Andrew Jackson was the seventh president and he served from 1829 to 1837. He lost the 1824 election but won in 1828 because of expanded suffrage that allowed the common people he appealed to, to vote. During his presidency, he made many controversial decisions especially regarding Native Americans and his authoritative style of governing. Also, while he was in office there were many divisive issues, particularly about states’ rights and the power of the Federal Government. Overall, his presidency did not follow the central idea of democracy that is “by the people, for the people” and therefore it was not an era of democracy. The issues of states’ rights and nullification were prevalent during Jackson’s presidency and his administration had a role in both. Nullification is the …show more content…
His use of the veto was very frequent, especially at the time. He used twelve vetoes and none of them were overridden by Congress. This was more than the previous six presidents combined and no one used more than twelve until Andrew Johnson, thirty years later. The veto is important to control Congress’s power, but using it frequently gives too much power to the President because he is making the decision to veto it himself which might not represent other views. His authoritative style earned him the nickname King Andrew I. A king is undemocratic because he has all the power in an autocratic government and so this title shows that Jackson was using too much power. He also often went against the advice of Congress, and one example of this is the Bank War. Congress agreed that the bank was constitutional and members of Congress and his cabinet advised him not to veto the bank charter, but he ignored them and made the decision to do it anyway. The autocratic nature of his decision-making overall gave him too much influence and decreased representation by limiting the number of people involved in making
The era of Andrew Jackson which was nicknames the era of the “common man” certainly lived up to its name. As the seventh President of the United States, Jackson had a major effect on the life of the common man, in such a way that the life of the common man would never be the same again. Jackson’s aim, after the manner in which he was defeated in the Presidential Election of 1824, despite receiving more popular votes than John Quincy Adams who took on the office, was to reduce the power and the authority of the elite. When he came into power after the 1828 election Jackson began to carry out his proposals. Jackson expanded the voting right to all men, in accordance with the Declaration of Independence of 1776 which declared that “all men are created equal” instead of just the elite.
Is Andrew Jackson a hero or a villain? Throughout history Jackson has been viewed as both. Some see him as a war hero and the people’s president. Others see him as a racist and a political tyrant. To me, Andrew Jackson is more of a hero.
The founders of the United States did their best to create a government that would not allow erroneous decisions to greatly harm the nation. They set a percent of presidents being politically sound and well-known; their beliefs for how the nation should be handled were essential to their campaign. President Andrew Jackson, however, did not follow this system, instead winning primarily by his personality and popularity amongst the common American. While his actions in office often appeared to be for the people, most had a hidden selfish side to them that he easily covered up. With the election of 1828, Jackson radically changed American politics, focusing them more on public appearance and personal character than on intelligence and political views, making personality just as, if not more important than the actual politics of a political term.
Once president Andrew Jackson wielded the executive power of the veto, which he used to excess. The twelve vetoes that were used during his reign overrode congress, the body of elected officials. The representatives of the states are suppose to be the consensus of the people. When Andrew Jackson, a single person refuses the congress's legislation it hinders democracy as less opinions are heard. In Jackson’s head the congressmen are just career politicians disconnected from the american people.
How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson? Jackson was born in the year 1767 to a poor family. When he was only 13 years old he was captured from the British during the revolutionary war. As he got older he found himself in the military and he was called a national hero when he fought in the battle of 1812. He served for two terms as president and Jacksonian or is followers say that he was democratic where the people are heard.
Andrew Jackson presidency focused a lot on small government and pleasing the common man. He attempted to shut down national banks to make government smaller. Jackson also enforces things like the Indian Removal Policy, which strengthened the bond between Jackson and the common man. Jackson was the first and only president to make the country debt too. All of these impacted are government today very much as well as other governments around the world.
Andrew Jackson was one of the greatest presidents who made very difficult decisions for our country. Although his choices were not always the popular decision, he made choices that were always promoting democracy. The things that make a good democracy are: giving people a say in government, having a good leader that you can trust to make wise decisions, peace and stability between each country and other states, and having equal power in the government (checks and balances). Andrew Jackson came into office with a popular vote and great support. His supporters viewed him as a man of the people.
Brittany Randall-Neppl APUSH Period 6 Mr. Kloster 12/19/2014 Andrew Jackson: Champion of the Common Man or Tyrant Andrew Jackson was born into a common life but overcame his mediocre beginnings to become a powerful politician; in 1828 he was elected president of the United States. However, he abused this position of power and made several choices that were detrimental to the welfare and rights of the American people. Jackson implemented the spoils system on a national scale and had unofficial members of his cabinet who did not have to answer to Congress. After South Carolinians were upset by the Tariff of 1832 he was angry toward those who did not agree with it. He also destroyed the National Bank and authorized the Specie Circular.
Vetoing is to allow or reject a decision or proposal made by a law-making body. The overall reason Jackson is known to be a tyrant is his abuse of power. The amount of vetoes he confirmed truly justifies the fact that he took advantage of his power. “The Second Bank of the United States was founded in 1816 and had a 20-year charter approved by congress that gave it the power to act exclusively as the federal government’s financial agent.” (Source 4)
Andrew Jackson during his time was considered a very patriotic politician he hated the rich, he hated the Indian, and loved the idea of slavery. It has been said that he grew up not educated and had a bad up bring but still managed to get to a high political suture. Jackson at one point was general and had a very decorated portfolio, which made sense he would become president, Andrew was most well know for “The Battle of New Orleans” where Andrew Jackson, prevented the British Army and General Edward Pakenham, from seizing New Orleans nearing the end of that war.
Also he wanted the offices that are solely to benefit the people so that no man has more rights than another. Finally, Jackson was not democratic because he wanted the Indians to move out of his land. So he decided to have the U.S. Soldiers move them west into the Indian territory.
Andrew Jackson was a tough man. He even went by the name of ‘Old Hickory’. Andrew Jackson was a terrible president, but also a good president. There are many reasons why Andrew Jackson was a bad president. These are only the few reasons that we all already know or they are major events stated in US history.
He showed unifying leadership during the Nullification Crisis and the Tariff laws of 1828 and 1832, he showed a generous approach of governing through the “Kitchen Cabinet” and the “Spoils System”. Lastly, his concern for economic equality was shown through the veto of the Second Bank of the United States Recharter and his concerns for the common men. All of these qualities that Jackson had shown during his presidency are why Andrew Jackson should be remembered as a hero of the common
The Force Bill, Andrew Jackson’s veto of the Bank Bill, and the qualifications for the right to vote are examples of how undemocratic politics were. The Force Bill of 1833 gave permission to president Jackson to use military force to deny South Carolina’s Ordinance of Nullification. This action of the government is undemocratic because it gives all the military power to Jackson, even if others disagree with what he is doing (Doc 7). Another example of how this time period was not a democracy is Andrew Jackson’s veto of the Bank Bill. He was known for his hatred of the national bank and claiming it as unconstitutional.
During Andrew Jackson’s presidency, he was not the best president. Some might consider him the worst. Most of Jackson’s actions during his presidency were deemed unconstitutional and illegal but were allowed due to the people’s support for Jackson. His plans for America didn’t include women, blacks or Indians. Jackson replaced all the Cabinet members with his selection friends, also known as the “Kitchen Cabinet”.