The Presidency Of Andrew Jackson Essay Research

The Presidency Of Andrew Jackson Essay, Research Paper

Like any hall of fame, its inductees are the best in whatever

they do, from baseball or football to something like being President.

If you are a member of any hall of fame (including the one for the

Presidents), it means that you have done something special or have a

certain quality about yourself that makes you worthy to be in a hall

of fame. My nominee for the Presidents hall of Fame is our seventh

President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. I’ll go over his

presidency, focusing on both the highs and the lows of his two terms

in office, from 1829-1837. The issues that I’ll focus on are states’

rights, nullification, the tariff, the spoils system, Indian removal

and banking policies; these controversies brought forth strong rivalry

over his years of president. He was known for his iron will and fiery

personality, and strong use of the powers of his office that made his

years of presidency to be known as the “Age of Jackson.”

Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in a settlement on

the border of North and South Carolina. He was orphaned at age 14.

After studying law and becoming a member of the Bar in North Carolina

later he moved to Nashville Tennessee. Their he became a member of a

powerful political faction led by William Blount. He was married in

1791 to Rachel Donelson Robards, and later remarried to him due to a

legal mistake in her prior divorce in 1794.

Jackson served as delegate to Tenn. in the 1796 Constitutional

convention and a congressman for a year (from 1796-97). He was elected

senator in 1797, but financial problems forced him to resign and

return to Tennessee in less than a year. Later he served as a

Tennessee superior court judge for six years starting in 1798. In 1804

he retired from the bench and moved to Nashville and devoted time to

business ventures and his plantation. At this time his political

career looked over.

In 1814 Jackson was a Major General in the Tennessee Militia,

here he was ordered to march against the Creek Indians (who were

pro-British in the war of 1812). His goal was achieved at Horseshoe

Bend in March of 1814. Eventually he forced All Indians from the area.

His victory’s impressed some people in Washington and Jackson was put

in command of the defense of New Orleans. This show of American

strength made Americans feel proud after a war filled with military

defeats. Jackson was given the nickname “Old Hickory”, and was treated

as a national hero.

In 1817 he was ordered against the Seminole Indians. He pushed

them back into Spanish Florida and executed two British subjects.

Jackson instead that his actions were with approval of the Monroe

administration. His actions helped to acquire the Florida territory,

and he became a provisional governor of Florida that same year.

In 1822 the Tennessee Legislature nominated him for president

and the following year he was elected the U.S. senate. He also nearly

won the presidential campaign of 1824 however as a result of the

“corrupt bargain” with Henry Clay. Over the next four years the

current administration built a strong political machine with

nationalistic policies and a lack of concern of states rights. In 1828

through a campaign filled with mud slinging on both sides, Andrew

Jackson became the seventh President to the United States.

Instead of the normal cabinet made up by the president, he

relied more on an informal group of newspaper writers and northern

politicians who had worked for his election. I believe that this made

him more in contact with the people of the United States, more in

contact with the public opinion and feelings toward national issues

President Jackson developed the system of “rotation in office.” This

was used to protect the American people from a development of a

long-standing political group by removing long-term office holders.

His enemies accused him of corruption of civil service for political

reasons. However, I think that it was used to insure loyalty of the

people in his administration. States rights played an important part

in Jackson’s policy’s as president. In the case of the Cherokee

Indians vs. The State of Georgia, two Supreme Court decisions in 1831

and 1832 upholding the rights of the Cherokee nation over the State of

Georgia who had wanted to destroy Cherokee jurisdiction on it’s land

because gold had been found on it, and the state seeing the Indians as

tenants on state land decided to “kick them out”. Chief Justice John

Marshall ruled that Georgia had no jurisdiction to interfere with the

rights of the Cherokee and removal of them would violate treaties

between them and the U.S. Government. However, Jackson, not liking

these decisions was reported of saying “John Marshall has made his

decisio

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