Andrew Jackson Notes

• Andrew Jackson was born very poor in the Carolinas, but spent most of his life in Nashville. Orphaned by age 14, he had been fighting in battles against Native Americans, He rose through the ranks in the army, achieving fame at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.
• Jackson's upbringing contributed to his values. He was known as a "self-made man" because he had achieved fame without family or political connections. He worked as a plantar in the South, so he owned slaves. Like Thomas Jefferson, he was a big believer in the Republican government, and he tended to be wary of intellectuals. Jackson was known for his fiery temper that intimidated people but also caused him to make rash decisions.
• Some people believed that Jackson was destined to be President, as he had a reputation of being a "Man of Steel." He was involved in numerous tragedies. He was once shot during a duel, with the bullet entering his heart, but he walked away, the bullet forever in his body. Not only did he achieve a miraculous victory at New Orleans, he also survived an assassination attempt.
• Jackson first ran for President in 1824. There were a number of well-known candidates running, and no candidate won a majority of electoral college votes. Whenever this occurs, no winner can be declared, and the House of Representatives must choose the President.
• Knowing that he would probably lose this vote, John Quincy Adams made a secret deal with the Speak of the House, Henry Clay. Adams told Clay that if he could get the House of Representatives to choose him as President, he would make Clay the Secretary of State. The plan worked, and Adams became our 6th President. Jackson's outraged supporters called this deal the "Corrupt Bargain."
• Adams did not have a very successful term, however, and in 1828 it was an election year again. The same two candidates squared off, but this time there was a major change. Many states no longer required that a man own property to vote. This meant that more men were allowed to vote, which meant more support for Jackson.
• The Election of 1828 is seen by many historians as the birth of modern politics. The candidates used a great deal of propaganda and advertising to spread their messages. They also made nasty personal attacks on each other's wives. The stress became so much for Rachel Jackson, that she died of a heart attack a few months before the election.
• Jackson's election ushered in a new era in Washington. There was a huge party following Jackson's inauguration and approximately 21,000 showed up. The result was that Jackson was nearly crushed by all the people and the White House was left trashed.
• Jackson made some political changes upon taking office. He was the first to use the "spoil system," which rewarded supporters with government positions. Also, by the next election, the US was using a nominating convention to nominate candidates for President.
• In 1828, Congress raised tariff, or taxes on imported goods. This was designed to encourage people to buy goods from the North. However, this hurt the South because they had to pay higher prices. One southern state, South Carolina, decided they would not follow the law and would secede from the US if they were forced to. This led to what is known as the Nullification Crisis. Jackson was forced to send in the federal troops to force them to follow the law and even threatened to hang the leader of the rebellion, John C. Calhoun, who happened to be his own Vice President.
• Jackson also did not like the idea of having a national bank. He felt that its President, Nicolas Biddle, had too much control over the nation's economy and that it was a bad idea to have all the country's money in one bank. Jackson's main opponent, Henry Clay, supported the bank and it became a major campaign issue in the Election of 1832. When Jackson won re-election, he vetoed the re-charter of the bank and took all the federal money out of the bank, depositing it in smaller state banks. These banks become known as Jackson's "Pet Banks."
• The most infamous even from Jackson's Presidency concerns the removal of Native Americans from their homelands. Jackson wanted them removed from the Southeastern US to provide more land for farmers. He promised land in the West to the Natives, but the members of the "Five Civilized Tribes," the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles did not want to give up their lands. The Cherokee tribe went so far as to assimilate to the white culture by introducing new crops, farming techniques, speaking English, owning slaves, dressing American, etc.
• The Cherokee ruled that they could remain on their land, but Jackson ignore the order and tricked tribal leaders into signing the Indian Removal Act, which caused them to lose their native lands. When the Cherokee refused to leave, Jackson ordered the military to round them up and force them to move. The military rounded up 17,000 of them and forced them to march to the Indian Territory, which is now the state of Oklahoma. Along the way, approximately 6,000 of them died and the march became known as the "Trail of Tears."
• Jackson was often referred to by his opponents as "King Andrew" because he would often overrule or ignore those who disagreed with him. He used the power of the veto more than all six of the previous Presidents combined. However, he is considered to be one of the Presidents who had the most significant impact on defining the power of the presidency.