Andrew Jackson Dbq

Andrew Jackson was a not a "great" president because he was a cruel and power hungry man who abused his power during his presidency. There is a big difference between being good and great. He was not our worst president, but was not the best either. Jackson was considered, and considered himself to be “the man of the people”. One example of why he gained that title was because he was the first president who was not a member of the Colonial Aristocracy. Also, Andrew transformed the very conception of the U.S. presidency during his two terms by increasing the number of people eligible to vote, break the power of the congressional "King Caucus" to control nomination of candidates, and to promote many democratic reforms. Jackson believed in
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For example, he was criticized for expanding the power of the presidency by rewarding his political supporters with government jobs. For this, Andrew was loved by the common people and hated by his political enemies. Jackson was sometimes referred to as "King Andrew I." He was also known for having vetoed more bills than all previous Presidents combined. Andrew was also the first to use the pocket veto, a delaying tactic in which the President does not sign a bill within ten days of the end of the Congressional term, preventing it from becoming law. He also wanted to make himself more powerful than congress and any other branch. This resulted in President Jackson having a fierce rivalry with Vice President John C. Calhoun and Secretary of State Martin Van Buren. As a result Jackson stopped holding Cabinet meetings and turned to an unofficial group of his closest friends and advisors which was called the “Kitchen Cabinet.” The rivalry between the president and the vice president continued and led to another major dispute. On December 10, 1832, President Andrew Jackson issued a proclamation to the people of South Carolina that a state had no right to nullify a federal law. South Carolina and John C. Calhoun felt that the tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 favored Northern-manufacturing over the expense of Southern farmers. After this, Jackson
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President Jackson instated the Indian Removal Act. removed thousands of Native American families, specifically Cherokees, from their homes in the Carolinas and Georgia so that white families could move into their land because the population was expanding and there was not enough room for everyone. The Native American people were forced to walk from their homes to a new area in present day Oklahoma. The Native Americans made this walk during the fall and winter of 1830 which became known as “the trail of tears”. This was a brutal journey to Oklahoma, which many diseases spread and many people died of illness, exhaustion, starvation, and cold. Nearly 2000 Native Americans died because of the Indian Removal Act which is the big reason why people would consider Jackson to be not a great