...Andrew Jackson, a significant figure in American history, is often praised for his leadership. However, his actions, particularly the removal of Native Americans and his governing style, raise questions about his legacy. His actions underscore a disregard for human rights and democratic principles, tarnishing his legacy in American history. Ultimately, Andrew Jackson should be considered a villain in history due to his treatment of Native Americans and the disruptive governing style during his presidency. Andrew Jackson asserted that the relocation of Native Americans would enhance state development by enabling the migration of people from the northern regions to Native American territories. However, this strategy overlooked the hardships...
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...Andrew Jackson: Evil Tyrant or a Hero for the Common Man? Name: _________________________________________________________ Class: ________________ Guiding Question: Our study of Jackson’s presidency will be focused on answering the question: Was Andrew Jackson an evil tyrant who abused presidential power, ruthlessly killed Native Americans and defied the Supreme Court; or was he a proud hero of the common man who sought to bring an end to the power of the wealthy upper class in government? Assignments for the week: You are responsible for reading all of Chapter 12 in the textbook (p. 353-371) by the end of the week. You are also responsible for reviewing this website as homework: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/andrewjackson The Life of Andrew Jackson Video Questions: 1. What incident early in Jackson’s life made him hate the British? Why? 2. Describe Jackson’s early life and social status. 3. List some words that describe Jackson’s character as a young man. 4. What profession (job) did Jackson pursue when he was 18? 5. What happened in Jackson’s first duel? What did it prove about him? 6. Why was Jackson’s marriage controversial? How did this hurt him later? 7. Describe Jackson’s first attempt at serving as a politician in Washington. 8. What happened in Jackson’s second duel? 9. Why did Jackson earn the nickname “Old Hickory”? 10. What was the “Redstick War”? What role did Andrew Jackson play? 11. What did Andrew Jackson do with a young Native American child captured...
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...The Native Americans of North America lived for hundreds of years in peace. However, Andrew Jackson’s vision of the United States did not include everyone. As a military leader and as President, Jackson and his followers had no intention of including women in political life, to combat slavery, or give any rights to the Native Americans. Jackson pursued a policy of removing Indian tribes form their lands, which resulted in the Trail of Tears, a name given to the forced relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the United States. Many factors during Jackson’s presidency contributed to the political, social, and economic climate of the United States. Jackson had very little political trouble with his policy of removing the Native Americans. Most of his supporters were from the southern and western states that favored a plan to remove all the Indian tribes to lands west of the Mississippi. This relocation would make room for settlers. “There was “Five Civilized Tribes” involved- the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee. “(White 1). In 1831 members of the “Five Civilized Tribes”: decided to use the US Supreme Court to combat Jacksonian policies. The Cherokee Nation asked for an injunction, claiming that Georgia’s state legislation had created laws designed to annihilate the Cherokees as a political society. Andrew Jackson had many supporters because he was freeing up land that would be given to the “common man” who was more...
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...Andrew Jackson’s likeness is found on the front of every twenty dollar bill, but most Americans know very little about our seventh President. Jackson’s influence on America was both positive and negative. He was a popular military commander and in his political career advocated the expansion of democracy to include the common citizen, not just the elite class. He believed the national bank favored the wealthy and …..Yet, he also oversaw the forced removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands. Jackson influence can still be felt almost 200 years after his death. Jackson became an American military hero during the War of 1812. As Major General in the US Army, Jackson was responsible for the 7th District, which included Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana territory. In 1814, the British Army had become more aggressive, invading Maine and New England. On August 24, they were successful in capturing and burning Washington. After learning of a British plan to attack through the south, Jackson worked to strengthen his defenses in Mobile and...
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...The Trail of Tears is a phrase known to define the forceful expulsion of the five civilized Native tribes, away from their traditional lands and forced migration to new Indian ground which was west of the Mississippi River. These tribes were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and the Seminoles. When Andrew Jackson was elected president in the year 1828, the Natives soon became a part of the next racial targeting. President Andrew Jackson encouraged the expulsion; the Congress authorized this removal policy set by the president in 1830. The Indian Removal Act was passed on May 28, 1830; they were involuntarily removed from their homes and forced to move west. The Indian Removal Act was defined as swapping the U.S. western area for the...
