Williams 1

Caleb Williams

Professor Riddle

HIST-251

10 November 2020

President Jackson and his Controversies

Controversy has arisen in the last couple of years because of a group of people that want to

remove a president from one of the dollar bills. People describe Abraham Lincoln and George

Washington as noble presidents that molded our country in a spectacular way and the positive

contributions of Alexander Hamilton, General Grant, and Benjamin Franklin are almost unrivaled.

Andrew Jackson, on the other hand, is a complicated historical figure, with many conflicting opinions of

him. Many people view him as an overly racist man whose many negative impacts can still be felt today.

Others argue that he is one of the best presidents saying that he truly embodied what it meant to be a

successful leader through his accomplishments. Jon Meacham describes him in a biography as

“achiev[ing] great things while committing grievous sins.” 1 Before condemning him or praising him it is

important to evaluate what he did right and wrong, especially because of the large impact he had on the

United States. Theodore Roosevelt said “Jackson had many faults... but... With the exception of

Washington and Lincoln, no man has left a deeper mark on American History.” 2 Because of the large

impact President Jackson had on our government, it is important that 21 st century American citizens

reevaluate Andrew Jackson to challenge our preconceived ideas to decide if he deserves to be honored

or vilified. Through deep analysis of President Jackson’s impact on modern politics, his actions towards

minorities, and sending the country into an economic depression which greatly outweighs anything

1
Meacham, American Lion, xix.
2
Presidency.
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good he accomplished during his presidency meaning that the legacy he has is embellished and

undeserved.

One of the largest impacts Andrew Jackson had was when he gave the position of president

much more power than it was intended to have, shaping the presidency to become similar to the

position today. President Jackson vetoed 12 bills which was many more than any president before him 3.

He also removed 919 people from government office when no presidents before him had removed over

ten people4. This is known as the Spoils System, replacing political opponents with ones that support

you. Andrew Jackson hated corruption and sought to remove any government official that he deemed

corrupt. He acted as the judge, jury, and the executioner. While trying to destroy corruption in the

government, he just made the government even more corrupt by favoring himself and his party. There

was a reason why his political opponents were referring to him as a king 5 and that is because of this

dramatic change to the power of the presidency. He turned the presidency into what was arguably the

least powerful branch of the government, by design, into the most powerful. He accomplished this

through the Spoils System, the large number of vetoes, and he took full control of the executive branch.

The present-day conflict over politics is mostly over the position of president. Without him, the intense

discord and divide between the parties would not exist. Due to Jackson, the most influential and

powerful position in the United States is dictated by one election instead of multiple like the Founding

Fathers intended.

President Jackson popularized one of the most powerful tools in modern politics, the media.

Jackson became famous after his actions in the Battle of New Orleans and then laid his sights on the

presidency. He ran in 1824, running against Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams and ran an incredibly

close race, only losing after Henry Clay dropped out of the race and supported Adams (and later became

3
Vetoes 1789 to Present.
4
Meacham, American Lion, 82.
5
Weitenkampf, King Andrew Jackson the First, 1833.
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his secretary of state). Jackson even won a majority of popular and electoral votes before Clay’s

endorsement, but the vote moved to the House of Representatives where Adams won. After this defeat,

Andrew Jackson and his supporters better prepared for his next election, managing to use newspapers,

organized open gatherings, and used the new invention of the lithography 6. Andrew Jackson was the

first candidate to launch a successful political campaign and he managed to bring politics to the people.

Before Jackson, the wealthy elite were the only group of people that had a say in politics. During the

election of 1828, new states accepted into the Union did not require white men to own property if they

wanted to vote7. This allowed Jackson’s campaign to appeal to middle and lower-class American citizens,

which had never been done before. It allowed people to become invested and involved in politics

regardless of their wealth. Therefore, Jackson took advantage of their new ability to vote and created a

political campaign to appeal to them. This allowed him to win the next election. His campaign was so

successful, that his political opponents began using the media to try and counter his propaganda.

Although this was a ground-breaking new practice, it did influence the weaponization of the media.

After Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fire side chats, the tool that Jackson used to become a president became

popularized. Being able to weaponize the media to bend and twist public opinion to support a political

belief or ideology is very dangerous. The media in the 21 st century fuels the already divisive elections,

which adds to the divide we see in our country. Jackson showing the power of the media in the 1800s

resulted in the eventual political use of all types of media to sway public opinion.

