Andrew Jackson: Failures and Successes of the 7th President

Introduction

I’m writing my paper about Andrew Jackson, who was the 7th president of The United States of America. I chose him because he’s always seemed very interesting to me. He seemed very kind and productive with his time and job. He was a kind-hearted person who adopted a native american child who lost his parents after The Battle of Tallushatchee. He was the very first president who attempted to get assassinated, but he got very lucky and didn’t.

He always tried to be very open-minded about everything. As a president, he did the most than the people before him and even the people after him. He was also the very first to do many things.

Successes of Jackson’s Presidency

Andrew Jackson became the 7th president from March 4, 1829, through March 4, 1837, which shows that he served two terms of Presidency. If Andrew Jackson was president for eight years, you would expect a lot of great success. Some great success Andrew Jackson had during his Presidency was that he founded one of the two major political parties, which was the democratic party. This shows that Andrew Jackson was the first democratic president of The United States of America. Andrew Jackson wanted to lead a greater democracy for men, and after a while of thinking, he created Jacksonian democracy, which, in fact, helped a lot and then spread throughout American politics. Jacksonian democracy was the biggest issue talked about until the rise of slavery issue came out. Jacksonian democracy helped in many ways; it helped by letting all white males get the right to vote because before, the only white males who could vote were male taxpayers and property owners. Andrew Jackson made a successful trade with Great Britain, which then led to it opening the West Indies colonies to American merchant ships. This agreement with Great Britain led American exports to increase by 70% and American imports to increase by 250%, and this was all because of Jacksonian democracy.

Failures and Controversies

Even though Andrew Jackson had many successes in his life, that doesn’t mean he’s perfect because everyone makes mistakes. Andrew Jackson had some failures in his career of being president. One of his major failures in his lifetime was wanting to officially form the Democratic political party. You would probably think this a good idea, but it is false; this created many problems. Since there were already two famous political parties, Republican and Democratic, it caused the country to form into two parts. This also ended the era when America was at great peace. Andrew Jackson thought he was going to do good to everyone by officially forming the Democratic political party. He felt terrible after this all happened, but he knew there was no going back because it had already happened, and he knew he just had to put it in the past after trying to fix it and move on to the future to make things better for his country once again. After Andrew Jackson let all this happen, it caused great controversy, which still exists today. There are still arguments about the two most famous parties, and yet nothing has truly been settled.

Jackson’s Legacy and Personal Reflection

Andrew Jackson had a couple of issues during his time as president, but one of the issues that interested me the most was his shutting down the second bank of the United States. He didn’t really like the second bank and refused all their request. Some things they requested were funds for the bank to expand the bank even more into the western territory. Of course, Andrew Jackson said no and denied their request because that idea wasn’t good. Andrew Jackson made the Cherokee Indians move west of the Mississippi river, and it wasn’t fully settled yet. Since the bank had a lot of directors from the board of manufacturing, they still tried their best, but Andrew Jackson still didn’t let them and didn’t like them. Since the second bank had people on the manufacturing board and other supporters, they had political and economic power, which people found unusual, and even Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson held his ground and didn’t let the bank do anything at all. After a couple of months of the bank not doing anything to make any improvements, they lost supporters, political power, and economic power. This shows that Andrew Jackson destroyed them and later shut down the bank.

Andrew Jackson was honestly a fair president and understanding. Many things can define his Presidency because he was a well-rounded man. He helped build up The United States of America and fixed it up through the wars. Andrew Jackson wasn’t afraid of anything. He would put his life before anyone to protect the citizens of his country. He respected everyone, but he would always stand his ground. He was a tough president, but he knew exactly what he wanted. While being the president of the United States, he served during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. He tried his best to restore the Preamble of The United States Constitution, “We the People,” to give everyone a voice. He was one of the best presidents to ever serve the country. Out of all these things Andrew Jackson did for us and this country, you wouldn’t really expect more, but he was actually the only president out of 44 to pay off the national debt. Even today, Andrew Jackson is still flooded with a tempest of contention. His life is loaded with logical inconsistency, much like the nation he helped put together. Andrew Jackson is inseparably woven into the texture of America.

Would I honestly vote for Andrew Jackson? Honestly, no, I know that mind sounds a bit weird because he did so great for our country that I’m living in now, but I see myself as an independent woman who stands her ground just like he did. He’s a great person, but he’s also Democratic. To be honest, if I were to be a Democrat, I would vote for him 100% because he was indeed the best president we’ve had by far, but since I’m Independent, I have to respect myself and my choices. I know that my choices can change, and I can always switch to becoming a Democrat, but being independent, in my perspective, is the best because you’re your own political party with your own rules and your own opinions; you can just go with the flow, and you definitely don’t have to choose sides which means less of a headache. I know being in the Independent Party isn’t as popular as being a Democrat or Republican, but it’s something I prefer and love better.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Andrew Jackson did many great things and accomplished a lot of things in his life. He helped others and helped our country to become even better. Without him, maybe our country wouldn’t even be like it is today. He’s a very interesting person with a big soul and an open-minded, smart mind. He took actions into his own hands and would always stand his ground no matter what. He helped our country then and is still helping our country now. He played a big role and did a fantastic job at it while trying to let no one down.

References

• Brands, H. W. (2005). Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times. Anchor.

• Remini, R. V. (1998). The Life of Andrew Jackson. Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

• Library of Congress. (n.d.). Andrew Jackson: Seventh President of the United States. Retrieved from Library of Congress website.

• History.com Editors. (2020, February 21). Andrew Jackson. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved from History.com.

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