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...Name: University: Course Title: Instructor: Date: Definition of key terms/ people/places/events Andrew Jackson 236- is a former president of the USA who was inaugurated in 1824. He was commonly called “a man of the people” as he advocated reforms to allow more people the right to vote. Anti-masonry 251- this is a movement which emerged in the early 1820s in a bid to resist the Society of Freemasons. Aroostook 255- this is a war between Canadians and Americans which took place at the Aroostook River region in 1838. Bank war 247- this term refers to a war between Andrew Jackson and the Bank of the United States. Jackson wanted to destroy the bank but the bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle was determined to save it. Caroline affair 255- a ship by the name Caroline was ferrying supplies to American rebels across the Niagara River. British authorities however detained the ship and burnt it down. In retaliation, the American authorities arrested a Canadian, Alexander McLeod and charged him with the murder of the American who had died when the ship was burnt down. This is what was referred to as the Caroline Affair. Daniel Webster 242- he was a senator for Massachusetts who challenged Robert Hayne’s call for nullification. Dorr rebellion 237- it was started by Thomas W. Dorr who sought to increase the percentage of voters in Rhode Island. He drafted a constitution which...
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...Trail of Tears California College San Diego HIS220 October 4, 2014 Will Palmer Trail of Tears Long before Amerigo Vespucci and other European explorers reached the New World, Native Americans successfully inhabited the land. There has been much debate as to how many people were here. It has been documented as high as 16 million to as low as under four million (Brinkley, 2008). The Europeans’ relationship with the Native Americans was that of give and take. Both taught each other techniques for cultivating crops, the introduction of domestic livestock and basic survival. The Europeans not only bought with them diseases that killed millions of Native Americans, but also their conviction that their own civilization was greatly superior to that of the natives (Brinkley, 2008). This discussion will include Andrew Jackson’s opinion and policy concerning Native Americans, white Americans’ opinion of Native Americans, the “Five Civilized Tribes,” and the Trail of Tears. Before becoming the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson had already made a name for himself in history. He was a lawyer, politician and judge, wealthy planter and merchant, and in 1801 received the appointment of the commander of the Tennessee militia. During the War of 1812, white settlers near the Spanish owned Florida border were under attack by the Creek Indians. According to Brinkley (2008), on March 27, 1814, in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Jackson and his men retaliated and slaughtered...
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...the Native American The history of the Native American goes as far back as 1492 when Christopher Columbus first came in contact with Native Americans in Bahamas. “The name “indian” was given to them from Christopher Columbus who mistakenly thought he had landed in the “Indies”. (History.com Staff, 2009) How the attitude and image of the Native American people would change with the induction of the early settlers in Virginia in 1607. With the increase in immigration of settlers and the greed of the “white man” to lay claim to Indian lands, violence erupted in their conquest. After the American Revolution, Britain released all of its North American holdings to the United States. The claims of Native Americans were completely eradicated by this action. For a short time, United States regulated under the presumption that the Indians were overthrown, and therefore, had no rights or claims to the land. On May 28, 1830 Congress passes the Indian Removal Act, allowing the president to pursue ownership of all Indian lands east of the Mississippi River. Under this act, the Indians would be paid back with new lands drawn from the public land west of the Mississippi River. President Andrew Jackson was relentless during the 1830s, despite Supreme Court rulings in favor of the Indian Nation, to remove all eastern Indians to land west of the Mississippi River. During Andrew Jackson’s presidency he scheduled to remove over 90,000 Native Americans. President...
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...“No need to think that the world can be ruled without blood. The civil sword shall and must be red and bloody” (Andrew Jackson). Andrew Jackson was one of the most controversial presidents in US history; he had done many good and bad things that made him both a hero and a villain. But we are faced with another imperative question- does he deserve to be on the $20 bill? While he has a good list of accomplishments, the villainous things he had done overpower them, and in the end he should not have replaced Grover Cleveland on the 20 because he had bad character, forced Native Americans out of their territory, and gave special treatment to his supporters. To begin, Andrew Jackson had bad character. “‘I would have hit him,’ replied Jackson, ‘if...
