Andrew Jackson - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... He chose John C. Calhoun as his vice president and after a fall out Calhoun resigned in 1832 and Martin Van Buren became vice president in 1833. As president, he was very passionate about upholding popular democracy and individual liberty and pleaded to the congress to amend the constitution to allow for democracy. As a result, he recommended for abolishment of the Electoral College so that the president and vice president could be elected by the people and for them to serve a single term. Adams was also against the second national bank and thus abolished it when he became president. He cleared all the federal debts before vetoing renewal of its charter (Mintz 639). In politics, he also initiated the spoils system thus rotation of political appointments so as to do away with bureaucracy. He also initiated the removal of Indians or Native Americans from America to the west in areas like Arkansas and west of Mississippi River.
Some of the controversies during his time were Indian Removal Act which was seen as an ethnic cleansing strategy thus not popular. He also through the spoils system replaced many federal employees with political opponents from his party who had no experience (Mintz 638). Another challenge was the nullification crisis. Some states were calling for secession due to disagreements over tariffs which were unfavourable to the South planters. This was the cause of fallout with his deputy Calhoun as he supported the southerners. Jackson used every opportunity to praise union or a strong federal government although he also advocated for state rights (Ogg 164). He also had to deal with a severe depression in 1837 due to his insistence on paying government land in terms of gold or silver rather than cash. This led to collapse of many banks as they did not have such ...Download file to see next pagesRead More