Andrew Jackson was a peoples’ president. He was born into a poor family, raised in the country, and was eventually elected president by voters who appreciated his old- fashioned, relatable style. Although from humble backgrounds, he eventually became a well-known lawyer, then circuit judge and eventually senator. But this wasn’t all; after his lawyering, he became a war hero, and had a few nicknames to show for it.
He was called “Old Hickory” after marching an army through rough weather from Nashville to Natchez, only to be told to turn back. He solidified his new name and created a new one, “Sharp Knife”, after defeating Indian forces in the south and taking their lands to form Alabama. He later won the Battle of New Orleans and became known as the “Hero of New Orleans” All his victories in the south allowed him to be Florida’s governor. After gathering all of is fame, he settled down on his plantation with his family and slaves. But not for long.
By the 1820’s he was sucked back into American politics, being made a senator by the state representatives of Tennessee. He then ran against John Quincy Adams for the Presidency but lost. Jackson “viewed the political world as flawed” (Ripper 188) and sought to change the way things worked. He already was doing that by being a kind of pioneer in campaigning to the average citizen for votes. This tactic worked, and very well, in the next election, making him president.
His presidency consisted of lots of tension between him and the Supreme Court. His presidency brought back the two-party rift that began with Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson’s feuds and ended with the Hartford convention of 1814. He fought against the power of the Bank of the United States and the trouble it brought the economy, most notably the depression of 1819, when, essentially, the system of bank- notes failed, and the economy crashed. Jackson and many others strongly disagreed with the amount of influence the Bank and the federal government in general had on the states. This mood he purported came to form the Whig party.
The name ‘Whig’ was a reference to traditional British politics, where it was the Whigs who typically opposed the king’s and parliament’s decisions. After Jackson vetoed the supreme court’s decision to keep the Bank of the United States, he was given another nickname; King Andrew the I, because his executive powers in that instance made him seem like a king.
In general, President Andrew Jackson mostly concerned himself with the balance of power and liberty in America. He agreed with many uses of federal power and strongly desired to maintain the union, but also felt the importance of giving states their individual rights, hearkening to his background as an average, country-boy American citizen. During his presidency, he also foresaw a major campaign against Native Americans, and drove many tribes west. He claimed that to be civilized, they must be removed from their homes and driven west, to be removed from the influence of white culture.
These two of his presidential pursuits greatly influenced America’s years to come. Native Americans would continue to be forced westward, and the nation would become more and more politically divided. First there was the Democratic Republicans and the Federalists with Jefferson and Hamilton, then the Whigs and the Democrats and later the Masons and Anti-Masons with Jackson, then later the Republicans with Lincoln.
