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  • Essay / The Era of Jacksonian Democracy in America

    Table of ContentsRelated ResearchConclusionWorks CitedRelated ResearchEarly 19th century America was a time of dramatic and rapid change. The American economy was moving from agriculture and ranching to a system that valued work within industry. Economic change has led to advances in both technology and American values. The 19th century saw more than twenty different American presidents, but few were as deified or vilified during their lifetime as Andrew Jackson. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayCommonly called “Old Hickory” by the public, Andrew Jackson was known as the president who supported individual liberty and the founder of the Democratic Party. Originally a lawyer and landowner, Jackson quickly rose to fame through his military achievements, the most notable of which was his victory against the British in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. Jackson was a self-taught pioneer , a great general and man of the people, many consider him "both a great American and a great American president." The seventh president of the United States was not only an American of poor values ​​and morals, but he was also a reckless and manipulative leader. There are three main reasons to support this position. First, Andrew Jackson introduced the spoils system, which replaced hundreds of federal employees with party loyalists. Second, it caused the financial panic of 1837, which previously stemmed from the withdrawal of federal government funds from the Bank of the United States. Finally, "Old Hickory" promoted the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which would later result in the forced removal of thousands of Cherokees and their relocation to present-day Oklahoma, many of whom would never survive the march. Jackson used a spoils system that rewarded “the common man” for supporting his election. The spoils system was a simple idea of ​​rotation within public offices and would fundamentally prevent the growth of corrupt officials. It was also a way to reward party supporters and facilitate the achievement of common party goals. For example, during Jackson's first two administrations, he replaced less than twenty percent of federal officeholders with loyalists. To justify this decision, Jackson proclaimed that he wanted to remove all obstacles preventing the ordinary citizen from achieving economic improvement. During his first eighteen months, Jackson had replaced nearly twenty percent of all civil servants in the country with his loyalists. Not only did this have a significant effect on his party's future policy decisions, but many of his replacements already had wealthy backgrounds and social status. This went completely against his original idea of ​​returning power to the “common man”. This showed that the new Democratic Party was not as democratic as it originally appeared and made the government even more corrupt than it already was. New York Senator William Marcy put it best when he said: "To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy." His comment would later help to appropriately name these actions as the "spoils system." Unfortunately, this system would also lead to greater inefficiency in government. Education was no longer a priority for those applying for government positions or civil service jobs, but those who demonstrated loyalty would.better chances of achieving wealth and security. After gaining the support of his supporters in office, Jackson sought to use his presidential power to remove the Second Bank of the United States from government use and transfer its funds to state banks. In doing so, Jackson would create multiple problems that would cause massive economic panic among American citizens. The Second Bank of the United States was originally founded in 1816 and run privately through a board of directors that had ties to the Northern states. Once again, Jackson was for the common man and he saw the bank as a symbol of oppression and civil inequality. To resolve this, Jackson went to Congress and pointed out that it was unconstitutional but had little support at the time. After his reelection in 1833, Jackson sought to veto the renewal of the charter of the Second Bank of the United States, which was set to expire in 1836. To close the bank more quickly, he would redistribute federal funds to smaller state banks . Soon after the money was transferred, banks began lending and printing exorbitant amounts of money, causing inflation to rise. State banks weren't the only ones lending money to Americans either, foreign governments and businesses also sought to profit. Unfortunately, higher inflation has been accompanied by a depreciation of this currency. To solve this problem, Jackson issued the Specie Circular stating that federal lands could only be purchased with gold or silver. Due to increasing depreciation rates, foreign lenders demanded payment, causing an influx of American citizens to withdraw funds from banks and repay their debts. The only problem was the fact that the banks did not have sufficient reserves to meet the demands, because they had already lent. spend too much money. Not only did many Americans lose their businesses, but hundreds of banks also closed their doors due to bankruptcy. After widespread bankruptcy, panic began to set in as "about ten percent of American workers were unemployed at any given time." It would take more than half a decade for the United States to recover and this was also accompanied by resistance against the Democratic Party founded by Jackson and a later rise of the Whig Party. In 1834, Jackson was censured by Congress for his abuse of presidential power during the "Bank War." In what is one of the most tragic episodes in American history, the Trail of Tears was derived from the Indian Removal Act signed by Andrew Jackson in 1830. Declared by Congress, it was an act providing for an exchange of lands with Indians residing in any of the States or Territories, and their removal west of the Mississippi River. Before taking office, Major General Andrew Jackson had already established military power against Native Americans in what is now Alabama. At the famous Battle of Horse Shoe Bend, Jackson and his troops defeated the Creeks and forced a treaty upon them by surrendering. more than twenty million acres in the United States. Eventually, the surrounding Native American tribes realized that they could no longer withstand the pressure of war and decided to adopt the appeasement strategy. In order to obtain more land, Jackson convinced Congress to pass his new law that would grant land to Indian tribes west of the Mississippi if they agreed to cede their original lands. Jackson decided to take a sympathetic rather than forced approach to accomplishing his. 2020.