Recently in class we have been discussing about the critical events that lead up to the American Revolutionary war and what had happened afterwards. Through this week, we had been watching multiple documentaries related to the American Revolutionary war and its after affects. With important debates such as Federalist vs. Democratic Republicans lead by Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and the presidency of Andrew Jackson, we got a glimpse of what led up to the eventual divide of the Nation. What I found especially intriguing was the idea of people's representative during Andrew Jacksons' presidential election.
During the midst of Jackson's first election, he was seen as the face of the common men despite having several controversial and conflicting claims. Such as, his strong believe to support equality and freedom for all but is the biggest slave owner in Tennessee, he detested the elite and rich yet proudly displayed his wealth all through his house to the point the house became a museum after his death. In addition, to add on about his controversy, Jackson was known to hold duels and kill his opponents when they disagreed to his believes. It intrigued me so much that Jackson's actions and his words differed so much yet he was still the most influential figure of the time. From his presidential elections, we could see that the idea of appealing to the people started long before our recent political situations with many solely promising and not taking actions.
In my opinion, I think that it was because of this popularity that he fed off from that enabled him to make ruthless decisions such as going against the congress and taking down the National Bank causing a economic crisis in America and also ignoring the Supreme Court to enable the Native American movement to the west. The fact that this can still happen in the current 21th century, this leaves me to ponder about whether if it is possible in this day and age to see another instance of this type of governing in America, if not why?
I do agree that his popularity enabled Jackson to make ruthless decisions. I remember in class we discussed that the only thing Jackson requested was for the people to be loyal only to him. He used his power as president to do what he thought was best for the country, and a lot of them were impulsive and had bad consequences such as taking down the National Bank. Since he was so popular he could do these things without the people being angered because most of them agreed with his decisions. We may or may not see this happen again in the current presidency. Donald Trump is a very popular president and he has made claims such as mass deportation and building a wall. If he wanted to, because he is so popular he could do so and millions of Americans would support his decision no matter how ruthless it is.
ReplyDeleteI would like to elaborate on President Jackson's blatant disregard for the Supreme Court ruling that you touched on above. In Worcester v. Georgia, the supreme court ruled that the state of Georgia could not force the Cherokee off their homeland. However, Georgia ignored the ruling and Jackson did nothing to enforce the ruling, allowing Georgia to deport the Cherokees. What's particularly ironic about this situation is that Jackson was called "the common man," yet had no intention of caring for anyone besides "the rich, white man."
ReplyDeleteI too found it interesting how we saw here first one of the first 'people's president,' whose power came directly from the support of the people. Your notes about the hypocrisy displayed by Jackson such as being super rich and being a slave holder is interesting because recently in politics we have started to more see more candidates for important government positions display this sort of behavior and I know I ofter wonder how people still support them. Apparently this isn't a new concept in American history. Also, should the president have so much power where he is allowed to take down the national bank and refuse a Supreme court order? The balance of power seems skewed here and could also have relevance today in a world where custom and precedent seem to matter less and less. **
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