How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson Dbq

According to his enemies, Andrew Jackson behaved more like a dictator/king than a democratic president. Jackson and his followers became the basis of the Democratic-Republican party, later known as the Democratic party. He believed in the spoils system, supported the common man, and equality for all people regardless of their social class. Although he had such positive features, he had some negatives as well. Jackson removed Native Americans from their homeland by signing the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which created the “Trail of Tears,” vetoed the National Bank (B.U.S), and was pro-slavery. Although a common man himself, Jackson became successful as president. This was one of his biggest motives to support the common man, rather than the

Jackson’s version of democracy was in fact a democracy. He was not a very wealthy man, he owned a home and some land. Which was more than could be said about most Americans at the time. About ten percent of the Americans living there at that time owned enough land to vote. There was a law, stating that only white males with a good portion of land could vote in the presidential election. Andrew Jackson thought this system was so unfair, he created a new way to govern the citizens of the newly formed United States.

Did Andrew Jackson support the people and their rights? Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He vetoed the National Bank because he said that it only supported the rich and was unconstitutional. Also Andrew Jackson set a land territory west of the Mississippi River for the Indian tribes and adopted a little Native American boy who was left from his tribe. How democratic was Andrew Jackson? Democracy is a form of government where the people have a right to assist in the law making process. Andrew Jackson was democratic in many political, economic, and geographic ways.

Another reason why Andrew Jackson’s presidency was different was because of his attack on the Bank of the United States. In 1832, Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill to recharter the bank. Jackson believed the bank had an unfair advantage over the other banks. The national bank would get all the federal tax revenues instead of the state or private banks. Also the bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle would extend loans to the men in the congress at lower rates of interest than he would do to regular people. Because Jackson thought the bank was unjust he took away its federal charter and the bank became a state bank. Jackson appointed a secretary of treasury after his reelection in 1832. The secretary of treasury placed all government funds in certain state banks, otherwise known as the pet banks. The national bank became the Philadelphia bank for a while until it went out of business.

According to several historical documents, President Andrew Jackson was not democratic because he used the “spoils system”, ignored other government officials input, and refused to recognize certain groups, such as the Native Americans.

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 of the charter for the Second National Bank of the United States. Also, Andrew Jackson created the Indian Removal Act of 1830 which end result would be the Trail of Tears during the presidency of Martin Van Buren. Those who oppose Andrew Jackson being the champion of the common man cite that Andrew Jackson abused his executive power of enforcing the law and the presidential veto. Andrew Jackson was misguided with some of the actions he made during his presidency, but he committed those actions because he thought they would help the common U.S. citizen. President Andrew Jackson used his executive power to be a champion of the common man during his presidency from 1828 to

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

The Jacksonian democracy of the 1820s-1830s is often associated with an expansion of the political influence, economic opportunities, and social equality available to “the common man,” a concept of the masses which President Andrew Jackson and his newly founded Democratic party came to represent. The new administration certainly saw gains for the majority; namely, public participation in government increased to unprecedented levels, and several economic decisions were made to favor the people over monopolies. Beginning with their exaggerated portrayal of the “corrupt” 1824 election however, the Jacksonian democrats also left a legacy of substantial miscalculations

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

Jackson, uneducated as he was, was a very shrewd man. Using the spoils system, he all but totally replaced the cabinet from the previous administration. By rewarding the men who had helped him reach his current state, he made it clear that the middleclass could improve their condition. The cabinet was no longer filled with wealthy men of status, but instead of more every day people.

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, whose presidential term lasted from 1829-1837, was the first president to ever be chosen by the people to lead. Because he was not born into a rich family, people felt that they could relate to him better. He too preferred supporting the common public over the wealthy aristocrats. During Jackson’s period in office he was able to shift the majority of power in the United States to farmers and small businesses in the western part of the country. Jackson vetoed many bills in order to benefit common people and also created the spoils system to balance out his cabinet. Like Jefferson, Jackson was extremely opposed to the Bank of the U.S., believing that it would only make the wealthy even

In the final document, the excerpt says that Jackson stated, “Humanity and national honor demand that every effort should be made to avert so great a calamity.”(Document 8) This quote is important to answering the essential question because it proves Andrew Jackson sought to prevent the extinction of Indian tribes. By feeling this way, he was able to provide a peaceful solution for Indian removal instead of taking forceful or harmful action. An additional quote to provide evidence for proving Andrew Jackson was democratic is, “I suggest… setting apart an ample district.. West of the Mississippi… to be guaranteed to the Indian tribes as long as they shall occupy it.”(Document 8) This quote clarifies as of to why Andrew Jackson was democratic because it shows that he gave the Indians a choice as of if they wanted to move to safe place instead of having to have consequences for staying there. Both of these quotes from Document 8 justify that Andrew Jackson was democratic because they show that he had a humane solution for Indian

After his inaugural speech, Jackson bowed to his supporters, something never done by a president in the past, showing his people that he would be for them, not for himself. Jackson was also a strong believer in the Spoils System, giving many of his supporters government jobs, even if they were not qualified. As if the many people that were hired were not enough, Jackson had what he called the “Kitchen Cabinet”, a group of unofficial advisors that Jackson went to to help him make decisions more people oriented and less government biased. More people voted in Jackson’s election also, as the restrictions were loosened, allowing non-land owning white men to vote as well those who owned land. In document 2, the people shout about the people ruling and how they shall.

It is clear from the documents that Andrew Jackson acted like he was a king. One reason that Andrew Jackson acted like a king was because he was unconstitutional. Document 4 stated that Jackson didn’t listen to the supreme court when they said the Indian Removal Act violated the Constitution, so he tried to give himself more power by doing this. This supports that Andrew Jackson acted like a king because ignored those who were meant to keep his power in check (the supreme court). By ignoring the supreme court, he took away power from them and gave it to himself because he didn’t like their opinion and wanted to do what he wanted, just like how a king does what he want. Mr. Moore taught us that President Jackson gave president more power over