Andrew_Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. During his presidency, there were a lot of incidents that occurred such as the Bank War, the Nullification Crisis, the Trail of Tears as well as many others. Although there were a lot of obstacles to overcome, Jackson made important decisions for what he believed was the good of the country. There were many people who disagreed with some of the things that Jackson did and some even put him down. However, Jackson ignored criticisms and stuck to what he thought was best for the country. Andrew Jackson made a difference when he became president by changing the federal government. Jackson’s first term in office started on March 4th, 1829. Three issues dominated his first term. They were the manner in which the president opposed the doctrine of nullification, the rivalry between Martin Van Buren and Vice President Calhoun, and the decision to oppose the re-chartering of the Bank of the United States (“Andrew Jackson” 2). The first issue that Jackson had to deal with during the whole first term of his presidency was the “Peggy Eaton Affair” (Badertscher 6). Peggy Eaton was the wife of Senator John Eaton. However, before they were married, Peggy was married to a man named John Timberlake who was the purser of the U.S. Navy (7). While Peggy and John Timberlake were still together, she and John Eaton were having an affair with each other (7). As soon as everyone in Washington D.C. found out about this, people treated Peggy Eaton like she was a social outcast. Even the wives of Jackson’s cabinet members refused to talk to her. Jackson soon got fed up and tried to resolve this situation. He told the members of his cabinet to ask their wives to accept Mrs. Eaton for who she is. He also told them to inform their wives that they should treat her kindly and respectfully. His cabinet replied by saying that they could not control what their wives said and did to others. So, in 1831, Jackson decided to end this problem by rearranging his whole entire cabinet (7). This issue took up his full first term in his presidency. During his second term of his presidency, Jackson had to deal with one issue known as the Nullification Crisis. Vice President John C. Calhoun wrote up the nullification doctrine. The doctrine stated that “individual states were allowed to nullify congressional enactment within their state boundaries” (Wilson 5). In other words, it was the belief that a state could refuse to obey a federal law if they were not pleased with it. Jackson was completely against this nullification because it was against the tariff of 1828 and the tariff of 1832. Jackson’s famous quote that recognized his opposition against this nullification was, “Our Union, it must be preserved” (“Andrew Jackson” 3). There were so many disagreements about the nullification crisis, that it took the civil war to end the dispute. Another problem in the federal government that Jackson had to deal with was the Second National Bank of the United States. The First Bank of the United States was destroyed before during the Revolution, so Jackson helped rebuild the Second National Bank of the United States. This Bank was supposed to be renewed in 1836. However, Jackson did not want the government funds to be renewed again in 1836. Jackson wanted the federal government to “charter granting the Bank of the United States the right to handle all government funds to not be renewed in 1836” (“Andrew Jackson” 3). There was one person, though, who was against this decision. His name was Nicholas Biddle. Biddle tried to convince Congress to pass a bill against Jackson’s decision. As soon as Jackson saw this bill, he vetoed it immediately. Jackson referred to the Second National Bank as “The Monster” (Badertscher 8). This nickname refers to his hatred of the National Bank. Jackson ended up removing federal funds from the National Bank and placed them in what they called “pet banks” (8). Pet banks are what we know today as private banks. These “pet banks” were controlled mostly by Democratic bankers (8). In 1834, the Senate, which was led by Henry Clay, was against this decision made by Andrew Jackson and put a censure on Jackson. The Senate charged him with “conduct both dictatorial and unconstitutional.” Jackson did not want this censure on his official record. So, he and his allies ended up fighting against the Senate until the censure was successfully removed in January 1837. After this whole dispute with the Bank of the Untied States, Jackson’s opponents across the country decide to form their own political party. This party was known as the Whig party. The Whig party was a combination of the National Republicans, Anti-masons, and unhappy Democrats. The Whig party was formed because they were against the Jacksonian democracy. The citizens in the Jacksonian Democracy referred to themselves as the “party of the common people.” The citizens of the Whig party considered themselves “generally conservative members of the middle-class” (Badertscher 8). There was a time when Jackson and the U.S. helped the Indians fight against the British. After that, The Indians and Americans had problems. Before Jackson became president, he supported the Indians in all of their wars (Wilson 2). As a matter of fact, his relationship with the Indians got him more recognized (2). After he became president, he turned against the Indians (3). During his presidency, Jackson installed his Indian Removal Policy. The most memorable part of this policy was the Trail of Tears. The main reason for the Indian Removal Policy was because Jackson wanted the Americans to expand westward and discover more land. This caused the Indians to be forced out of their homes and territories. In 1838, the United States Army forced sixteen thousand Cherokee Indians to resettle west of the Mississippi River during a long winter journey. This long journey was known as the “Trail of Tears.” It is called the “Trail of Tears” because many of the Indians died on this trail. The remainder of the Indians that survived this trail were forced to settle in reservations throughout the United States. Another problem that Andrew Jackson had to deal with while in office was the “spoils system.” The “spoils system” means to give government jobs to political supporters and other friends on the idea that “to the victor goes the spoils.” Even though Jackson did not come up with this principle, many said that he used to practice it a lot. Jackson said that, “public service was simple enough for anyone to do and that the rotation in office was helpful for good administration” (Badertscher 6). Before the very end of his presidency, Jackson is noticed for the independence of Texas form Mexico. On April 21st, 1836, Jackson and Sam Houston defeated the Mexican army. In 1837, on the last day of his presidency, he made Texas an officially independent territory in the United States. After his retirement, he saw to it that Texas was annexed by the United States. Even after he was in office, he still tried to do what he could to better the country (Badertscher 8). During his presidency, Jackson dealt with a lot of issues. In addition to dealing with all of these issues, he also did what he thought was good for the country. Throughout his presidency, many people disagreed with a lot of the decisions he made. Today, he is known as one of the greatest presidents of the United States of America.