Jefferson’s’ 1824 comment, in which he suggests Jackson as both a dangerous man and “unfit man” for the position of the presidency is a loaded statement. As a simple answer, yes, Jackson’s history of bar fights, can beatings, duals to the death, and notable bouts of anger, one of which Jefferson even brings to light within the quote above, all point to Jackson being a dangerous man. Yet, dangerous in the sense that Jackson would fight when needed, not purely becuase he wanted to. The statement is loaded becuase of Jefferson’s prestiges, and the complicated meaning of the word as well as what actions Jefferson was referring to that made Jackson “dangerous”. While Jefferson knew Jackson as a peer, during their time in Congress, he did not know …show more content…
Jackson saw the power in his office and he used it to further the Union at every turn. His actions against the Indians was even brought about to preserve his response to the Nullification Crisis which threatened the Union. Jackson was a man that thought of the future, this is best seen in his thoughts towards Texas. A dangerous man would have flexed America's military power when attempting to purchase Texas from Mexico. Jackson did not, as he instead opted to purchase the land through a mediatory, one he thought was fit enough to negotiate for the Union. When this fell through he choose not to push further, even as the Texans began to fight he held back, fearing that military power would put the U.S. in a negative light with other nations (p, 178, Andrew Jackson, Southern). These are not the actions of a hot tempered or dangerous man, these are the actions of a thinker. Just like how he handled the Nullification Crisis, Jackson saw the importance of the Union, something he saw was at risk if Texas had been brought in so quick, especially as a slave state. There were no limits to a presidential term at this time, he could have run again, though he choose not to, opting to allow a successor take over. He passed up his power to Van Buren, through a cunning political handling of Texas. Jackson was not a man to cross, though he was not a man of rage and unpredictable, he was a man of codes and honor. Jefferson’s assertion that he was a dangerous man is far too extreme. Word choice was something so important to Jefferson, as primary author of the Declaration of Indepence, I would find it hard to believe he did not think over his words before choosing them. It is because of his choice in words that I disagree with him, as Jackson was not dangerous,
There are many who are against Andrew Jackson because he is a hypocrite. An example of this is how Jackson states he is against slavery but still owned slaves. One has to understand that America was founded on hypocrisy. Essentially what Jackson is trying to do is to make compromises on situations so he can support both sides of an argument to represent as many people as possible.
Jackson was a genius and totally reinvented how candidates wanted to be portrayed in the eye of the people. Jackson appealed to everyone from the rich, poor, farmer, professional, industrial, to average Joe. This approach worked to his advantage he took no side when it came down to some heated political debates within the nation he was neither for or against any of them. He revolutionized the way presidential candidates were in all parties. Once he got in it was a different story he had ideas that were going to raise big question marks within the community. The Jacksonian idea was to achieve stability and control by winning to the Democratic party "the middling interest, and especially ... the substantial yeomanry of the country" by "prudent, judicious, well-considered reform." The attempts at political stability, at economic control, did not quite work. The new industrialism, the crowded cities, the long hours in the factories, the sudden economic crises leading to high prices and lost jobs, the lack of food and water, the freezing winters, the hot tenements in the summer, the epidemics of disease, the deaths of children-these led to sporadic reactions from the poor. Sometimes there were spontaneous, unorganized uprisings against the rich. Sometimes the anger was deflected into
Jacksonian's viewed themselves as guardians of the constitution, political democracy, individual liberties, and equality of economic opportunity. Many of his followers from that time tended to agree but a lot of people today look back and disagree with each of these assumptions. I believe that he was a keeper of the constitution and political democracy. Depending upon your outlook, Jackson was a guardian of individual liberties, even with his oppression of African American slaves, Indians, and women. His equality of economic opportunity was more towards the common man that the elite but gave that common man a larger chance for equality with the elites without allowing the elites a greater chance to increase their wealth.
After having the votes from the people and the Electoral College he wins against John Quincy Adams. Jackson emerged new political parties, the Whigs and the Democrats (Binkiewicz). During his presidency, Jackson had the second national bank, did not like the high tariffs but kept them, and the Indian Removal Act 1830 was passed by Congress. During this time Jackson vetoed twelve bills. One of these was the first "pocket veto" in American history. His messages were a direct link to the voters, because of the powerful language. In other ways, too, Jackson expanded the scope of presidential authority. He dominated his cabinet, forcing out members who would not execute his commands. Jackson was a matured politician and had great political philosophy. He cherished having the national debt because it meant having more credit for the country. Which is why he kept the tariff high, although he didn’t like it because it meant the debt was still there and his credit would be getting better. The tariff was greatly opposed by the southerners. South Carolina’s nullification bothered Jackson because he felt that he was not doing his job. South Carolina withdraws the nullification of the old tariff because they state that it does not apply to them therefore, they will not obey it. Jackson states that not matter what they say they have to obey it because it is federal law and they will be punished if they do not obey
Both of these men had a vision for the success of the nation. This can be seen on the battlefield and later on in both of their terms as President. Jackson envisioned expanding the borders of the American territory. The obstacles to this in Jackson’s eyes were the Native Americans and Spanish Florida. “Jackson used his reputation as a fierce fighter and the threat of force to get the Creeks, Chickasaws, Cherokees and Choctaws to sign treaties ceding huge tracts of land to the U.S. and confining their tribes to much smaller territories.
