Preview

Why Is Andrew Jackson Controversial

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1335 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Why Is Andrew Jackson Controversial
Controversy. Quite the word of many meanings. Certain events throughout an individual's life will spark ember of these controversial opinions, all which are subjective to that individuals perception of them. History seems to be the central relier of controversy and for decades individuals of all ages, races, and genders have quarreled together or against one another of topics debatable. One which has been discussed for a many of years now, is that of Andrew Jackson and his overall worthiness of being on such a high heald, profound piece of paper. The United States $20 dollar bill. Jackson is an individual of many characteristics; independence, relentlessness, ruthlessness, crudeness, bravery, and determination. These traits are some which engineered a superior power for Jackson overall and are what evolved him …show more content…
There were a total of five distinct Native American tribal groups which were subsequently forced to evacuate the premises of their homes. And, with little time, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole and Creek Natives, left to Oklahoma under Andrew Jackson's request. Such an act of movement certainly was offensive and confusing, however the main issue upon the persons was not the movement itself, rather it was the true realization of the power in Jackson's hands. After the movement, one of the tribes sued for reasons personal, and when ruled in their own favor by the Supreme Court, Jackson and his devious, ruthless, belittling self, took matters to his own and induced Georgia to move into the Natives land, thus creating an inability for the Natives to go home. This event is known as the Trail of Tears, and is just one of a handful of times where Jackson took the lives of the innocent, thus providing a reason to remove him from the bill

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Every country knows that currency is a big deal. Outside of the monetary value, every country with its own currency knows that important historical figures should be portrayed on the money we handle every day. I’m sure whatever initial reason they had is valid, but Andrew Jackson does not belong on the $20 bill. There are more deserving American figures that can be represented on something that we see so often! George Washington (Mr. $1), Thomas Jefferson (Mr. $2), Abraham Lincoln (Mr. $5), Alexander Hamilton (Mr. $10), Ulysses S. Grant (Mr. $50), and Benjamin Franklin (Mr. $100) have all done something to better America and its future. All Andrew Jackson did was distance himself from the diversity that would flourish in the future of the United States.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Andrew Jackson Presidency

    • 3326 Words
    • 14 Pages

    final acts in office, President Jackson was regarded as a great hero, yet at the same time…

    • 3326 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Andrew Jackson was an impactful president whose strategies and actions transformed the country. He was a controversial figure in American politics, due to both his empowerment of the “common” American man, his ruining of the economy, and his deplorable acts he subjected the American Indians to.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many had intermarried with Europeans and lived settled lives in farming communities. The Cherokee had written their own constitution, based on the United States Constitution, they had started a newspaper, and had built roads, schools, and churches. As immigrants poured into the United States, however, land became scarce. The Indians had land; the settlers wanted it. Suddenly, it was not enough that some of the native tribes had become very much like the white Americans. At first, the Cherokee in Georgia tried to fight the Indian Removal Act by taking the government to court. In 1832, the Supreme Court ruled against Georgia. (Smith 134) even with the Court’s ruling, the Indian removal act continued. President Jackson ignored the Supreme Court’s verdict, handed down by Chief Justice John Marshall. The President was reported to have said, “John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it!” (O’Neill 11). By the end of the decade, tens of thousands of Indians had been moved west. Thousands died on the long, difficult march, which became known as the Trail of…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    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…

    • 1233 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the 1830s nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived in on millions of acres of land. By the end of the decade very few remained. Federal government forced them to leave their homes. They had to walk a thousand miles across the Mississippi River. The difficult and deadly journey was called the Trail of Tears.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Indian titles to their territory were terminated when this bill was made into a law. This allowed for the territory to be used, claimed, or obtained by the white settlers. Even though they were forced to leave, the policy stated that if they wanted it, then Indians had the option of their transportation to be paid for(Trail of Tears). President Jackson called for federal troops to cleanse the indians from the land that they had lived on for generations. This order went against the actual law that was passed by the government stating that the indians were allowed to trade their land for land in the west. This same law also stated that they could not be put out of their land by the government if they didn't choose to give up their land. However, President Jackson frequently ignored the laws and made his own decisions (A Brief History of the Trail of…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1814 he commanded the U.S. military forces that defeated a faction of the Creek nation. In their defeat, the Creeks lost 22 million acres of land in southern Georgia and central Alabama. As president, he continued to try and acquire more Indian land for white settlers who wanted to grow cotton, much like him. In 1830 Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which allowed the government to move the Indians out of cotton rich land, and into Indian reservations out west. This travel took a toll on many of the tribes, and the journey the Indians took came to be known as the “Trail of Tears”. In addition, there was the Supreme Court case of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, where the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee Nation. This ruling of the Supreme Court did not stop Jackson and his followers from driving the Cherokees off of their land, which people viewed unconstitional from Jackson’s part.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jackson evicted all of the Native Americans out of their homes, the process was done forcefully and it was unconstitutional. A first hand account from Private John G. Burnett gave America a slight taste of how horrifying Jackson’s decisions were. From Burnett’s passage reading “I saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes.and driven at the bayonet point into the stockades”(Doc G). This proved the point Jackson was beyond inconsiderate of anyone besides himself. Before Jackson even began the Indian Removal Act, he tried to get his idea passed. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Native Americans. Jackson made five of the Indian tribes march west because white settlers found gold in the North, where the Indians resided. Five of the Native American tribes were impacted; they were, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, and the Cherokee. The Cherokee tribe was the only tribe to fight the eviction. While marching, one our of every four Cherokees died on the Trail of Tears. Jackson made his name hated even more by the Native Americans by adopting a Creek Indian…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As more and more people migrated to the United States, the government felt that settlers needed more space in the US Territory. They had already forced several Native American tribes off of “US land” by the time Andrew Jackson was President. In the Southwestern United States, the Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw tribes excelled in interacting with new settlers. Jackson had been able to maintain a peaceful relationship with these tribes and had even raised a Creek orphan alongside his own son. Although he did not treat them as if they were strangers, he still saw them as inferior. He forced the tribes to split and absorb into the American way of life. At the beginning of his presidency, the Cherokee’s tribal and state governments began…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Andrew Jackson Villain

