Andrew Jackson was the first modern president. He disagreed with some of the ways Presidents before him ruled. When he was elected, he fired many officials and hired people who were loyal to him. He also exercised the Veto, and defied Supreme Court rulings. He was the one who made the Presidency what it is today.
Jackson had plans for the expansion of America, as he thought expansion the key to America’s success. Many Whites were afraid of the Native Americans and of the Cherokee Nation. In 1830, he passed a law that was called the Indian Removal Act. Indians were moved and many died due to starvation and the cold on their travels. The removal of Cherokee Indians to Oklahoma Territory came to be known as the “Trail of Tears.”
Slavery continued during Jackson’s era. Andrew Jackson strongly believed in slavery and worked to preserve and continue it. He thought eliminating slavery would unbalance the economy because wealth accumulation was tied to slavery. Jackson wanted to expand the American southern frontier and the Indian Removal opened up more land in the south, which white men filled up with cotton farms. This caused slavery to continue in his era.
When Jackson was president, women did not have much power and wanted more control. The first abolitionists were women, and they wanted to have a direct role in government. Women had ideas and wishes that were pushing to happen. They wanted a right to vote. Eventually, women were able to vote in 1920 with the passing of the 19th amendment.