ANDREW JACKSON

BIOGRAPHY  BORN DIED 1845  Born in a log cabin; his family was poor. He was a COMMON MAN.  A.J. fought in the American Revolution when he was very young. He was captured by the British when he was only 14. He refused to clean a British officer’s boots and was cut by his sword.  He was brave and TOUGH (“Old Hickory”)  Became famous as a hero of the War of 1812

SUFFRAGE  Suffrage is the right to vote.  Suffrage expanded under Andrew Jackson.  Many more people got the right to vote because most states dropped the rule that you had to own land to vote.  Factory-workers, sharecroppers, and many others could now vote. did not have to

SPOILS SYSTEM  Andrew Jackson rewarded people who helped get him elected. He gave them government jobs.  This is called the spoils system from the saying “To the victor belong the spoils”.  Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

KITCHEN CABINET  K.C.= unofficial group of advisers  Instead of picking experts to advise him, Andrew Jackson gave his friends and supporters jobs in his cabinet.  He got the real experts to advise him on the side. They usually met in the White House kitchen and became known as the “Kitchen Cabinet”.

TARIFF DEBATE  A tariff protects American manufacturers but makes imported goods more expensive.  Northerners liked the Tariff of 1828  Southerners hated it (because it made prices go up)  SC claimed the right to NULLIFY (cancel) laws they didn’t like or to SECEDE from the U.S.  Jackson threatened to use force to keep SC in the Union and his threat worked. (The FORCE ACT gave Jackson the right to use military force to prevent secession.)

Native Americans Jackson asked Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act which it did in The law forced all Native Americans in the East to move west of the Mississippi River. Indian Territory

Trail of Tears During the forced march from Georgia to the Indian Territory in present day Oklahoma, 4,000 Cherokees died. The worst of the removals was that of the Cherokee Nation whose home was in Georgia.