Jackson : A President, Not a Saint
No one can argue that as a president, Jackson made no mistakes; however, they in no way disqualify him from having a place on the U.S. twenty dollar bill. Jackson made every decision according to the will of the American people, even the more unsavory ones. He was a war hero that exemplified the strength and tenacity by which America has defined itself over the generations. He acted in all ways with concern for the growth of the American nation, both at home and overseas. Even his now unquestionably negative actions, such as the Indian Removal Act, were done at the time not only in the interest of the citizens of the united states , but in regard (however misguided) to the survival of the Indian nations. It is this distinction between intents that make the comparison of Andrew Jackson to Adolf Hitler unfounded and even laughable.
The duty of a president, or any elected official for that matter, is to enact policies concurrent with the views of the voting population that elected him or her to office. In the case of Andrew Jackson, through no fault of his own, the voting population was white males. In fact, Andrew Jackson's voting base was closer to the occupational background of today's voters than to the land-owning aristocratic supporters of his predecessor's and opponents. Supporters of Jackson included "urban workers, western frontiersmen, southern planters, small farmers, bankers and would-be entrepreneurs" (Tregle). It is this unusually diverse voting basis, as well as his own humble beginnings, that sometimes earned Jackson the label of "the People's President". Jackson 's support among voters of disparate backgrounds, as well as a decisive win both in the electoral and popular vote twice, put a lie to the argument that he was a "tyrant". In fact, the label of "King Andrew I" was started as a blatant attempt at mudslinging by his opposition for the presidency. Although Jackson made many decisions with regard to the Native American population that are, with today's more broad interpretation of "all men", considered immoral, he acted according the sentiment of the voting populace: that being "the Indians are on our land".
Jackson had a war record that makes him, even today, and example of the strength and tenacity of the United States . Jackson served in many campaigns, both on behalf of the militia of his home state, Tennessee , and the U.S. military. It is with the U.S. military in the War of 1812 that Jackson received his most famous victory; the Battle of New Orleans. There, on January 8, 1815 Jackson defended a British charge that resulted in only 6 American deaths, but over 2,000 British deaths and injuries (Tregle). Jackson , and this battle in particular, became a symbol of the "distinctive American strength" (Tregle) that we still prize today.
Jackson made every decision, not for personal gain, but in what he felt was the best interest of the United States . The ideals of westward expansion (Manifest Destiny) did not begin with Jackson , nor did they die with him; as a result, Jackson cannot be held solely responsible for actions taken in the furthering of this goal. Jackson did much to expand the power of the United States , at home and overseas. He settled disputes with Spain that lead to the acquisition of what is now Florida . He opened the British West Indian ports to American trade, which greatly helped the American export business. Finally, he preserved the integrity of the Union by not only making a "fiery defense of national sovereignty" (Tregle), but by balancing it with the protection of state's rights as outlined in the constitution.
It has been argued that the Indian Removal Act, and the subsequent Trail of Tears, were attempts at genocide made by Jackson , with malicious intent towards Native Americans. But Jackson himself argued that the Indian Removal Act was (as he saw it, anyway) in the best interest of the long-term survival of the Indian Nations. To leave the Indians in surrounded by hostile white civilization would, he argued, "doom [them] to weakness and decay", and that "emigration...alone [could] preserve from destruction the remnants of the tribes still among us" (eJournal). The Trail of Tears, often attributed to Jackson , actually occurred two years after his final term of office. Although Jackson 's Indian Removal Act set the tone by which the Trail of Tears was executed, the conditions under which it was done (those conditions which led to the deaths of over 4,000 Native Americans) were out of his control. Indeed, how can it be said that Jackson harbored malicious intent toward the Native Americans, when he actually adopted a Creek boy who was treated among his household like a son (Tregle)? In the case of Jackson , although he made many misguided decisions regarding the Native population, he did so according to the will of the citizens of the U.S. , the interests of that great nation, and without malicious intent.
Jackson , in many ways, is representative of the history of the United States . His strength and tenacity were well documented, but like our great country, his character and actions are not without stain. To deny Jackson his place on the twenty dollar bill would call into question the right of all other figures on our currency: Washington, who not only owned slaves but actively and openly participated in violence upon the Native Americans with the intent of eliminating them (a real policy of genocide), Lincoln, whose Emancipation Proclamation only included slaves in the territory of the Confederacy as an attempt to use the slave populace, Franklin, a womanizer and a man who abandoned his wife and children for the pleasures of Paris, and Grant, responsible for one of the most corrupt eras of American politics. Although Jackson's policies concerning Native Americans were questionable at best, and should in no way be exalted, he remains and important, and in many ways, a positive figure in American history.
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