Tyranny of Andrew Jackson
The Tyranny of Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson: the common man or the first king of America? He is viewed by history in many different ways, some see him as the man who granted universal white male suffrage, created a more democratic way to elect electoral voters to congress and replaced caucuses with national nominating conventions; and others, who saw past this false representation and saw how in his eight years in office, he vetoed 12 bills, forced Native Americans from their homeland, ignored supreme court decisions and let his personal life affect his presidential decisions. Jackson, as captured in his portrait in the National Portrait gallery was a stern man with a strong sense of self-reliance. And while these qualities can be seen as the prominent characteristics for a good leader, when abused, they could cause unrest throughout a nation.
Jackson entered the political office with a hint of vengeance. One of his main goals was to efface Adam’s high-ranking officials, whom he claimed worked against his election using fraud. Long standing bureau chiefs, attorneys, custom and land officers, and federal marshals were losing their jobs to benefactors of Jackson’s campaign at rapid rates because “rotation in office gives the people a sense of sharing in their own government” (Van Deusen 35).
Not only were these jobs given to those without experience, but at times the appointee’s were conniving and slimy. The best example of this would be former army comrade Samuel Swartwout. Jackson appointed Swartwout as the collector of the New York City customhouse, where the US government collected almost half of its annual revenue. After a couple years in the job, Swartwout fled with over $1 million dollars, equal to a bit more than $29,850,000 today. (measuringworth.com) (Andrew Jackson: Domestic Affairs). After this debacle among others, the rotation in public service eventually lowered the prestige and rank of government service (Van Deusen 36).
Not only did Jackson
Andrew Jackson: the common man or the first king of America? He is viewed by history in many different ways, some see him as the man who granted universal white male suffrage, created a more democratic way to elect electoral voters to congress and replaced caucuses with national nominating conventions; and others, who saw past this false representation and saw how in his eight years in office, he vetoed 12 bills, forced Native Americans from their homeland, ignored supreme court decisions and let his personal life affect his presidential decisions. Jackson, as captured in his portrait in the National Portrait gallery was a stern man with a strong sense of self-reliance. And while these qualities can be seen as the prominent characteristics for a good leader, when abused, they could cause unrest throughout a nation.
Jackson entered the political office with a hint of vengeance. One of his main goals was to efface Adam’s high-ranking officials, whom he claimed worked against his election using fraud. Long standing bureau chiefs, attorneys, custom and land officers, and federal marshals were losing their jobs to benefactors of Jackson’s campaign at rapid rates because “rotation in office gives the people a sense of sharing in their own government” (Van Deusen 35).
Not only were these jobs given to those without experience, but at times the appointee’s were conniving and slimy. The best example of this would be former army comrade Samuel Swartwout. Jackson appointed Swartwout as the collector of the New York City customhouse, where the US government collected almost half of its annual revenue. After a couple years in the job, Swartwout fled with over $1 million dollars, equal to a bit more than $29,850,000 today. (measuringworth.com) (Andrew Jackson: Domestic Affairs). After this debacle among others, the rotation in public service eventually lowered the prestige and rank of government service (Van Deusen 36).
Not only did Jackson
Cited: "President Andrew Jackson." History Central: History 's Home on the Web. 14 August, 2007. l. 10 Dec 2007 <http://www.historycentral.com/Bio/presidents/jackson.html>. "Six Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1790 - 2006." Measuringworth.com. 10 Dec 2007 <http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/>. "Andrew Jackson: Domestic Affairs." Millercenter.virginia.edu. Miller Center of Public Affairs: University of Virginia. 10 Dec 2007 <http://millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/jackson>. "Andrew Jackson: The Presidency." statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/. State Library of North Carolina. 16 Dec 2007 <http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/bio/public/jackson.htm#Presidency>. "1816-1860: The Second American Party System and the Tariff." Tax.org. 4 August, 2005. Tax History Museum. 16 Dec 2007 <http://www.tax.org/Museum/1816-1860.htm>. Van Deusen, Glyndon. The Jacksonian Era: 1828=1848. New York: Harper and Row, 1959. "Second Bank of United States." USHistory.org. Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia. 11 Dec 2007 <http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_2bank.htm>. "South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification, November 24, 1832.." Yale.edu. 1999. The Avalon Project at Yale University. 16 Dec 2007