Before delving into the specifics, it is important to note that Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States and was in power from 1829 to 1837. Jackson is credited for being the first president to conduct a democratic experiment in the United States, a foundation upon which other presidents would emulate. Based on the documents provided and, which will be used in this essay, there are instances where Jackson can be said to have promoted democracy but there are also situations where his presidency can be criticized.
According to a document co-authored by Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy, the election of 1828 was a kin to a revolution. The only difference was that whereas revolutions are characterized by bullets, the political revolution was characterized by ballots (Bailey & Kennedy, 1994). People, especially those from the “universal-white-manhood” suffrage states turned out in large numbers to vote for Jackson because they believed in his policies. Jackson seems to have succeeded in spreading the idea that elections ought to involve everyone and not just a few people. The United States had previously been ruled by few wealthy individuals as well as the elite. And if it was not enough, only a few people were given the privilege of electing leaders. Nevertheless, the election of Jackson involved everyone and people from poor backgrounds viewed Jackson as their representative.
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Perhaps the most important question is, what were Jackson’s views on leadership? According to the article dubbed Andrew Jackson and the Course of the American Empire written by Robert Remini (1984), Jackson’s views on holding office became more democratic with time. He came up with the idea that people in all offices, whether elected or appointed must be controlled by people. In regard to people who were appointed, Jackson suggested that they were to be rotated after every four years. On the contrary, Jackson proposed that elected leaders needed to be controlled by people (Richardson, n.d). On the same note, Jackson attempted to abolish the College of Electors to achieve his objectives. Additionally, Jackson wanted the presidency to be a single term of four to six years. These propositions by Jackson perhaps were aimed at eliminating monopolies in leadership.
One of the most prominent instances where Jackson displayed an act of democracy was when he refused to renew the charter of the Bank of the United States. He argued that the bank had become a monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange (Richardson, n.d). Secondly, that the bank was being controlled by a few foreigners and domestic rich people. In Jackson’s view, there was no need of renewing the charter if the bank was not of benefit to the majority. Therefore, the banking sector had to be liberalized so that a majority of the United States citizens benefited from the sector.
Another instance where democracy is depicted in Jackson’s presidency is when he said that people of color in the military would also enjoy the same privileges as the whites. That meant that the soldiers would be paid the same amount of money and be offered other compensations such pieces of land just like the white soldiers (Eaton, n.d). Initially, it was only the white soldiers who were given better benefits for their contribution in the military. Perhaps Jackson reasoned that people of color were also just as useful in the military as their white counterparts. If the government continued to discriminate people of color in the military, perhaps a few of them would put some of the missions in jeopardy.
Although Jackson is said to have fostered democracy in the United States, there are instances where critics fault his presidency. One of the prominent issues involves the eviction of the Native American tribes from their ancestral lands. One such tribe is the Cherokees who were forced from Georgia to Arkansas (Memorial of the Cherokee Nation, n.d). The Cherokees had objected the decision and had even appealed to the Supreme Court. However, Jackson did not stop their eviction. The Cherokees embarked on one of the toughest journeys in American history, many of them walking on feet. Along the way, a majority of them died due to adverse weather conditions such as snow.
Secondly, Jackson appointed Swartwout to be the collector of the Port of New York solely because he had been a loyal supporter. Swartwout held a record for criminal activities but Jackson went ahead to put him in charge of one of the crucial offices. The public did not like Jackson’s choice but he did no hear any of the objections. Jackson would later realize his mistake. Swartwout fraudulently obtained $1,222,705.09, an amount that was so high at the time. Lastly, despite Jackson advocating for democracy, he kept slaves. Most interestingly, the number of his slaves seemed to increase with time. For example, before becoming president, he kept approximately 50 slaves but after ascending to presidency, he kept between 135-140 slaves (Rimini, 1988). It is an indication that he was not liberal enough to advocate for the abolition of slavery.
To conclude, it can be deduced that Jackson was more democratic to issues of holding political offices as well as other leadership sectors that were in the public domain. He is mostly credited for advocating for freedom in choosing leaders by everyone as well as allowing equal participation in elective posts. The most significant policy of his presidency is the rotational leadership. However, Jackson failed to protect the Native American tribes from forceful eviction from their ancestral lands by the whites. He also owned slaves, meaning that he did not support the abolition of slavery.
References
"Memorial of the Cherokee Nation," as reprinted in Niles Weekly Register, August 21, 1830.
Eaton. (n.d).Treatise on the Intellectual Character and Civil and Political Condition of the Colored People of the United States, 1837
Richardson (n.d). A compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1902, 1905.
Richardson (n.d). A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1902. 1905. Andrew Jackson's Message to Congress December 7,1829
Rimini. (1988). Slave Holdings of Andrew Jackson
Remini. (1984). Andrew Jackson and The Course of American Empire, Vol III, Copyright (c). Reprinted by permission from Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.
Remini. (1988). The Life of Andrew Jackson .
Bailey & Kennedy (1994). The American Pageant
Two Accounts of Life on the Trail Of Tears Account of John G. Burnett, Cherokee Messenger
