Morgan Taylor

12/8/16
Period 3

Jackson Long Essay

President Andrew Jackson was one of the most controversial leaders in American
history. Jackson was ridiculed for his decisions time and time again but he claimed that all of his
choices were for the benefit of the common man. Jacksons actions did more harm than good in
the United States, through the Native American Policy, Tariff of Abominations, and the Veto of
National Bank we see that his for the common man philosophy damaged the Union.
Jackson was looking to expand the United States to gain and increase of land and
resources that land had to offer. In order to do this he had to force the Native Americans to cede
their land to the United States government but did not have the power to do so. In 1830
Congress, with the support of Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act that said the federal
government could fund treaties that would force tribes west of the Mississippi River. The
Cherokees (Georgia) went to the Supreme court to try and keep their land where John
Marshall, the Supreme Court Chief Justice, sided with the Cherokees but Jackson refused to
listen to the decision. Thus came the Trail of Tears beginning in 1838. Many will argue that the
Jackson was not responsible for the Trail of Tears because it did not occur under Jacksons
power, but Van Burens. Without the actions that Jackson took during his Presidency then the
Trail of tears would have never occurred. Thousands of Cherokees lost their lives during the
long and grueling trip of 800 miles; money and livestock were taken from them and they were
given infertile land.
The Tariff of 1828 was written and passed for the benefit of the North and was later
named the Tariff of Abominations by the south because of the negative effects it took on them.
The Tariff was a tax placed on British goods that were being imported into the United States to
try and encourage Americans to buy American products that were being produced in the North.
The South relied on British goods because they did not have the industry to produce it
themselves and they were at a cost low enough to where they can afford it. This benefited the
North because the British products were now at an equal costs causing people to buy within
America but because of the increase in price is hurt the South immensely; it reduces the
farmers profits and increased the spending. The Constitution states that a president cannot
favor a certain part of the country but by passing this, Jackson did just that. South Carolina,
being one of the states that was negatively effected, John Calhoun (from South Carolina) said
that if a state could declare an act of Congress unconstitutional. When South Carolina

attempted to put this into action, Jackson threatened to march troops there and almost started a
war with one of his own states. The name says it all, the word abominations means a hatred or
disgust for something and if an entire sections of the country is saying that about their President
then there is a lack of representation for what the people want.
Jacksons decisions in his presidency led to the destructions of the National Bank. When
the National Bank was up for renewal (every 20 years) he did not renew it so he created Pet
Banks where he removed money from the Nation Bank and placed it into these banks that were
favored by the democrats. The National Bank controlled national interest rates by giving out lots
of loans, this was essential because the farmers that were transitioning into commercial farming
often did not have the money to buy land and would get loans from the bank in order to start
their business. Jackson was a strong believe that the popular vote should be the one to make
decisions, 128,117 people voted to save the National Bank and 17,027 voted against it so he
went against what the common people wanted, which is what he claimed to support, and do
what he wanted to do, this is how he got the nickname King Andrew. Because of his efforts to
destroy the National Bank, it cause the Panic of 1837 where Pet Banks printed money without
Gold (specie) backing and many banks closed, accounts went bankrupt, businesses failed, and
unemployment soared. President Jackson once said, "The Bank is trying to kill me, Sir, but I
shall kill it!", showing his own personal vendetta against the bank. He was worried that the bank
was going to support his opponent in the next election and he wanted to make sure that didnt
happen.
Jackson hurt the country and people by creating the Indian removal act and causing the
Trail of Tears, enacting the Tariff of Abominations almost causing a war with South Carolina, and
the veto of the National Bank which cause the Panic of 1837 when the United States took a
huge economic hit. During Jacksons Presidency he showed signs of a dictator and made many
decisions based on his own personal gain. King Henry VIII showed similar characteristics when
he went against parliament and decided to create the Anglican Church (The Church of England)
because of personal reasons. He is the reason America was created and the reason we have a
Constitution in place to make sure we never have a ruler like him again.