How Did Andrew Jackson Win A Controversial Election

A Controversial Election
Throughout history, Andrew Jackson's presidency has received more attention than many other, in part because of the way he changed the view Americans had in the actual electoral process. During Jackson's first attempt for the presidency, Jackson won the popular vote but not much of the electoral vote, forcing the election to be decided in the House of Representatives (Friedline, 2009). As the vote for the future president fell into the hands of the House, Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams struck a deal; Henry Clay would release his electoral votes to Adams in return for the position of secretary of state during his term. This deal resulted in Adams winning the election by one vote. The deal struck between Adams and

The anti-mosonic party managed to win few votes outside New York and New England. These votes impacted the election by weakening Clay's campaign and ultimately splitting the anti-Jackson vote (Odachowski, 2008). During this period party organization and running parties was getting a lot better but it still wasn't strong enough to out weight the other candidates. The focus of the parties was to inform the public any way possible, let that be through activities like parades, barbecues, pamphlets, newspapers, or political cartoon (Odachowski, 2008).
In the end, Jackson won the election once again. However, it was the only time in history that a president won reelection while receiving less of a percentage of the popular vote than he had in the previous election (Odachowski, 2008). In 1832, Jackson won about 55 percent of the vote compared to 56 percent in 1828. Nevertheless, Jackson won with 219 electoral votes compared to Clay's 49 and Wirt's 7. Ultimately, Jackson felt his victory was an approval from the people and gave him the mandate to continue a similar course (Odachowski, 2008).
Influence on the

Native tribes were denied time to gather their belonging and prepare for the long journey that awaited. Around 5,000 Cherokee were immediately dispatched to Indian Territory, and the rest were held in camps under military guard during the summer of 1838 where they suffered from disease and food shortage (Denia,2009). More than 3,000 Cherokee died in the camps, and those who survived were forced to walk 800 miles to their new lands west of the Mississippi were another thousand died. The Cherokee called their route "Nunna daul Tsuny", that meant the Trail Where They Cried. In time, the "Trail of Tears" came to apply to the combined experience of all Indian Nations removed from the