JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY Key events of Andrew Jackson’s Presidential Term

Jacksonian Democracy Andrew Jackson’s primary political belief was that common people should be able to participate in government. The way Jackson gave people more opportunity to participate in government was promoting the spoils system. Under the spoils system, Jackson would hire those who supported him during his election and get rid of people who supported the previous president. Jackson gave away huge numbers of jobs to friends and political allies. The spoils system remained popular in American government for over a century after Jackson’s term

Indian Removal Act In 1830 Congress, with Jackson’s support, passed the Indian Removal Act. Under the Indian Removal Act, Congress allowed for the negotiations of treaties with Native American groups to move them to western reservations. If the Native American groups refused to sign treaties, the American government could force them to move. The purpose of the Indian Removal Act was initially to help southern states, like Georgia, remove Indian tribes so that whites could settle these areas.

Indian Removal Act Many of the Indian tribes in the South agreed to sign the treaties forcing them to move West and abandon their lands. However, the Cherokee tribe sued the government of the state Georgia. Their case made it all the way to the Supreme Ct. in the form of the case Worcester v. Georgia. In Worcester v. Georgia, the Supreme Ct. ruled that the state of Georgia could not regulate the Cherokee Nation by law or invade Cherokee lands. It appeared as though the court had protected Native Americans from forceful removal from their lands.

Indian Removal Act In response to Worcester v. Georgia, President Jackson refused to abide by the Supreme Ct.’s decision. President Jackson is quoted as saying, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” In the years after the Court’s ruling, U.S. troops rounded up Cherokee tribes in Georgia and forced them to march 800 miles to reservations in the western territories. Due to harsh conditions during the march, thousands of Cherokee died – this march became known as the Trail of Tears.