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Nov 26, 2018 · 1. Andrew Jackson helped to expand the powers of the Presidency. In May 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law. This legislation expanded the powers of the Presidency to speed the removal of Indian communities in the eastern United States and territories that were west of the Mississippi River.
- Overview
- He strongly supported—and profited from—slavery.
- His forced removal of Native Americans resulted in untold loss of lives and culture.
The seventh president has a particularly harsh record when it comes to enslaved people and Native Americans.
Should Andrew Jackson be revered or reviled? The question of how to grapple with the seventh president’s tarnished reputation has persisted since Old Hickory’s lifetime.
During his lifetime (1767-1845), Jackson went from poverty to wealth because he personally embraced the institution of slavery. Enslaved workers grew his cotton, built and tended his house and helped him gain a social foothold in Southern society. Jackson owned as many as 161 enslaved people, buying and selling them, using their labor to build his fortune and even bringing them to the White House to work for him.
Records show he beat his enslaved workers, including doling out a brutal public whipping to a woman he felt had been “putting on airs.” And when any of them ran away, he pursued them and put them in chains when they were recovered. In an 1804 newspaper advertisement for a 30-year-old runaway named Tom, he offered an extra $10 for every 100 lashes doled out to the escapee.
As the United States expanded, the seventh president also opposed policies that would have outlawed slavery in western territories. And when abolitionists attempted to send anti-slavery tracts to the South during Jackson’s presidency, he helped ban their delivery and called the anti-slavery advocates monsters who should “atone for this wicked attempt with their lives.”
Despite Jackson’s support of slavery and participation in the slave trade, early biographers downplayed his pro-slavery stance, writes historian Mark R. Cheatham, who calls their reluctance to examine Jackson as a slave owner “surprising and disappointing.”
African Americans weren’t the only people Jackson felt should be subservient to wealthy white men. His presidency is perhaps best remembered for his cruelty to Native Americans. A proponent of “Indian removal,” Jackson wanted to clear newly acquired territories of the Native Americans who lived there so that white settlers could claim the land—and its natural resources—as their own.
Jackson’s Indian Removal Act resulted in the forced displacement of nearly 50,000 Native Americans and opened up millions of acres of their ancestral land to white settlement. He insisted it was for the best; the Native Americans, whom he saw as savages and referred paternalistically to as “my red children,” were, to him, merely collateral damage in a grand push to achieve progress for white Americans. Meanwhile, the policies disrupted and destroyed Native American lives. Tens of thousands died during forced removals like the Trail of Tears. Languages died out as Native Americans were forced to assimilate. And Native Americans who were displaced still struggle with poverty and intergenerational trauma.
During his presidency, Jackson signed into law nearly 70 removal treaties with Native Americans, who were pressured into trading their land for confined reservations in the west. Many such treaties were signed by minority groups within larger Native American bands and tribes that objected to the agreements; the government enforced them anyway, turning those who resisted removal into trespassers on land they had owned for centuries. Those who tried to stay were forced to leave by the U.S. military.
In light of a nationwide movement to remove monuments to Confederate leaders from public spaces, Jackson’s history as a slave owner has received new scrutiny. As monuments to figures like Robert E. Lee are removed, there’s been speculation as to whether Jackson, who is the subject of memorials throughout the United States, is indeed worthy of them.
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Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He served two terms in office from 1829 to 1837. During Jackson’s presidency, the United States evolved from a republic—in which only landowners could vote—to a mass democracy, in which white men of all socioeconomic classes were enfranchised.
- In the fifth paragraph (counting the Overview), how was Jackson not imprisoned or given the death pe...Laws were different back then, and I'm not sure, but I think duels were legal.
- What human rights violations did Andrew Jackson commit as part of the Indian removal?Imagine someone coming to you and saying, you have to move somewhere. The Indians were not presented with a choice. They were forced to move to dis...
- What were Jackson's reasons for being against the Bank of the United States?Jackson's reason for this conclusion was an amalgamation of his past financial problems, his views on states' rights, and his Tennessee roots. The...
- For some dumb reason, I get stressed over looking at the words of history. Maybe too much that I ski...So, do you have a question?
- How did Jackson’s presidency mark a transition between a republic and a democracy?The Republic was geared more towards the wealthy landowners to rule and vote, and Jackson was against a small party of wealthy men ruling and wante...
- Are there any medical records of what stage his head injury had reached at it's worst?well, what happened was during their invasion of the western Carolinas in 1780-1781, British soldiers took the young Andrew Jackson prisoner. When...
- how was Jackson considered man of the peopleHe was a War of 1812 veteran, displaying his true patriotism compared with the rich aristocracy of former presidents. Additionally, his defeat in t...
- Anyone know about tribal treaties?A treaty is a contract, a binding and legal agreement, between two or more sovereign nations. By signing treaties with Indian tribes, the United St...
- What if Andrew Jackson was for the Bank of the U.S.? Would someone else be against it as well instea...Most of the Jacksonian Democrats detested the Bank of the United States because it added too much federal power. On the other hand, the Whigs prefe...
- How can he be president form 1829 to 1837 when it is every four years when we vote?He served two terms - 8 years.
Reversing a tradition of executive deference to legislative supremacy, Jackson boldly cast himself as the people's tribune, their sole defender against special interests and their minions in Congress. In other ways, too, Jackson expanded the scope of presidential authority.
Oct 29, 2009 · Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was the nation's seventh president (1829-1837) and became America’s most influential–and polarizing–political figure during the 1820s and 1830s.
-Day Four: As a class, create a T-Chart of the pros and cons of Jackson’s presidency, based on their research. Then, assign the opinion essay. Be sure to thoroughly review the rubric and expectations.
t. e. The presidency of Andrew Jackson began on March 4, 1829, when Andrew Jackson was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1837. Jackson, the seventh United States president, took office after defeating incumbent President John Quincy Adams in the bitterly contested 1828 presidential election.
