Why Is Andrew Jackson Honored

A person who is humble should be honored. A person who cares for not only himself, but for all people should be honored. A person who helps this country instead of destroying it should be honored. So why is Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill? Andrew Jackson was the seventh president. He was different than the presidents that came before him. He did not come from a wealthy family or grow up in a nice neighborhood. He was a so called, “common man.” Before he became president he was considered a war hero when he led, fought, and won the battle of New Orleans. This action of bravery earned him instant fame. He decided to run for president in the year of 1824. He won victoriously against John Quincy Adams. Mostly because the right to vote was not just obtained by white men who own property but know to vote you just have to be a white male.
The “common man” voted for him because they thought that since he grew up in poverty like them that he was an advocate for the “common man.” He sounds like a pretty great president right?
Well like most people he has another side full of dark secrets. Jackson was a murderer he brutally forced the Indians out of their land. He made them walk more than 800 miles in excruciatingly cold weather. He was selfish because he abused the veto to get what he wanted. And most of all he is illogical because he got rid of the National Bank which caused the Panic of 1819. If he is a bad person then why is he on our currency? Our twenty dollar bill? His face represents what America is. Do we really want a person who caused a massive genocide to represent America? Andrew Jackson should be removed from the twenty dollar bill because he led the Indian Removal Act, abused his presidential powers, and destroyed the National
Bank.

First. Jackson led the Indian Removal Act. According to The Week it states “According to Jackson, would help the Native Americans to "cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community." He hypocritically added, "Say to the chiefs and warriors that I am their friend...[their land] they shall possess as long as grass grows or water runs." according to Jackson, would help the Native Americans to "cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community." He hypocritically added, "Say to the chiefs and warriors that I am their friend...[their land] they shall possess as long as grass grows or water runs." This shows that Andrew is blinded by his own racism, greed, and his hypocriticalness that he can’t see that the Indian Removal act is wrong. He states that that the Indians are savages. But how hypocritical he was because how dare he accuses the Indians of being savages when he is the one who forced them out. And on their treacherous journey about 10,000 Indians died because a savage president gave them a map and led them to their deaths. Can we really have a president who has murdered Indian children, women, and men on the twenty dollar bill? Also Andrew Jackson was very duplicitous. He said that they can stay in their land as long as they become basically more white and discard their “savage habits.” He was obviously unfaithful to his word. According to Zinn Education Project in the article Missionaries and Northern Reformers it states “ Cherokee families have ‘ risen to the level with the white people of the United States…” This proves that the Indians have worked hard to become civilized as Jackson wanted them to. in the article it also says that the women are fully clothed, the men do the work instead of women, and they even own property. So as you can see Jackson was being insincere. The Indian Removal Act shows how sanctimonious Andrew Jackson was. But he was also selfish which was exemplified in how he abused his veto powers.

Secondly, Jackson abused his presidential powers. According to The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History it states “Or was Jackson merely a vainglorious bully with no vision for the nation, reacting in response to his own sensitive pride, as Andrew Burstein and others have insisted?” This is absolutely true. Andrew Jackson abused the veto to get congress to pass the laws he wanted. According to Help Me it states “Previous to Andrew Jackson, the presidential veto power had only been used nine times, and only when questioning the constitutionality of something.” And according to Wikipedia it states “ Andrew Jackson has in total used twelve vetoes.” This is unacceptable because the past president has used up to a minimum of three. What could he possibly be using these vetoes for. The answer could he possibly be using these vetoes for. The answer he laws he wants to pass. It is unconstitutional to abuse your presidential powers. What type of president disobeys the constitution. Do we really want a president who instead of enforcing a law was disobeying the constitution on the twenty dollar bill?

Thirdly, Jackson destroyed the National Bank. According to The Lehrman “The attempt by the Second Bank of the United States for an early recharter was passed by Congress in July 1832, but the bill was vetoed shortly thereafter by President Andrew Jackson.” This shows that by vetoing a law he is a selfish person. Jackson did not think about the effects not having a National Bank will do to this country. He was supposed to be a good president yet he causes the Panic of 1837. The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis in the United States that touched off a major recession that lasted until the mid-1840s. Do we want a president only does what he wants.

of an explicit congressional mandate, but of an abuse of presidential power. In engineering removal, Jackson not only disregarded a key section of the Indian Removal Act, but also misused the powers granted to him under the Trade and Intercourse Act of 1802. Furthermore, he failed to honor promises made in his name in order to win congressional support of the removal, and he broke a number of federal treaty commitments to Indians, including some that he had personally negotiated.