Words: 1140
He wanted them to have a voice, which is why he believed in democracy but the way that he acted wrought his political career was not democratic at all. Andrew Jackson cacao millipedes to changed many things in the government without the peoples vote. He had a part in the spoils system and he made decisions for groups of people that were completely unfit Andrew Jackson was not a big fan of how the government was previously ran Ned. There was always something that he wanted to change. One of the things he change d were the rotation of the government officials in office.
Of course he kept in mind that the people e should be able to control all offices in congress so he proposed a constitutional amendment. H e was changing the time period elected officials should remain in office. Not only did he change it for everyone else but he also wanted to changed it for himself. (Document D). He did think as a democrat in this situation because he wanted the people to have control but the way he kept making regulations that affected the government vastly does not seem like a democratic thing to do.
A president does not have the amount of power to make these types of changes giving him MO re power than he should have. Abusing his power was something that happened more often the an expected. Jackson appended to use his veto power more frequent than he probably should. For instance, when Jackson thought the bank was not beneficial for all citizens and compared it to “a monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange” he filed a veto statement to congress. (D comment F). Its easy to understand why Jackson did not approve of the bank since he did come fro m a home where money was not something his family had.
Jackson knew what it felt like to live in poverty and having the national bank being run by the rich made him think the rich and p rueful often bended the rules of government for their selfish purpose (Document F). Danni I Webster, on the other hand, did not agree with Jackson’s point of view. He feared that Jackson’ s veto message brought conflict among classes which would greatly affect the function Of the government. He stated that vetoing the national bank because of who ran it, whether it be the rich or the common folk, would bring jealousy and Lillo against the government.
He believed that it would raise a cry that liberty is in danger, and would bring a clash from the poor against the rich. He thought it would turn the classes against each other and bring resentment towards one another (Document G). Jackson might have felt that he was doing something good for the county and its people but really he was taking a problem that already existed and made it bigger. Rich a against the poor has been a conflict that has been going on for many years, and the way Jackson h anteed it was not exactly the best way.
Specifically, how he did not involve the people to have a say on whether or not they agreed with the decision he had made. The government has slowly but progressively been moving towards corruption n and Andrew Jackson had, in a way, participated in this action. Andrew Jackson fell I n what was know as the “Spoils System”, where a political party, after winning an election, gives government jobs to its supporters, friends and relatives as a reward for sup Orating the party towards victory. Jackson after winning his election appointed Samuel Swart UT, who had been a supporter of Jackson’s campaign, as Secretary of State.
Squawroot ended up steal ling $1 ,222, 705. 09 from the government after Van Burn had warned Jackson of S war two u it’s conniving intentions (Document J). In this situation Jackson had been too trust inning of someone ho seemed to be “playing on the same team” as him and ended up betraying g and stealing from him. Van Burn was someone who, unlike Squawroot, was qualified for the pop section of Secretary of State but Jackson, wanting to buy off his supporters, gave Squawroot the p session he did not deserve.
Although, President Jackson was not a supporter of slavery or racial inequality , he didn’t do much to help. For example, Jackson wanted the Native Americans to have I and of their own where they would not be bothered by the white men, so he suggested that the eye travel west of the Mississippi. The emigration would be voluntary but the Natives had no intent ions of leaving their land where they had invested so much for so many years. There would b e many challenges that they would face if they decided to leave their land and emigrate to this pr missed land Jackson mentioned.
Many Native Americans knew the struggles that they woo old face if they ever left. They knew it would be difficult to obtain food and water, their neighbors would speak different languages and have different customs apart from their own (Dotcom .NET K). Although many Native Americans speculated whether or not they should move away FRR m their beloved land, hundreds of them were convinced by Jackson’s false promises and went on what is today known as the “Trail of Tears”. This trail had Native Americans coming from all parts of the country to what is today Oklahoma (Document L).
Throughout this long journo eye many of the Natives suffered and watched their loved ones die. There was nothing they c loud have done but leave them there to rot. This emigration was supposed to be beneficial to the Natives but all they got was misery and death. Jackson, also, disapproved of slavery in the United States but he had a few slaves here and there. From 1749 to the mid sass’s Andrew Jackson’s Slav e holdings number increased dramatically. In 1794 he had less than 30 slaves but around 1830 h e had more than 120 (Document O).
Perhaps Jackson being president at the time, had an affect on his view on slavery. Since he had a new form of power he might have felt that he should et everyone see exactly the amount of power he had by increasing the amount of slaves he o wend. Jackson was supposed to be helping the people, whether they were socially accepted or n to. Before he was president he had intentions Of making things better for the people but maybe lord people weren’t exactly on his spectrum of people even though they once were.