Andrew Jackson - Hero or Villain

Quote Analysis

Hero or Villain?

By Aditya Shah

The Spoils System

The Corrupt Bargain

The Election of 1828

Indian Removal Act

The Bank War

Nullification Crisis

Andrew Jackson - Hero or Villain

The election of 1824 was the fist time that Andrew Jackson started to run for president. His political opponents were John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and William Clay. Jackson won the popular vote, however, the result of the election was inconclusive. None of the candidates had won a majority of the electoral votes. The house of representatives then were the deciding factor in the election. The chose Adams and House Speaker Henry Clay was a big supporter of Adams. Jackson believed that they had struck a deal for Adams to become President when he named Clay as his Secretary of State. He believed that the two had reached a "Corrupt Bargain" thus giving this election its name.

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And The Election of 1824

The Corrupt Bargain

This time, the main candidates were John Quincy Adams, the former president, and Andrew Jackson who was running again. This time, Jackson recieved 178 electoral votes and Adams recieved 83. This election would kick off the next four controversy riddled years of Andrew Jackson; Hero or Villain?

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Andrew Jacksons Election Win

The Election of 1828

The Kitchen Cabinet was a prime example of how Jackson used the spoils system. At the end of the Eaton Affair he removed his official cabinet and replaced it with an informal circle of advisers(the Kitchen Cabinet) filled with his close pollitical allies.

The spoils system is a practice in which the political officer winning the election awards government posts to active supporters and personal aquaintences regardless of the level of competency. The spoils system essentially allows the person in charge to make whatever job level changes he wants to gain the full support from his government.

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And the Kitchen Cabinet

The Spoils System

George Washington's Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, created the National Bank in hopes that it would boost the United States economically to the same level of other European mations. The bank would able to collect federal taxes, let the naiton borrow money, and provide industry/buisness credit. Andrew Jackson, believing in a strict interpretaiton of the constitution, declared the National Bank unconstitutional. In the constitution, it said "to make all laws necesarry and proper" which Jackson interperted as only if needed. Hamilton, on the other hand believed that meant it it made sense or it was convenient to the population of the U.S. He then went on to delcare that the U.S. would no longer have a use of the Bank of the U.S. and used his executive power to remove all funds from the bank which folded after its charter expired.

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The constitutional crisis that defined his presidency.

The Bank War

The nullification crisis was a massive argument over states rights. It started in 1828 when congress passed the tariff bill. This was the highest import tax in the U.S. ever. This was a protective tariff designed to protect American goods by taxing european imports. This particularly angered southern residents because they relied on imports from europe to help supply their plantations. Southern redisents called it "The Tariff of Abominations" because they hated it that much. Vice President John C. Calhoun, like many southerners, believed in states rights. Eventually, South Carolina passed the nullification act to declare the tariff illegal. South Carolina also threatned to secede if the tariff wasn't withdrawn. After a while, Henry Clay designed a compromise that would lower the tariff but also give the president more power and useage of force if a state threatens to secede.

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And Sectionalism

Nullification Process

Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830 forcing many Native Americans to relocate via a path that came to be knows as the "Trail of Tears". This act allowed for the removal of indian tribes from Georgia, Alabama, and Mississipi to reservations in Oklahoma. The natives did not wish to be removed from their ancestral land thus resulting in many battles with the local settlers. Evetually, the U.S. military came in and forced them on their way to their new land. Members like Tennesee Rep. Davy Crockett was outspoken about the fact that this was unconstitutional but to no frutition were his claims.

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And the Trail of Tears

Indian Removal Act

At first glance, this might just seem like any regular old thing that he might have said as president. After a deeper dive, this quote actualy reveals quite a lot about President Jackson. This quote actully represents his presidency. He claims that he is not comfortable in peace and calm but enjoys lif within a period of unrest. His term in the oval office was filled with controversy about how constitutional his policies were. Even though there wasn't too much rumor of war, there was outcry among the states and people within the U.S.

"I was born for a storm and calm does not suit me." - Andrew Jackson

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What does it really say about him?

Jackson Quote

Andrew Jackson, in the eyes of the settlers, was a hero. He played a major role in the Indians being kicked out of the land that would later be used to their own cotton plantations. He also helped in removing the national bank which helped the southern settlers out greatly. In the shoes of the Indians however, they got kicked out of their aincient tribal and ancetral land and were forced onto new reservations of land they didn't know because of Jackson. They also owe their time of suffering on the "Trail of Tears" to his heavy pursuit of the Indian Removal Act to be passed.

President Andrew Jackson turned out not to be the gaurdian savior some thought he would be. Even though he over-stepped the constitution at times, were the country's best decisions at heart or was he truly a villain with only his own intentions at mind?

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The question that defined his legacy.

Hero or Villain?