The Presidency of Andrew Jackson: Success or Failure?

Cabrera 1
Michael Cabrera
Mr. Early
History 1301
April 11, 2019
This essay will discuss the Presidency of Andrew Jackson in the United States of
America. Jackson was president from 1829 to 1837. Before becoming president; Jackson served
as an American soldier and statesman. He was also a lawyer, landowner, and also regarded as a
national war hero in his earlier years. He was considered one of the most controversial presidents
of United States. Part of his controversies includes support to remove Indian tribes to the west of
River Mississippi. While declaring this as one of his reforms, Jackson opined that the Country’s
policy to assimilate the Indian tribes had failed, and that it would eventually lead to the erosion
of Native American’s culture. The key question for this essay is, overall was the presidency of
Andrew Jackson successful or unsuccessful? He had adopted some very controversial policies in
his reign as the President of the country.1 Those policies and his indelible mark on the country’s
history would be debated in this paper.
The first theme of discussion will be the financial policy of Andrew Jackson and his fight
against the National Bank. This was one of the reforms that took place during Jackson’s
presidency between the years 1832 through 1836. This issue began when a furious political
struggle regarding the chartering of the National Bank erupted once again. The existence of the
National Bank was at stake. The final outcome of this furious struggle was the extinction of the
bank as other banks replaced it. Congress wanted to reauthorize this bank despite its facing
financial difficulties. Andrew Jackson applied his veto power and stopped the action. According
to Daniel Feller, this was one of the most destructive steps as this made way to the formation of
National Whigs and Democratic parties. This step of Jackson completely devastated the national
1 Youtube.com. 2019. "Andrew Jackson Good Evil & The Presidency PBS Documentary 640X360 MP4". Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_0dY6ThjxE.

Cabrera 2
banking system of the USA. The Hermitage also criticized Andrew Jackson over this issue and
declared this was a complete misuse of presidential power by Jackson. It seems that Andrew
Jackson showed extreme ignorance while applying his presidential power in this regard.
Therefore, this decision of destroying the banking system of the USA was a disastrous one.
In this section, the central theme of discussion is the Nullification Controversy.This was
mainly a sectional political crisis in the United States that took place in 1832-33, some years
after Jackson became president. A major confrontation took place between Federal Government
of the USA and the province of South Carolina. South Carolina declared that the tariffs of 1828
and 1832 were completely against the constitution of the state and they nullified those tariffs
within their provincial boundaries.2The existence of South Carolina was at stake since the
Federal Government was given the authority to implement military force against them in 1833
when Congress passed the Force Bill. The Compromise Tariff was passed in 1833 with a tariff
rate that was much satisfactory for South Carolina.3 Daniel Feller has opined that the
administrative factors were not being handled by Andrew Jackson in a good manner. He behaved
and approached his presidency in a controversial manner and did not have a firm hold on his
followers. Thus his opponents were able to form a Whig party. The Hermitage believes that this
crisis was the opening phase of the Civil War in United States.4 Finally, it can be said that harsh
approach towards South Carolina and other southern states led to a huge fury. This resulted in
2 Americanyawp.com. 2019. "9. Democracy In America | THE AMERICAN YAWP". Americanyawp.Com.
http://www.americanyawp.com/text/09-democracy-in-america/.
3 Feller, Daniel. 2019. http://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essay/andrewjackson%27s-shifting-legacy.
4 Feller, Daniel. 2019. "Andrew Jackson: Impact And Legacy | Miller Center". Miller Center.
https://millercenter.org/president/jackson/impact-and-legacy.

Cabrera 3
civil war afterwards. Jackson could have dealt in softer ways without applying military forces on
South Carolina.
The next discussion theme is the implementation of Indian Removal Act in the year 1830 during
the presidential reign of Andrew Jackson. This act was a retrogressive since the ethnic group of
Indians faced an immense level of discrimination. This act gave the authority to the president to
remove these ethnic tribes to federal territories.5This had resulted in the deaths of thousands of
members of five Native American tribes. These ethnic groups were Chickasaw, Choctaw,
Muscogee-Creek, Seminole and original Cherokee Nations. Daniel Feller believes that it was not
appropriate for Andrew Jackson to take this step, since he wanted all ethnic Indian tribes to move
west beyond the Mississippi River.6It was a complete discriminatory practice since he wanted all
white natives of the country to live in peace. The Hermitage too, argues against the
implementation of this policy. He has stated that it was the primary responsibility of the
president to take care of all his children like a father.7Here, it can be stated that both the critics
were true since a president of a country simply should not take all tribes out of their homes and
move them to a new place. If he does so, it is his responsibility to arrange all the care for them.8
5 Thehermitage.com. 2019. "Presidency | Andrew Jackson's Time In Office As President". The Hermitage.
https://thehermitage.com/learn/andrew-jackson/president/presidency/.
6 Feller, Daniel. 2008. "King Andrew And The Bank". National Endowment For The Humanities (NEH).
https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2008/januaryfebruary/feature/king-andrew-and-the-bank.
7 Feller, Daniel. 2019. https://millercenter.org/president/jackson/foreignaffairs.
8 Feller, Daniel. 2019. "Andrew Jackson: Domestic Affairs | Miller Center". Miller Center.
https://millercenter.org/president/jackson/domestic-affairs.