Andrew Jackson 2 Essay, Research Paper

Iron Man

Andrew Jackson was a man for the people. He was not only a good president but a great general too. The common man looked at him as a wonderful person who played the government into the hands of the public. And on the intelligence and wisdom of our countrymen. Through His abundant goodness and their patriotic devotion our liberty and Union will be preserved. Jackson played many vital roles concerning the execution of the U.S. Bank, the numerous tariffs that faced him, and the removal of the Indians.

The Bank war could have been avoided and compromised if a man named Bidle did not challenge Jackson s pride and leadership position on the Presidency and the Democratic Party. Jackson s reasons for the removal of the bank seem selfish but he put those reasons into the population by twisting the words around. One of the main reasons for his hatred of the bank is the financial loss he took during the Allison affair. The Allison affair was between a group of people, and a man named Dave Allison. Allison bought land at twenty cents an acre and paid for them with notes promising to pay back the money. He did not pay but instead went Bankrupt and left Jackson with a huge Debt. With that in Jackson s mind, hard currency sounded real good and paper money was meaningless. Its aim was to clip the wings of commerce and finance by restricting the credit that paper money enabled them to obtain. Another reason for the dismissal of the bank was political prejudice. Dangerous to the liberty of the American people because it concentrated enormous power in private hands and used this power to control legislation, influence elections, and control the government. The bank was a monopoly, it held power over the people s affairs, and since Jackson was for the people, he did not like this.

Tariffs plagued the president also many times, but the most remembered were the Tariff of Abominations in 1828, and the tariff of 1832. South Carolina passed an Ordinance of Nullification, and upset Jackson tremendously. They stated that those tariffs were null and void to South Carolina, and it would be unlawful to collect for duties. They also had the nerve to warn the federal government that if they tried to coerce the state into compliance it would be useless, and if force were used they would totally secede from the Union and start a separate government. Jackson commented immediately to this article and told the South Carolinians that this would fall under treason to the Union and death was the penalty. He also said, The Constitution forms a government, not a league. A single nation was formed to which the states surrendered parts of sovereignty in becoming parts of a nation. No other states sided with South Carolina and opposed their threats of secession. That ended the case with S.C.

The last thing is the relationship with the Indians. Jackson, like Jefferson believed that the removal of the Indians was a solution to National safety of the colonists, and to help maintain Indian culture and existence in the U.S. The Removal Act of 1830 was the first big legislation of Jackson s administration. It dealt with five tribes and their removal in the east to present day Oklahoma. An Indian Territory would be established in which each tribe could function independently and without interference from the U.S. All tribes agreed except the Cherokees. The Act was brought on by Jackson s hatred to the Creek Nation because of a war with the Creeks in 1814. Creek people killed many men, women, and children. Leaving nothing behind by burning the towns. Jackson viewed the war as the first step of National Security.

Andrew Jackson was a very Great President. He served two terms and served well till he died. A very religious man he blessed everybody in his family on his death bed. He had already evinced that iron energy, indomitable perseverance and ceaseless activity, so necessary Not one of the wavering, but a man who could keep his object as steadily before him as the mariner his port, and trample them down and crush without remorse whoever barred the path. From his victory in 1815 to his death in 1845, Jackson was the mold of success, and the man who could overcome anything by determination.

Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation. Rev. ed. New York:

McGraw Hill, 1997.

Heath, D.C. Jackson vs. Bidle. Rev. ed. Boston:

Heath, 1949.

Remini, Robert. The Life of Andrew Jackson. Rev. ed. New York:

Harper, 1988.

Remini, Robert. Andrew Jackson and the Bank War. Rev. ed.

New York: Norton, 1967.

Remini, Robert. The Jacksonian Era. Rev. ed. Illinois:

Harlan, 1989.

Ward, John William. Symbol for an Age. Rev. ed. London:

Oxford, 1979.

Footnotes

1. Remini, Robert. The Life of Andrew Jackson. Rev. ed. New York: pps. 229

2. Heath, D.C. Jackson vs. Bidle. Rev. ed. Boston:

Pps. 58

3. Remini, Robert. Andrew Jackson and the Bank War. Rev. ed.

New York: pps. 44

4. Remini, Robert. The Jacksonian Era. Rev. ed. Illinois:

pps. 66

5. Ibid pps. 43

6. Ward, John William. Symbol for an Age. Rev. ed. London:

pps.158