Comparing most highly regarded American heroes to Andrew Jackson, Jackson’s views on

African Americans and Native Americans were harsh, brutal, and inhumane. Andrew Jackson owned

more than one hundred slaves which allowed him to become very wealthy 8. Jackson treated his slaves

appallingly often beating his slaves publicly and he brought many of his slaves to the White House. He

6
Emika, Good Evil and the Presidency.
7
Expanding Democracy.
8
Emika, Good Evil and the Presidency.
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was very proud of his ownership of slaves and thought abolitionists should, “atone for this wicked

attempt with their lives.”9 This attitude is very different from many of the Founding Fathers because

many of them expected and wanted slavery to fade away. Jackson’s inhumane treatment of minorities

didn’t only include African Americans, he treated Native Americans terribly. Also, in the Battle of New

Orleans, Indians fought alongside Jackson’s militia. This made Jackson famous allowing him to become

popular enough to win the presidency. During his presidency he presented the infamous Indian Removal

Act which forced 50,000 Native Americans to leave their homes, leading to tragedies like the Trail of

Tears10. As if the situation couldn’t get any more inhumane, Jackson’s removal involved many of his

previous Indian allies. He tries to justify himself by saying that if they don’t move west, the Native

Americans will face “utter annihilation” 11 like the eastern tribes before them. Although Jackson’s actions

were vile, the tensions between Americans and Indians had been growing. As much as the Native

American tribes tried to assimilate, they often faced conflict with Americans. Examples of this include

the Fall Creek Massacre in 1824 and the Dressing Point Massacre in 1826 12. All of these situations are

very similar, white men slaughtering Native Americans to either rob them or take their land. There are

multiple massacres of colonists as well such as the Pigeon Roost Massacre in 1812 and Fort Mims

Massacre in 181313. The relationship between Native Americans and United States citizens was getting

worse and worse. However, Andrew Jackson’s solution for addressing this problem was the most vile

and ruthless way of dealing with the issue at hand. There are numerous ways of solving problems that

don’t involve the death of thousands.

One of the largest motives of Jackson was to get rid of any type of corruption, especially in the

Bank of the United States led by Nicholas Bittle. Jackson sought to destroy the corruption in the bank by

9
Blakemore, Controversial.
10
Blakemore, Controversial.
11
Jackson, Home.
12
Genocide of Native Americans.
13
Genocide of Native Americans.
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destroying the Bank of the United States completely. The bank was corrupt due to privately owned

stockholders and was able to be very influential in politics. Nicholas Bittle tried to renew the charter for

the bank but Jackson vetoed it and killed the bank, distributing its wealth to pet banks. Although this

technically did destroy the corruption in the Bank of the United States, it caused an economic

depression afterwards during Martin Van Buren’s presidency known as the Panic of 1837 14. The Panic of

1837 lasted six years, involved 800 banks being suspended, vast unemployment, multiple riots, and

increased skepticism in the American economy 15. Jackson viewed his actions as fighting against the

wealthy elite and for the average white male. Although, he is the only president that has managed to

pay off all of the United States’ debt, it came at the cost of the stability of most American’s economic

condition.

Although Jackson did do many terrible things, supporters of Jackson always mention how he

saved the country from civil war and the potential fracture of the country. The Nullification Crisis,

championed by Vice President John C Calhoun, wanted to give states the ability to repeal any federal law

that is passed. This divided the North and South because tariffs affecting cotton were put on the South.

The South viewed the tariff as unconstitutional and unfair. Andrew Jackson addresses the South directly

stating that “our Constitution does not contain the absurdity of giving power to make laws, and another

power to resist them”16. Jackson’s actions show that he cared deeply for the Union and viewed it as his

presidential duty to keep the country together. He compromised with the South, modifying the tariff

and rejecting nullification. He handled the Nullification Crisis so effectively that President Lincoln was

directly inspired by Jackson’s actions and methods towards keeping the country united. Jon Meacham

describes Lincoln’s methods as a “Jacksonian way of looking at the world.” 17 Although he did keep the

country united, he did nothing to deal with the biggest issue dividing the North and South, slavery.
14
Effects of the Bank War.
15
Effects of the Bank War.
16
Ford, Nullification.
17
Meacham, American Lion, 49.
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Jackson’s compromise for the country was a band-aid solution (a temporary solution) and only delayed

the inevitable Civil War that Abraham Lincoln faced. Many presidents after Jackson presented these

band-aid solutions such as the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and multiple others did

not solve the overarching problems that eventually resulted in the Civil War. If anything, the band-aid

solutions prolonged the problem leading to increased anger between the North and South.

