ANDREW JACKSON AND JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY, The Lifetime and Presidency of Andrew Jackson

A. THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS This battle was a glorious victory for the United States over England; however, it wasn’t fought until a few weeks after the Treaty of Ghent had ended the War of During the early 1800s, news traveled relatively slowly. Andrew Jackson established his reputation during this battle as a fierce combatant with little compassion of the enemy. He had little love for the English: as a child, an English soldier had smacked him across the face for insolence during the Revolutionary War.

B. THE CASE OF WORCESTER V. GEORGIA In this 1831 Supreme Court case, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the state of Georgia had no right to remove Native American societies from their reservations, which had been established by federal treaties. Essentially, using judicial review, they found the Indian Removal Act of 1830 to be unconstitutional. Unfortunately, Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision. The Cherokee were removed in 1837.

THE NULLIFICATION CRISIS During 1832, the state of South Carolina refused to pay it’s share of the hated “Tariff of Abominations.” Under the leadership of John C. Calhoun, they passed the Nullification Act, declaring that they would not recognize the sovereignty of the federal law. In response, Andrew Jackson asked for an received from Congress a bill entitled the Force Act – which authorized him to invade South Carolina if they did not accept the federal law. Like George Washington, Jackson would have led the army himself. Fortunately, a compromise tariff was achieved by Congress, and the crisis passed.

THE SPOILS SYSTEM “To the victors belongs the spoils…” This was an old unwritten law of a warfare, and Andrew Jackson considered politics a form of warfare. Once he was elected to the Presidency, he began doling out jobs to his friends and political supporters – going so far as to fire some of the perfectly good employees of the previous President, John Quincy Adams. Jackson was much criticized for doing so.

ANDREW JACKSON WAS A NOTORIOUS INDIAN-HATER, AND DURING THE WAR OF 1812, HE AN HIS MEN CARRIED OUT ONE OF THE MOST HORRIFIC MASSACRES IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY, KILLING OVER 400 NATIVE AMERICANS – “RED STICK” CREEK INDIANS – DURING A BATTLE IN ALABAMA. ALTHOUGH THE NATIVE AMERICANS ATTEMPTED TO SURRENDER, NO MERCY WAS SHOWN TO THE ENEMY FOE. THE BATTLE OF HORSESHOE BEND

THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES (BUS) DIES The Bank of the United States was effectively put out of existence by Andrew Jackson. He withdrew all of the money from the BUS and then redistributed the funds to twelve smaller “Pet Banks” - banks who he was confident would loan out money to the “common man” to satisfy needs.

THE CORRUPT BARGAIN OF 1824 The first time Andrew Jackson ran for President of the United States, there was a four way contest: William Crawford, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson all ran for office. Jackson won the most popular votes; however, since no candidate won a majority of the electoral college votes, the Congress was forced to decide who would serve as President. A deal was made between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay – securing the Presidency for Adams and the Secretary of State’s office for Henry Clay. Jackson was furious.

THE ELECTION OF 1828 DEFEATEDDEFEATED

THE INDIAN REMOVAL ACT OF 1830 The United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830 – a law which was clearly unconstitutional – requiring all Native American tribes to relocate west of the Mississippi River.

THE TRAIL OF TEARS In 1837, the Cherokee Nation was forced on a thousand mile march from Georgia to Oklahoma. During the march, close to 5,000 members of the tribe perished. The march occurred because President Jackson refused to support the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Worcester V. Georgia.

THE TREATY OF GHENT This treaty, signed in 1814, ended the war of Ironically, the most famous battle of the war, the Battle of New Orleans, occurred after the treaty had been signed.

THE VETO OF THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES CHARTER BY ANDREW JACKSON Even though President Andrew Jackson hated the Bank of the United States, members of the rival political party, the Whigs, were advocates of the BUS. They passed a law early in Jackson’s presidential administration attempting to re-charter the Bank for another 20 years. Jackson, who believed that the Bank only served the rich, refused to support the law, claiming it would allow the rich to get richer, while the poor got poorer. Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill! The Whigs hated him, and dubbed him “King Andrew I.”

MARTIN VAN BUREN Martin Van Buren was a New York Democrat who supported Andrew Jackson’s candidacy for President in 1824, 1828, and He was Jackson’s Vice President. In 1836, he ran for President himself and won. Although his Presidency was a failure due to an economic depression which began in 1837, Van Buren had a mixed record personally. On the down side, he was an Indian-hater who allowed the Trail of Tears to take place – killing thousands. Later in his life, he would go on to found the Free Soil Party in New York. He ran for President and lost in 1848 as the nominee of that anti-slavery party.

THE ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA The Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 was responsible for the acquisition of Florida by the United States. The United States paid approximately $5 Million for Florida and the extended panhandle of the state – including the coastlines of Alabama and Mississippi. Finally, the treaty established a formal border between the United States and Spanish territory in the Southwest, creating the familiar shapes of the border at Texas, Oklahoma, and a few of the states in the Rocky Mountain region.

TEXAS WINS INDEPENDENCE Given his pro-slavery stances on a number of issues, and his general disregard for the claims of non-whites and non-Americans to territory in North America, it is something of a surprise that Andrew Jackson was not more strongly in support of the annexation of Texas. But, he was not. Texas won it’s independence from Mexico in 1835, after Santa Anna was forced to surrender to General Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto. But when the nation asked to annexed, Jackson declined. He feared that the acquisition of the state would exacerbate tensions between the North (free labor) and the South (slave labor.)