The reality of Andrew Jackson essays

The reality of Andrew Jackson essays Andrew Jackson, who was believed to be a man of dignity and self respect, was in addition, incredibly undemocratic. Jacksons followers presented him as the hero to the common man and although Jackson as well viewed himself as a man of the people, he was anything but that. Even though born in a log cabin, in truth he was no frontiers man at all, rather a wealthy farmer. He lived luxuriously by building a highly successful career in Tennessee in regards to law, politics, land speculation, cotton planting, and soldering. Through his action with the establishment of the spoil system, the imposing of tariffs in South Carolina, forced removal of the Native Americans and the destruction of the Bank of United States, it is obviously clear that Jackson was not for the common man as people had perceived him to be. In 1828, the year he was elected president, his biggest support came from the west and south, in which the overwhelming majority of people were from the farming community. Several implications can be made as to why Jackson was undemocratic. As the dictionary so eloquently states, democracy is defined as attempting to treat people of all classes in the same way. Once in power, Democrats who were immensely suspicious of the federal government had created the spoil system which rewarded political supporters with public office. Although Jackson defended the spoil system by declaring every man is as good as his neighbor and why should there be an encouragement for a development of an aristocracy, ironically Jackson was considered to be a frontier aristocrat, who owned many slaves, cultivated broad acres and owned one of the most expensive mansions at the time. Another unfairness that was demonstrated occurred in South Carolina with the issue of the tariffs. The Tariffs protecte d the American industry against competition from the European manufactured goods, however it also drove up prices for the Americans and...