Jackson Project-Krisha Sahay

Andrew JacksonHero or Villain?

By: Krisha Sahay

I believe that Andrew Jackson is a villain because of his actions during his presidency. Some examples are him vetoing the 2nd Nation Bank, Trail of Tears, Kitchen Cabinet, Nullification Crisis

National Bank

Trail of Tears

Nullification Crisis

Kitchen Cabinet

Quote

2nd National Bank

He ignored the Supreme Court and vetoed it anyways.

The United States decided that creating a 2nd National Bank would benefit the economy by stabilizing it. Though, many southerners and westerneres favored the North, on the contrary bankers thought the bank was necessary to advance and supply the economy of the United States. The Supreme Court, which has the final say on whether an act is constitutional, established that the National Bank is indeed, constitutional. Even though it was decided that the bank was constitutional, Andrew Jackson became a villain because he vetoed the 2nd Nation Bank. Andrew Jackson was against the National Bank because he was a representative of the "common man", and he believed that it favored the wealthy. Jackson also argued that the Bank was not "necessary" nor "proper". Due to Jackson challenging he rulings of the Supreme Court many started to believe Andrew Jackson was careless, since before president vetored sparingly and only when they strongly felt that the laws were unconstitutional. Though Andrew Jackson believed that the National Bank was unnecessary, many Jacksonians and his cabinet saw the benefits of the Bank and thought that the Bank was a stepping stone to allow the economy of the U.S. to prosper. Andrew Jackson's choice of vetoeing the 2nd National Bank showed how despite what other branches said, he thought his opinion was superior.

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Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears

Thousands of Natives kicked out of their homeleands

The Trail of Tears became an outcome from the Indian Removal Act. Andrew Jackson believed that Native Americans were preventing the advancement of population growth, wealth, and power; he decided that to fix this "issue" he should "relieve the whole State of Mississippi ad the wester paret of Alabama of Indian Occupancy." Though there was a Supreme Court Case where the Native Tribe, Cherokee won the right to reside in Georgia, Jackson ignored the ruling and pressed congress to the Indian Removal Act. Andrew Jakcson disregarding the Sumpre Courts rulings show how he believed his actions were right, and d he didn't think to consider whether the other branches agreed. When the Natives were forced out of their homelands they were forced to go west of the Mississppi and the trail became known as the Trail of Tears. The living conditions in the Trail of Tears weren't safe for the thousands of Native Americans trekking it. This caused thousands of Natives to die from starvation, illness, and diseases. The tribes who refused to be relocated were killed by from from the US Army. These actions made by Andrew Jackson showed he didn't consider others lives that he was affecting as long as it benefited him. Andrew Jackson became known as a villain for his cruel way and incapability to help others.

Kitchen Cabinet

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Kitchen Cabinet

He only hired unofficial advisors to run the nation

A Kitchen Cabinet is a collection of unofficial advisors, it is a term used by political opponents. Andrew Jackson made this term known because when deciding who should help run the United States with him, instead of choosing people who were trained and official advisory, he chose his closest supporters. Due to Andrew Jackson's actions of appointing unofficial advisors, many people believed the the Kitchen Cabinet was not capable of making good decisions to benefit the country. Andrew Jackson became known as villain from this instance because instead of choosing people who educated on the topic of running the country he instead chose to go with his opinions, so he could get what he wanted. This made Jackson selfish because instead of thinking of the betterment of the country he thought of how he could accomplish his own personal goals with his unofficial advisors.

Nullification Crisis

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Nullification Crisis

He only wanted the power to reside in the Federal Union

The Nullification Crisis is the conflict between South Carolina and the federal government, about the tariffs of 1828 and the attempt withing the states to declare void. The tariffs were referred as the "Tariffs of Abomination", were passed for northern manufactures so foreign goods did not have a chance to compete against domestic products. This placed a tax on foreign goods, which agriculture in the South relied heavily on. The high tariffs made many believe that it would cause the economy to collapse, so protests started arising, which made the state legislature issue South Carolina Exposition and Protest, which declared the tariff unconstitutional. This caused for Andrew Jackson to take action when other southern states started following suit of South Carolina. Jackson took action by recognizing South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification has a thereat to the federal union and national authority, since he believed more power should reside with the federal governments than the states. So he decided to pass a Force Bill, which gave the permission to use federal troops to collect tariffs if necessary. Andrew Jackson going against the states and believing that the federal government should have more authority, despite being a representative of the "common man", caused him to be viewed as a villain since he did not consider what the South's needs were. Due to Andrew Jackson resorting to force, caused the South to to feel like a minority compared to the rest of the country. Even though Andreew Jackson took pride in helping the white American male worker in the South s a chance to participate more in the government, he still belittled them by not listening to their protests and showing how vulnerable they are while in the Union.

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Quote

quote

"Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error." - Andrew Jackson

This quote shows how Andrew Jackson believes that good men should stick up for what they believe is right and should acknowledge and act upon it instantly. This connects to how Andrew Jackson acts as president since most of his actions were irrational and disregarded everyone elses' opinions for his. Jackson normally acted on what he believed and didn't stop to consider the wants or needs of the country. This explains how "any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right" because this describes Jackson's bold decisions during his presidency. Andrew Jackson also said that a slightly better man should, "acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error," because he realized how most common white American men that weren't wealthy, didn't get much participation in the government, so he gave them that opportunity. Though to accomplish his goals to help benefit the common man, he had to sacrifice other lives for example, Native Americans. Also, many of Andrew Jackson's rash decisions weren't followed with an apology when many people spoke out against them, because despite many people seeing that he was in the wrong, Jackson did not. He believed that his opinion was superior and felt that he had more authority than the states, citizens, and other branches. Andrew Jackson stuck to his beliefs and felt strongly about what he though was right or wrong, so due to his arrogance he chose to not listen to others and what the citizens of country wanted.

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