Andrew Jackson Biography Essay

In early march of 1767, a miracle was born named Andrew Jackson. His father was never able to meet him, he had died before Jackson was birthed. No one thought he would be the 7th president of the United States. In his childhood, Jackson was an orphan, a soldier and a prisoner.He experienced pain, emotional and physical. He experienced war and death. His two brothers had died, one in war and the other of heatstroke when being held prisoner with Jackson. All of his immediate family was gone, before he turned fifteen. Jackson went to local schools as a boy and had a small amount of a higher education. Little did he know, the little education he was able to receive would help him in his political career later on in life. Andrew Jackson had an
early career in politics, which led him to become the 7th President, passing policies and h
After he had returned to his hometown, he taught elementary school and then read law. He then took an offer to become a public prosecutor in 1787, in the Mero District of North Carolina. Jackson built a legal practice, he entered into trading ventures and then began to acquire land and slaves. He was the first man to be elected into the House of Representatives. He later served in the Senate for brief time. When he had started in politics, his views were different from after his presidency. He was focused on only what was good for our nation, whether the outcome of it was good or not. He was focused on what was beneficial for Americans, not what was for everyone else that was in their nation. These interests inspired him to continue into politics, it led him to presidency ("Miller Center.").
Andrew Jackson qualifications could not compare to the men he ran against. He could not speak any foreign languages, he even had a difficult time writing English. He had never posted in the cabinet, but to the public his heroics as a general meant more than all of the governmental experiences all of his competitors had. Jackson ran in two presidential races, both against John Adams. The first presidential race, in 1824, Jackson had lost to Adams. “Adams's activism backfired as Jackson and his publicists mounted a cry to clean out the corruptionists and restore purity and economy in government.”("Miller Center"). The next race in 1828, Jackson had won the election. He made many promises to the public including ones against corruption and for reform. He wanted to get rid of national debt and keep the government as small as possible.
“ Following his anonymous printing of the South Carolina Exposition and Protest in 1828, Vice President John C. Calhoun suggests that his state of South Carolina annul the federally imposed protective cotton tariff. Jackson threatens to deploy federal troops to occupy the state in the event of nullification.”("Miller Center"). Calhoun wanted to discipline Jackson because he wanted to use military forces as a way to stop the majority of problems in their nation. This caused a lot of tension between the two as the years go on in his presidency. In the same year came the Trail of Tears, Jackson had removed five native american tribes out of their homeland and moved them onto reservations where they could not follow their own beliefs and they were not able to live the way those native americans once did. There were military forces used when a tribe fought for their land. They were bribed to be relocated onto reservations. Although most of them were moved; some were able to stay on their land by hiding and waiting. Death was all around the native americans as the walked the Trail of Tears. Around the same time, Jackson was dealing with other concerns that were made by the public with the assistance of the government. For example, the people wanted the national debt to be abolished. On the other spectrum, Jackson had a treaty signed by France that the French would pay five million dollars because of the Napoleonic Wars. Lastly, people could not pay for land with money, they had to pay in gold and
silver. Policies that Andrew Jackson did not support was the Maysville Road Bill, the Second National Bank, and the Force Bill. The Maysville Road Bill was a bill that the Federal Government purchased a stock to build a road within Kentucky. “Jackson is not entirely opposed to the federal financing of such projects, supporting the allocation of federal monies for the National Road. Nevertheless, his veto of the Maysville Road bill indicates a shift in how the federal government intends to pay for internal improvements.”("Miller Center"). Jackson did not support the Second National Bank from the beginning of his presidency to the end. Instead, he chose to distribute money to the state banks, according to population, and completely eliminate the Second National Bank. Lastly, Jackson did not want the Force Bill to be put into action, it meant that he could no longer use Military Forces, similar to how he took advantage of the power when he was first put into office. Calhoun did not oppose this bill. Jackson’s effects on America were both positive and negative. He left the Indians on reservations, he entertained the hatred between people, and he demonized any person who Jackson had thought had crossed him during his presidency, like his former vice president. The people who supported Jackson and what he did as president, thought he was the ultimate individualist and democrat. He contributed to the maturing of political philosophies. Jackson devoted his presidency to the growth of the Government and the United States. He