Andrew Jackson Dbq Analysis

“Old Hickory” was depicted as both a tyrant and a person of democratic ideals. Andrew Jackson had laid his mark on the history of the United States. Gaining reputation with his outstanding victory in the Battle of New Orleans, Jackson continued the flow of appealing to the people by running for the presidential role in 1824 and 1828. Aiming for the majority vote in the Election of 1828, Jackson’s presidential campaign sought to reform the government against the “corrupt bargain” that had taken place in the previous election. The Election of 1828 showed a drastic change in the legislature electing the majority of presidential electors into the people electing the majority of the electors(Doc.1). Jackson’s inauguration spelled the foundations
Although Jackson used undemocratic actions to pursue his objectives, he was democratic in that he did it for the welfare of the people. Despite abusing his executive power, Jackson was democratic in his policy towards the Bank of United States. Originally founded during the time of Washington’s presidency with Hamilton’s financial plan, the bank was created in order to tie wealthy investors to the government. Jackson found the second Bank of United States harmful because was founded upon the same principles. By opposing the previous judicial ruling of John Marshall in McCulloch v. Maryland, which declared the bank was constitutional, Andrew Jackson had used his presidential power in order to prevent the second Bank of the United States’ charter from being renewed by vetoing it as well as destroying the bank before its expiration in 1836 by removing all federal deposits from it and placing them into “pet banks.” Furthermore, he passed the Species Circular which meant that all mortgages could only be paid in hard currency, which led to the panic of 1837. These events shockingly gave the executive branch the authority over rulings of the Judiciary Branch as well as the legislative
In Worcester V. Georgia, John Marshall had ruled that the Indians could stay in the land and that Georgia had no power within the Indian lands. However, Jackson said “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.” Then he proceeded to pass the Indian Removal Act and caused the deaths of many Indians who traveled along the path known as the Trail of Tears that led to present-day Oklahoma(Doc.10). Democracy had not extended to Indians as their pleas to remain on the land of their ancestors were rejected even after they explained the hardships of moving to the new land(Doc.9). Despite this, Jackson had democratic reasons for removing the Indians from their lands. Jackson sympathized with land-hungry citizens who wanted to take over the land previously owned by the Natives. The only way to reply to the citizens was to fuel westward expansion by passing the Indian Removal Act. Furthermore, Jackson believed that the Native Americans would eventually get wiped out if they stayed on their lands, so he had told Congress to set apart a district west of the Mississippi for the Indian tribes to occupy(Doc.9). Jackson believed that this was the most humane way to move the Indians and truly believed that he was saving them from