Andrew Jackson Dbq Essay

Beginning in March of 1809, the fourth President of the United States, James Madison, was elected to serve the American people. Madison was a Virginian man who had expansive views on the future of the Country. He, along with several others, composed the US constitution, The Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers. He also founded the Democratic-Republican party which was the first opposing political party. Writing the constitution, Madison believed in societal equality. The need for change from early colonist began when they felt like they were not represented or valued in society. Colonist fought for the freedom they deserved from the british in a number of ways. Our constitution was created as a demand for equal rights between the British

Jackson made all of his money off of the slave trade, and the work that slaves did on his land. He owned the Hermitage, which was 1,000 acres of land that over a hundred slaves worked on. They produced the popular cash crop, cotton. Men, women, and children all worked on this land to pick and grow the cotton for the Jackson family. The more cotton that they produced, meant more money for Mr. Jackson. Once the cotton was picked and sold out, Jackson would profit the money and go out and buy more land and more slaves. More workers meant faster production which meant more money. This was Jackson’s plan for success. He started in 1804 with just 9 slaves, but once he learned how valuable cotton was, the numbers began to skyrocket. Jackson’s slaves could not read or write, and seldom even knew their names. There were no artifacts, writings, or names to identify those who Jackson had taken advantage of. Family units were created by the slaves as a demand from jackson. Although slaves were prohibited from marriage, the formation of families would prevent the escape of slaves which is why Jackson was adamant that his slaves follow those guidelines. Many historians concluded that Jackson’s slaves lived similary to noe another. Jackson gave all of his slaves names to distinguish them from the other slaves he owned. Some slaves worked in the home for Jackson, while others would work outside in the feilds. Because Jackson had an abundance of slaves he ended up naming two of them Hannah. Working in the kitchen, Jackson changed the name of the eldest Hannah to “Old Hannah” becuase “she was nearly twice the age of the other Hannah.” (1) This small accident of using the same name twice may seem trivial, but it proves the fact that Andrew Jackson had an excess of slaves in his possesion. He showed no value for them, and as a result they were