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...Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region on the border of North and South Carolina. Jackson himself maintained he was from South Carolina. The son of Irish immigrants, Jackson received little formal schooling. The British invaded the Carolinas in 1780-1781, and Jackson’s mother and two brothers died during the fight, leaving him with a lifelong anger toward Great Britain. He soon moved west of the Appalachians to the region that would soon become the state of Tennessee, and began working as a prosecuting lawyer in Nashville. He later set up his own private practice and met and married Rachel Donelson Robards. Jackson grew prosperous enough to build a mansion, the Hermitage, near Nashville, and to buy slaves. In 1796,...
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...Andrew Jackson was the first president to be born in a log cabin. He was not New England wealthy elite, like his opponent John Quincy Adams. If the electors were appointed by the legislature, he did not have a chance of becoming president. When he ran for president in 1828, the land ownership requirements were taken away for the first time, giving all white adult males the chance to vote. In the words of Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy, “the election was a “revolution” comparable to that of 1800.” (Changes in elections- document 2) The election of 1828 was a more democratic election, therefore electing a more democratic president. Due to the new electoral system, Jackson invented the Spoils System to ‘thank’ his supporters. Being a war hero, Jackson thought that To the Victors belong the Spoils. The ‘spoils’ were not just money though. Jackson rewarded his supporters with government jobs, saying “I submit, therefore, to you consideration whether the efficiency of the government would not be promoted … and integrity better secured by a general extension of the law which limits appointments to four years.” (Spoils System document 2)...
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...Democracy was a time in American history that lasted from Andrew Jackson’s presidency in 1828, until around the 1840s. The lasting effects of this time period would extend well past this time frame. The policies put into place during this era covered the expansion of voting rights and the expansion of our nation’s borders, but also put into place a spoils system. Perhaps the largest policy of the Jacksonian Democracy was the expansion of voting rights to all white men over a period of time. This was set into place to reflect Andrew Jackson’s belief of including the common (white) man in the democratic process. This was completely against what the founding fathers had set in place, a complex electoral process that would...
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...of cities in Jeffersonian America The function of cities in Jeffersonian America became important commercial ports. They became deports for international trade. Only about 7 percent of the nation’s population lived in urban centers. Most of these people owed their livelihoods either directly or indirectly to the carrying trade (major port cities of the early republic—New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore). Understand Jefferson’s views on economy and federal debt A top priority of the new government was cutting the national debt. Jefferson also wanted to diminish the activities of the federal government. He urged Congress to repeal all direct taxes, including the tax that had sparked the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794He closed several American diplomatic missions in Europe and slashed military spending Jefferson reduced the size of the U.S. Army by 50 percent. Only 3,000 soldiers were left to guard the entire frontier. He also retired most of the navy’s warships. By reducing the size of the fleet, he promoted peace. To ensure that the citizen soldiers would...
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...The Trail of Tears was a brutal encounter with nature, disease and the American government. It was an unjust tragedy that forced Native Americans to leave their homelands and endure unthinkable misfortune. The events leading up to the actual exile of the Native Americans was felt prior to the Trail of Tears and the repercussions of these events were felt far after the journey. Many unimaginable laws were passed to benefit the colonists in their pursuit of a better life at the expense of the Native Americans. Even though the Trail of Tears occurred in 1838 the events leading up to it started long before that time. 25,000 Native Americans lived on such lands as Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee and included various tribes...
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...Some people throughout history believe that Jackson’s actions under Indian policy were some of the only beneficial decisions he ever made. His decisions seemed to follow the tradition of Indian tribes gradually moving westward as more settlers entered America. Others believe Jackson had no right to destroy the lives of so many people and acted irresponsibly. His view on Indian policy violated not only political and constitutional aspects, but also moral, and practical as well. Andrew Jackson’s decision to send the American Indians on the trail of tears, removed any type of moral standards that were in place at the time. Although some people of the time argued that they were incapable of change, Christian missionaries who worked closely with the Indians begged to differ. They saw the slow assimilation that was beginning to happen and opposed anything that would halt their efforts. Those who did not work closely with them, including Jackson, did not see any progress, and just assumed that none was being made. Another aspect of the moral failing of Jackson's decision pertains to the amount of lives lost on the journey. Those who were members of Cherokee tribes were...
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