Was Andrew Jackson Really "The Peoples President"?

Currently in Honors History 10, we have been discussing Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, and whether or not his long standing reputation as the "peoples president" is well deserved or not. This specific lesson was one of the shorter lessons we have done in class, however, although being short, it gave us a good idea of who Andrew Jackson was and his effect on America's people. In order to educate ourselves on Jackson, we viewed two informative videos and analyzed a few documents. Using the videos and documents, we discussed how we thought Jackson should be remembered, and if he really was the "peoples president". Although there may be much more to Andrew Jackson's name, we focused on the Indian removal, the Bank war, and the Spoils System. Working in a small group, we created a project that accurately informed the other groups on Indian Removal, as each group had a different topic. My group decided to make a video about Indian Removal, and below I have provided it. Judging from the Indian Removal and the other events, my group concluded that Andrew Jackson lacked a moral compass and care for humanity. Therefore, he does not deserve the reputation as the "peoples president".

 

The Spoils System was a system that gave government jobs to Andrew Jackson's supporters as an incentive to keep supporting the party. In doing this, he got rid of 919 officials and he deprived the postal service of many post masters. Hundreds of government officials lost their jobs because of this. The Spoils System gave the idea that loyalty was better than if you were able to accurately do your job. Basically, Andrew Jackson was just bringing people who supported and liked him. This is unethical on Jackson's part. By depriving workers of their jobs, this shows that Andrew Jackson had very little care for others. Aside from the Spoils system, Andrew Jackson's little care for humanity shows through when he basically forces/persuades the Indians to relocate. The Indian Removal policy of Andrew Jackson was prompted by the desire of white settlers in the south to lands belonging to multiple Indian tribes. Hundreds of Indians were forced out of the west and hardly any of them were familiar with the west. Forcing the Indians out of the south was out of personal hatred, which shows that Jackson was extremely selfish and wasn't thinking about how the Indians would feel  On the Indian's voyage to the west, many Indians suffered from starvation and ended up dying. This voyage was known as the trail of tears. Jackson's decisions regarding the Indians is unjustified and completely wrong. Kicking large groups of people off their land, where they have resided for many years, is unethical and immoral. The Bank War was also a large aspect of Jackson's presidency. Andrew believed that the bank was giving wealthy people an unfair advantage.In 1816 the second Bank of the United States was created. Jackson did not agree with the bank, and he vetoed a bill, simply because he was so strongly the bank as an institution. He believed that the bank was a threat to power and liberty. Many people believed that Jackson was turned social classes against each other and caused an unnecessary war. Based on these events, it is evident that Andrew Jackson was not "the peoples president", and he had very little care for humanity. Down below, I have provided my groups video explaining the Indian Removal.

Using Posters to Understand Democracy!

Over the course of the last few days, we have discussed the rise of democracy in the early 1800s, and how we can define democracy. Before diving into the lesson, we used the two essential questions: How should we define democracy? and How democratic was the United States in the early 1800s? With a variety of sources and documents, were able to answer these questions thoroughly and create a poster using what we learned. The first document we analyzed was a photo which depicted a group of people gathered to vote. This photo clearly showed how different voting was in the 19th century compared to today. In the 1800s, voting wasn't as secretive as it is today. Along with the photo, there was also an article which had a detailed explanation of the photo. From this photo and the explanation, it is evident that woman and African Americans couldn't vote. Additionally, there were two graphs. One graph showed the property requirements as well as the tax paying requirements to be able to vote, and this decreased over the years. On the other hand, the states in union increased each year. The country was growing and more and more people were able to vote. The second graph was a representation of the methods of voting for the president. Over the years, the people was able to vote for president, rather than just the legislatures. By 1863, everyone voted for president except South Carolina. Basically, these two groups show the rise of democracy over the years, and how democracy altered many states. Aside from the two graphs, we analyzed two quotes. Basically, these quotes were saying that democracy is the right for everyone to vote, but the people were not getting what they wanted, and state was not practicing democracy. In conclusion, the last document we analyzed focused mainly on the Dorr War. This document focused on Thomas Dorr, a man organized a convention to frame a new constitution, and change the voting laws in Rhode Island. This constitution granted more voting rights for liberal white males. However, Dorr attempted to capture the state arsenal and then was arrested. Basically, Dorr tried to establish a whole new government in Rhode Island. To appease Dorr, the governor decided to establish a new constitution. Below, I have provided a photo of the poster my group created in class to show our understanding of Democracy in the 1800s.