Andrew Jackson was born in 1767 in South Carolina, and diedin 1845 in Tennessee. He was the seventhPresident of the United States, was the founder of the Democratic party, andwas the first westerner to be President. He served in the Revolutionary War when he was a young boy. He then started to study law. When he was 21 years old, he moved toTennessee, where he met Rachel Donelson Roboards. She was already divorced, and they gotmarried.
Jackson served as a prosecutor,a judge, a congressman, and a senator, all in Tennessee. Many consider Andrew Jackson as a greatmilitary hero. He successfully acted asa major general in the War of 1812. Heled victories against both the Creek Indians and the British at NewOrleans. A few years later, he led histroops against Seminole Indians in Spanish Florida.
After Spain left Florida, he once again wentback into politics, and served as a territorial governor and then as asenator. He ran for President in 1824,but lost to John Quincy Adams in the House of Representatives. He then tried for President again and won in1829, and then continued to serve for two terms.
According to millercenter.org, “Jackson tookoffice amid amounting sectional acrimony over the “American System” program offostering economic development through transportation subsidies and throughprotective tariffs on imports to aid American manufacturers.” The people in the South disapproved of thesepolicies because they thought that the people in the North benefitted from itat their expense. Jackson tried to fixthis by vetoing road and canal bills. The existing tariff was declared unconstitutional by the state of SouthCarolina. South Carolina tried to blockthe tariff within its states.
However,Andrew Jackson made a proclamation that said that this was an act oftreason. In 1833, Congress reduced thetariff to avoid a crisis. Congress alsochartered the Second Bank of the United States. This bank gave a national paper currency and would manage the government’sfinances.
Andrew Jackson disapproved ofthis bank and even vetoed a bill that was going to lengthen the time of thebank. He also moved the government’sdeposits from the Second Bank of the United States to state-charteredbanks. He then continued to, as statedby millercenter.
org, “Launch a broader assault again all forms of government-grantedprivilege, especially corporate charters.” This was known as Jackson’s Bank War, and it helped form his newDemocratic party. His actions andpolicies also pushed the country into a severe depression. During his presidency, he also introduced the”spoils system” by replacing officials on partisan grounds.
He also disapproved of people disturbing thepolicy of antislavery, and he approved of less expensive lands. Andrew Jackson used his powers veryvigorously. He went against Congressmany times, and vetoed a plethora of bills. In one instance, where there was a small dispute with Georgia and theCherokee Nation, Jackson took Georgia’s side, even though the Indians rightswere supposed to be protected by the United States Supreme Court.
