Andrew Jackson 's Political Power

Andrew Jackson first got elected as the president of the United States in 1828, and this signaled a shift in the social and political powers of the government. During his presidency, he regarded himself as a representative of “the people” and his goal was to elevate the “laboring classes” of white men and regulate equal rights and laws. This was a change for Americans because before Jackson, the U.S. government was mainly made up of elitists; those who were the wealthy citizens of the nation. The years 1828-1836, the viewpoints of Andrew Jackson were focused on how he could be a democratic ruler rather than focusing on what would be best for the nation as a whole during his time.

Andrew Jackson was a very controversial President, and had a large impact on our country which shaped it to what it is today. He was loved by many Americans, yet some despised him and his ideas, which was largely due to their race or belief. Despite the hatred that Jackson received, he should be recognized for the enormous impacts he made for our country in its early years.

Andrew Jackson's political career started off with him being Tennessee's prosecutor, to being a judge, to being a congressman, and finally a senator. But to what he's mostly famous about was, being the general of an winning army. For example the victory of the War of 1812, defeating Creek Indians in 1814, and defeating the British in New Orleans in 1815. In 1824 Jackson had won the electoral votes of the people but lost to the House of Representatives to John Quincy Adams. Although four years later Jackson ran for president once again, this time winning, He was the center image of the people by battling aristocracy and corruption.

One way Andrew Jackson was able to transform the presidency was through his unconventional use of veto power. Jackson “vetoed twelve bills, more than his six predecessors combined” (Feller). Of these vetoes, he executed the first “pocket veto” in American history. In other words,

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.

To begin, Andrew Jackson was determined to get the people more representation in all branches of government. This was most likely because of the corrupt bargain that had so angered him due to the lack of democracy in the presidential election.

Jackson instated the spoils system to get his supporters into as many governmental positions as possible. He consistently used his unauthorized "Kitchen Cabinet" for advice instead of his real cabinet. And, he ignored the Supreme Court in their decision about the Cherokees.

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 was an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh president if the United States. Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of Congress. Following John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson became the president for two terms starting in 1829 and ending at 1837. He was referred to as the first "citizen-president", representing the common man. Some of Jackson’s greatest accomplishments are the Jacksonian Democracy and response to the nullification crisis. His failures included the Indian Removal Act and the spoils system.

For Jackson, it was primarily the issue of the National Bank. The Bank was supposed to give out credit, create a unified currency, and control the government’s money. This was opposed by Jackson because he thought it was unfair of the government to control this money because it mainly helped the elitists. He wanted to completely destroy it so not only elitists could benefit and it created some drama for the 1832 election. Henry Clay along with Nicholas Biddle wanted to Bank to be rechartered but it was vetoed by Jackson. This led to the Bank being a key component in the election. Biddle and Clay wanted the Bank to remain because they believed it was economically good, but Jackson opposed it because it was politically bad. Jackson won the reelection and got a new Secretary of Treasury, Roger Taney, to remove the funds from the Bank and thus basically destroy the Bank. Document 1 is of the Report of the House Ways and Means Committee to the full House which talks about how the economy did before and after the National Bank was destroyed. The purpose of the report is to show how Jackson did not do what was good for the economy and the nation. It says that “whereas, in the two short intervals during which no national bank existed, public and private credit were greatly impaired…” which shows the ineffectiveness of having no Bank. It actually didn’t help the

Jackson believed that rich and powerful people got away with bending the acts of the government to get what they wanted, as shown in document 4. In this document he told Congress “ .It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes.” Document 6 show a perfect example of just how democratic President Jackson was. One of the first things he did when he was elected into office was present the idea to congress that any government elected job be limited to a four year term. “I submit, therefore, to your consideration…(a) law which limits appointments to four years.

Andrew Jackson was the president of the US from 1828 to 1836. As a president he was known to abuse his power using the Constitution as his backbone. Having little respect for the Constitution, he was okay with twisting its words to keep more power for the Executive branch of government. Even Thomas Jefferson, one of Jackson’s role models, believes that “he has had very little respect for laws and constitutions”. Though he made his decisions using the Constitution to back them up, his interpretation may have not been popular amongst many people.

When Andrew Jackson decided to make his veto message regarding the Bank of The United States on July 10, 1832 one thing was on his mind: killing the Bank of The United States forever! This one event was the fuel Jackson used for his reconstruction of the U.S. It all started to unravel during his election of 1828. Several different "sects" within the different states were teaming up with one another to form a coalition of discontent for the President and his reconstruction. Like Thomas Jefferson before him, Andrew Jackson was a tried-and-true defender of American freedom committed to nothing so much as breaking the knot of political corruption and restoring integrity to republican institutions.

It is clear from the documents that Andrew Jackson acted like a king. One reason that Andrew Jackson acted like a king was because he owned slaves. Document 7 stated that Jackson owned 150 slaves while serving as president in the mid 1830’s. Jackson did just as any king would do. He hired people to do the dirty work for him, and to do the things he didn’t want to do.

In both the years leading up to Andrew Jackson’s time in office and the years following it, we have never had a president quite like Jackson. With his victory in the Election of 1828, the Age of Jackson began. Supporters of the president were skilled at emotionalizing issues and rallying the support of the South and the West. Jackson claimed to be a “common man” and a guardian of Democracy, working to protect individual freedoms. However, he made a lot of enemies along the way, including the Nationalist Republicans, the Whigs, and the Anti-Masons. Jackson acted more like a dictator and didn’t usually listen to the people, which blatantly went against one of the most important values of democracy. In fact, Jackson wasn’t Democratic at all, as