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In 1814, President Jackson commanded the military force that defeated the Creek nation. In the Creek nation’s defeat, the Creeks “lost 22 million acres of land in southern Georgia and central Alabama” (PBS, Indian Removal). Andrew Jackson championed the malicious and imperial “Indian Removal Act” through both of the houses of Congress in 1830. The Indian Removal Act permitted President Andrew Jackson to “disavow earlier treaty commitments and force the 74,000 Indians remaining in the East and the South to move to federal lands west of the Mississippi River” (Shi and Tindall 330). Under these agreements, the Native Americans were to voluntarily hand over their lands “east of the Mississippi and in exchange for lands to the west” (PBS, Indian Removal). Despite the rhetoric proposing a voluntary and fair exchange of their lands, the Indian Removal Act cleared the way for the U.S. militia to drive out the Native Americans from their own land with brute force under President Jackson’s…

    • 1287 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ‘Trail of Tears’ refers to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. At the time, America was rapidly expanding as a country. As new land was being sought after and westward expansion was in full swing, certain southern states were beginning to be valued and inhabited by white settlers. “But their land (Indians), located in parts of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee, was valuable, and it grew to be more coveted as white settlers flooded the region.” The only problem was that these southern states were already inhabited by Native Americans. Andrew Jackson had a solution to this problem. Simply strong-arm the Indians off of their land. To quote a section of the Indian Removal Act, “It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters.” While tribes were ‘compensated’ with currency to relocate, they had no choice or say in the matter. They were forced to move westward in the midst of a brutally cold and unforgiving winter. The relocation of these people was dubbed ‘The Trail of Tears’ as so many Indians died during their travels west. There are always two sides to an argument. However, Jackson’s Indian Removal Act was perceived by many as unconstitutional, and an abuse of power, sparking heated political debate among American citizens at the time, and strong opinions within the American political…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Honorable and infamous, courageous and alarmed, trustworthy and treasonous – one could claim that President Andrew Jackson fills the bill of each category. President Jackson’s legacy is one that is continuously being rewritten and reformed. Andrew Jackson, the man who set forth plans that would normally send men wallowing in fear, became a war hero during the War of 1812, destroyed the Second Bank of the United States, eliminated the national debt, and conquered and triumphed over the Supreme Court. In a sense a man larger than life, Jackson paved the way for the many liberties that we take for granted today. From nullification to Indian Removal, Andrew Jackson is a man who is cautiously studied. From his early childhood years to the deathbed,…

    • 2212 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even after the Supreme Court ruled it unlawful for the government to remove the Native Americans from their lands, President Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the law resulting from the ruling. From this action, the US government forcibly removed around 16,000 Cherokees from their land and forced them to walk the Trail of Tears. Around 4,000 of them perished on the 2,200-mile journey; starting at the southwest to Indian Territory, now called Oklahoma. However, the terror didn’t end once they had been relocated against their will. Cultural Genocide was committed against them next, the government forced the married couples to remarry in western attire, cut their hair, and forced the children to attend a boarding school away from their families to learn how to speak and write in English. The government’s excuse for these violations was they were trying to “Kill the Indian, Save the Man,”. Due to the government’s cruel action towards the Native Americans; for kicking them off their land for selfish reasons, such as land for new settlers and the discovery or iron ores, and the cultural genocide they were the root cause of, this action in history can be identified as…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Trail of Tears, a gruesome event taking place in the mid 1800's. Andrew Jackson and his Indian removal Act, it costed the land of the Cherokees of the east Mississippi River to be taken away from them. Due to the land being stolen, the Cherokees had to migrate to the present-day of Oklahoma. With its devastating events such as, Hunger, disease, and exhaustion. Years later,…

    • 298 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays