Pros
Cons
He was the first selfmade man to become
President.
Before he was president, he invaded Florida against orders. He was only instructed to capture runaway slaves but he conquered the territory and wiped out entire Seminole villages.
He was a supporter of the “common man” he felt the government was only helping the rich.
While in Florida, he executed two British officers, which was against the orders he had been given by his own military court.
He was the hero of the Battle of New Orleans this gave Americans a huge sense of pride.
He forced the Cherokees off their land even though the Supreme Court had ruled in
Worcester v. Georgia that the Cherokees had the legal right to stay. Over 4,000 Cherokee
Indians died as a result of this action.
He fought in the Revolutionary War.
He promoted the growth of slavery by kicking
American Indians off their land in order to get cotton land for white Americans.
He was against the idea of Nullification
(nullification means states don’t have to follow federal laws), and when South Carolina threatened to secede (break up the country), he sent the U.S. Army down to make sure it didn’t happen! He ordered Southern postmasters to stop the delivery of antislavery literature in the South, which is both a violation of the 1st Amendment and illegal mail tampering.
He vetoed the Bank of the United States because he felt it only favored the rich.
He was a cruel slaveholder himself. He owned around 140 slaves and once offered a reward to anyone who delivered 300 lashes to one of his runaway slaves. This could kill a man, and would serve as a very scary example to any slave who thought about running away from
Jackson.