold or silver reserves which led to rapid inflation. Moreover, the expansion of credit and speculation took place. As a result, state banks collapsed which was a cause of the Panic of 1837. However, despite the crisis and depression, the liquidation of the Bank was an achievement of Jackson’s presidency and led to trivial of the economy later on.

Andrew Jackson wrote a letter to Congress on July 10, 1832, saying the “rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes" (Doc. F). Jackson is talking about the national bank in this letter to Congress and it was very well known from his close friends that he had “always been afraid of banks... [and called bankers} ‘“vipers and thieves’” (Shi, Tindall, 324). He thought that the national bank caused the government to have too much control over the people, but the way

Should we assume that a president was a tyrant or a champion of the common man based solely on how they acted or should we step into their shoes first? Andrew Jackson’s presidency made him one of the most controversial presidents that has ever existed in the history of the United States of America. Andrew Jackson for many was a cruel tyrant who reinstated the tax on british goods with Tariff of 1828 and rejected the renewal for the charter of the Second National Bank of the United States. Andrew Jackson also created the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which end result would be the Trail of Tears during the presidency of Martin Van Buren. They cite that Andrew Jackson abused his executive power through the presidential veto among other presidential powers. Andrew Jackson surely was misguided with some of the actions he made during his presidency, but he

President Jackson acted undemocratically because of his actions against the national bank. On July 10th, 1832, Jackson sent a bank veto message to congress. The message was sent to remove the US National Bank because it was only helpful for a wealthier class for things like investments. Citizens from wealthier classes were outraged by Jackson’s actions. Former senator Daniel Webster replied to Jackson message saying, “It manifestly seeks to

In his veto message, Jackson wrote, "It is to be regretted that rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes." This was true, since the bank was used to provide for the interests of the rich and not the common men such as the small farmers and urban workers.

Imagine if we didn’t win the War of 1812 or if the common people felt unwanted? Where would we be without Andrew Jackson? Andrew Jackson’s presidency should be admired because he supported the common man and thought the rich were overrated, he also a well-known war hero.This topic is relevant because Andrew Jackson made it so the people were treated as equals, and how different “groups” shouldn’t be treated better just because of their money status. It also is relevant because our country wouldn’t have double without the War of 182 or our success during the Revolutionary. Andrew Jackson wasn’t born into the richest family, in fact he lived out most of his life an orphan. President Jackson always thought that the rich were over privileged or didn’t deserve what they were given. Andrew Jackson wanted to make sure the common people felt just as equal as the rich. Jackson also was a well renowned war hero for his victory during the War of 1812 which gave the United States the ability to double in size or it wouldn’t have given us the social status that was desired.Because Andrew Jackson was a common man himself, how did he put towards that part of his life into his acts as president?

Although Jackson was a hard money supporter, he was sensitive to his many soft money supporters, and made it clear that he would object to renewing the charter of the Bank of the United States, which was due to expire in 1836. When Jackson could not legally abolish the Bank of the United States before the expiration of its charter, he weakened it by removing the government’s deposits from the bank. Jackson fired two of his secretary of treasury when they refused to carry out the order because they believed that such an action would destabilize the financial system. Jackson got Roger Taney to carry out his order. Taney took the deposits out of the Bank of the

Moreover, Andrew Jackson greatly facilitated the transfer of power from “the few” to “the many” in the US. In Jackson’s Bank Veto Message to Congress in July of 1832, he stated that the rich were monopolizing the country’s domestic exchange by “bending the acts of government to their selfish purposes.” (Document 4). Jackson argued that with so much money and power, the corrupt rich were influencing the government to allow them domination over the many people who could not match their authority. The few, selfish rich citizens felt no duty or responsibility to their country so they committed great evils to promote their own status. For this reason, Jackson wanted the Bank of the United States vetoed so that this corruption could be ended at once and the rich would not be able to use the Bank for their egotistic intents. The BUS had been standing since Alexander Hamilton proposed it in the early 1800s, so it was outlandish for Jackson to propose its veto, but he was truly doing it for the people. The following day after Jackson’s message, Daniel Webster issued a reply to it. In his reply, Webster claimed that Jackson was controlling the poor and arousing them against the rich (Document 5). While this does seem like an immoral action for one to

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.

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.

With the Jackson administration into office, the Second Bank of the United States became threatened. President Jackson had a private prejudice that wasn’t party policy (Schlesinger 74). He hated banks, all banks, but he especially hated the Second Bank of the United States. He viewed all bankers as “little more than parasites who preyed upon the poor and honest working people of America” (Roughshod 2). The reason for his hatred most likely stemmed from his near ruin as a businessman (land speculator, merchant, and slaver trader) when in the 1790s he accepted some bank notes that turned out to be worthless. From then on, he never trusted anything but hard money, or specie (Roughshod 2).