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Jacksonian Democracy Dbq Essay

Decent Essays

Parris Skiouris
Ms. Kramer
APUSH
28 October 2014 Andrew Jackson was a president who did what he wanted. Jacksonian Democracy emerged as a result of the way that Andrew Jackson governed the United States. Jacksonian Democrats believed in protecting the true American values that the United Stated was founded on. Although Jacksonian Democrats were committed to defending the values on which the United States is based on such as the Constitution, political democracy, and equality of economic opportunity, they failed to fully protect individuals’ rights. The guidelines for the way the United States was governed were set in the Constitution. Jackson believed that his responsibility was to do what the people wanted since the people were the ones …show more content…

In Harriet Martineau’s Society In America, she states that she saw every man in the town as an independent man, and she noticed that the towns were very civilized and organized (Document 4). Political democracy was one of the many liberties that were introduced by the Jacksonian Democrats. The topic of removing Indians from United States land became a popular and important topic during the presidency of Jackson. Jackson’s Native American policy was that they should not be living on American lands that contained Americans. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. The Indian Removal Act was a policy to move Native Americans out of American territory, and into Indian reservations West of the Mississippi River. Even though the Cherokee nation was as civilized as any other American city, Jackson persisted on forcing them out of their lands. Jacksonian Democrats also allowed slavery, which was very important for Jackson’s support from the south. In the Acts and Resolutions of South Carolina, it is stated that the right to own slaves is protected by the government, and it is an individual liberty (Document 2). During Jackson’s presidency, abolitionist movements began coming up. This became a big problem for the South because the South’s economy was still based on the need for slaves to work on …show more content…

Chief Justice Roger B. Taney believed that the government’s ability to tax was acceptable because the reason for taxing was to raise money for internal improvement for the United States (Document 3). The Bank of the United States was thought to be only for the benefit of the rich, and not the middle class and the poor. When presented the re-charter for the Bank of the United States, Jackson vetoed the charter and essentially “killed off” the Bank. Jackson was against the Bank because he believed it to be unconstitutional and economically unfair to the people, and “dangerous to the liberties of the people”. After the Bank was destroyed, Roger B. Taney took all of the gold and silver out of the Bank, and placed it into various state banks. This way, there was a more equal economic opportunity for the middle class and the

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