Hello Erica, I wanted to start off by saying I enjoyed the point you were making, the idea that historians labeling Jackson as something may not matter as it matters more what he saw him as. I agree of course that Jackson was a Southern rather than a Western, a fact that seems even more true as time moved on and the actual West was made more corporeal. From everything I have learned and even a few quick searched on the internet to refresh my mind, the West as we might know it did not truly start to take shape until several years after the War of 1812. By this time, Jackson had been exposed to Southern life his entire life. He never moved West, and always stayed primarily within the South throughout his life. Idea wise, yes he could have some of the adventurous spite and he most certainly took the law into his own hands when he felt wronged.
Even though Jackson was very successful during his presidency, there were some events in history that really showed his “weaknesses”. Jackson was classified as a lunatic. He was feared by many, especially his opponents. Due to his temper and poor decisions, Jackson did not mind to go to war for what he believed in or did not care to remove anyone against him. He was a real savage, and I feel the country at this time of period needed this type of mentality in the presidency. A negative event that took place during his term was the Trail of Tears, which was the forced removal of Native Americans from their homeland, resulting in the death of thousands of people. He also promoted slavery and he himself owned many and showed cruelty towards them. Andrew Jackson was stubborn and only cared about himself, but I do believe he
First, War on Bank of US was something that showed he was more of a king than a president. Jackson thought the War on Bank of US was unconstitutional and a threat to liberty (Jackson’s Economic Issues). Reasons to support this is he thought that it was unconstitutional because he believed that it hurt the people who had to pay for the bank. It put people and the government in danger of possibly losing the money that they had. The people that the US Bank hurt was mostly farmers, which when your king or live in that type of era you rely mostly on farmers for crops and other things. To conclude, this was just one of the many reason why he acted more like a kind when he was president.
If Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson faced off, many would argue over which president was better leader and who was more effective. Jackson and Jefferson have more differences among them then they have alike, but they both stood in their beliefs and completed major events that helped with the writings of America’s history. If Jefferson or Jackson had an idea in mind that needed to be completed, they were very effective to get that job done in an efficient time. Both presidents held professions before office and out of the eight years both presidents held in office, many acts were created which aided both men to accomplish the ideas they had. Jackson’s daily life and attitude was considerably different compared to Jefferson but that didn 't stop him from getting his job done. Over all Jefferson was the better president and was more efficient thought his works.
This quote by Jackson underlies the fact the he was a selfish, tyrannical ruler. He did not make decisions based on the interests of the whole nation but on his own personal benefit, in search of self- achievement. Although he was portrayed or possibly manipulated the citizens to believe that he was a president for the common man, that was simply not the way he acted. As president, he purposely ignored the power of the Judicial branch to judge laws, and strengthened the power of the Executive branch above the limits in the Constitution. He was also said to be rude and uneducated, which
Andrew Jackson has gone down as one of the best presidents in United States history and that’s because he did many great things to improve the United States. Throughout his presidency he constantly abused his power as the president and did many things that expanded the powers of the president. One of the biggest things that President Jackson did while in office was pass the Indian Removal Act. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was when Jackson forced all the Indians to move to the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, while the Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional. Many of the Indians went peacefully, but many of the Indians also decided to protest and take it to the Supreme Court (Darrenkamp). While the court did side with the Indians Jackson and Congress forced the Indians to give up their land. The federal troops were called in to escort the Indians to their new land. Fifteen thousand Indians were forced to move and while on their way about a third of the Indians died, and this event became to be known as the Trail of Tears (Darrenkamp). Jackson had
Jackson based his decisions upon what he thought would most benefit himself, not the country. His cabinet was often called a “kitchen cabinet” because he appointed friends with the same political views as him to fill
President Jefferson and President Jackson were two complete different people. Though each one had their flaws, they also had some good intentions throughout their presidency. The government was different under each president because each one had their own ideas for America. There is a chain of causes that made America the way it was under each president. Jefferson was a good person but was not the best president because he always thought about himself and never what everyone else wanted. Jackson was not a good person but he was a good president because he got things done as a president. He did thing that were good not only for him but for America 's future.
If I lived back in the Jacksonian Era, my view of the man would be very unpleasant. These actions are something that a tyrant would do, like King Louis XIV or Muammar Gaddafi, who totally ignored their nations’ rights. I believe Andrew Jackson ignored two branches of the United States government; the legislative and the judicial branches. He vetoed laws that he believes that hurt the country, but in my eyes, the Bank was always needed, especially in their time of economic crisis. He also ignored the decision of the Supreme Court in the Cherokee vs. Georgia case, something that a President should not do. I do acknowledge Andrew Jackson’s protection of democracy and
Probably the most glaring difference between Jackson and Jefferson was their opinions on Native Americans. As a young man, Jackson spent a lot a time fighting Indians. The Indians were the natural enemy of the white settlers, as surprise attacks were often conducted, where houses were burned and whole families were murdered. Having experienced this, it is safe to say that Jackson did not think highly of the Indians. On the other end of the spectrum, Jefferson grew up as a student of Indian life of the frontier. In the book, Jefferson refutes the ignorant opinions of Buffon, a Frenchmen who declared that Indians, compared to Europeans, are “less strong in body; he is also less sensitive, and yet more timid and cowardly; he has no vivacity, no activity of mind.” Jefferson, having personally known Indians, refuted