If Jackson did have many bad effects on the country, why is he remembered so fondly by many

people? The main reason why he is remembered so dearly by many is the mere exposure effect. The

mere exposure effect is a “psychological phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for

things or people that are more familiar to them than others.” 18 Andrew Jackson’s face was put onto the

American ten-dollar bill in 1914 and he was moved to the twenty-dollar bill in 1928 19. He was put on

currency years before the Civil Rights Movement, a very important era in shaping the morality in

America. Different ideas and accomplishments were valued when he was appointed as a candidate for

the ten-dollar bill. Jackson’s mistreatment of minorities was not viewed as such a tragedy in the early

1900s by most people. He was put on an item that would be used in most American’s daily life, currency.

This allows the mere exposure effect to convince most Americans in the 21 st century that Jackson

deserves to be praised like he always has been; as a hero. This celebration of Jackson has caused

American citizens to believe that he should be honored instead of being dishonored.

Looking back on the key issues that surrounded Jackson’s presidency allows for analysis to

decide he deserves the praise he receives. Jackson’s negative impact on the state of modern politics, his

unacceptable treatment of minorities, his poor economic policies, and his corruption of the government,

make a compelling case for the overall negative impact he had on the United States. When people list

the best leaders of the United States, their faults are nowhere near the level of Andrew Jackson’s

18
Falkenbach, Mere Exposure Effect.
19
Blakemore, $20 Bill, 18 June 2015.
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mistakes. Even the few things he did well could have been executed much better such as the destruction

of the Bank of the United States and how he dealt with the divide between the North and South.

Jackson’s exaltation deserves the controversy it receives. Jackson’s stain on American history is

unfortunately permanent and America may have benefited from another president entirely.

Works Cited

Blakemore, Erin. “Andrew Jackson Wasn't Always on the $20 Bill.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian

Institution, 18 June 2015, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/andrew-jackson-used-be-10-

bill-180955633/.
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Blakemore, Erin. “Why Andrew Jackson's Legacy Is So Controversial.” History.com, A&E Television

Networks, 30 Apr. 2018, www.history.com/news/andrew-jackson-presidency-controversial-

legacy.

“Effects of The Bank War - The Bank War.” Google Sites,

sites.google.com/site/thebankwarapush/economy-after-war.

Emika. “Andrew Jackson - Good Evil & The Presidency - PBS Documentary.” YouTube, PBS, 11 June 2012,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGfxyeuy8u8.

“Expanding Democracy (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy,

www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-early-republic/age-of-jackson/a/expanding-

democracy.

Falkenbach, Katja, et al. Mere Exposure Effect. www.wiwi.europa-

uni.de/de/lehrstuhl/fine/mikro/bilder_und_pdf-

dateien/WS0910/VLBehEconomics/Ausarbeitungen/MereExposure.pdf.

Ford, Paul Leicester. “President Jackson's Proclamation Regarding Nullification, December 10, 1832.”

Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School,

avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/jack01.asp.

“Genocide of Native Americans #IndigenousPeoplesDay.” Military Story Chronicles of War,

www.militarystory.org/genocide-of-native-americans/.

Jackson, Andrew. “Home.” Our Documents - Home, Www.ourdocuments.gov, 1830,

www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false.

Meacham, Jon. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Random House Trade Paperbacks,

2009.
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“Presidency: Andrew Jackson's Time in Office as President.” The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson Hermitage

Home of the People's President, 26 June 2019, thehermitage.com/learn/andrew-

jackson/president/presidency/.

“Vetoes, 1789 to Present.” U.S. Senate: Vetoes, 1789 to Present, 29 June 2020,

www.senate.gov/legislative/vetoes/vetoCounts.htm.

Weitenkampf. King Andrew Jackson the First, 1833.