1. Old Hickory Andrew Jackson… - Raised on the frontier
-Hero of New Orleans
- Survivor of several duels
Killed the bank
Love him or hate him, he wasn’t the nicest guy but no one can argue his toughness.

2. Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845)

3. Andrew Jackson gained national popularity through the War of 1812
Andrew Jackson gained national popularity through the War of He was a general in the war and was hailed as the Hero of New Orleans.
Andrew Jackson won the presidential election of 1828 against John Quincy Adams.
VS.

4. Jackson’s campaign strategy revolved around pitting the common man against the wealthy, money-men. Jackson claimed to be a man of the people, a common man. He portrayed John Q. Adams as out of touch.
Many would describe this as class warfare. Jackson’s party was organized and rallied the masses. His campaign went door to door passing out pamphlets, medals, providing entertainment, and alcohol.

5. Campaign poster from 1828

6. The election became about pitting personalities against each other more so than policies. Some historians recognize this election as the birth of modern politics.
Voter turn out went from 25% in the previous election of 1824 to 55% in the election of 1828.

7. Andrew Jackson had a great appeal to southerners and those on the frontier.

8. Upon his inauguration, many people excitedly stormed into the white house. Many things were broken and the booze was flowing.

9. Like many presidents, he angered many people, however, he remained popular because he portrayed himself as the embodiment of the people’s will.
“Common Man” can vote
Split the Democratic – Republican Party: created the Democratic Party
Expanded Presidential power

10. To the victor go the spoils…
Andrew Jackson said that positions in the federal government should have limited terms. The longer a person serves, the more prone he/she is to corruption, inefficiency, and serving one’s self interest.
Jackson created the spoils system where incoming officials throw out former appointees and replace them with their own people/friends and reward supporters.

11. Early in his presidency, Jackson announced his goals to congress:
abolish the electoral voting system
Relocate all Indians west of the Mississippi
Extinguish the national debt
Abolish the Second Bank of the United States
Do away with paper currency

12. The Whig Party
Those critical of the Democratic Party created a new party themselves – The Whig Party.
Most were frustrated with Andrew Jackson’s policies and related him to that of a King.
Vetoed more bills than any president in 100 years. 12
Wanted:
Protective tariff
Strong Central government
National Bank
Supporters: Merchants and bankers

13. Democratic Party Pro Jackson For states rights and farming
Supporters: Farmers in the South and West

14. The first major test during his Presidency was a State vs
The first major test during his Presidency was a State vs. Federal power issue. It started with the Tariff of 1828.
As a result of this tariff, England reduced their exports to the U.S. which forced the South to buy more expensive northern goods. - The North was getting rich at the expense of the South.
South Carolina especially opposed the federal tariffs and threatened to secede if it
had to obey these laws.
Jackson’s political enemies
and even his own Vice President,
John Calhoun supported S.C

15. Nullification Crisis
This was called the “Nullification Crisis” because S.C. wanted to annul the tariffs.
Calhoun believed that each state had the right to nullify, or reject, a federal law that it considered unconstitutional.
If the federal
government refused
to permit a state to
nullify a federal law,
the state had the
right to withdraw
from the Union.

16. Old Hickory takes no lip
Old Hickory takes no lip. He was determined to preserve the sovereignty of the Union. He said:
“Tell my friends in South Carolina that if any of them breathe a word of secession, I’m going to come down there and I’m going to hang them from the highest trees in the neighborhood.”
When Andrew Jackson talked that way, people listened. An agreement was made to lower the tariffs and South Carolina backed down.

17. The Bank War
With the issue of secession under control, Jackson turned his attention to the corrupt, private institution of the Bank of The United States.
Jackson believed that the Bank was unconstitutional. In the constitution, the power to coin money is given to congress, NOT a private corporation.
Jackson also believed that the bank had too much power over the economy. He was afraid that the bank (composed of many foreign investors) would act in its own self interest instead of the interest of the people.

18. The Second Bank of the United States had a charter for 20 years
The Second Bank of the United States had a charter for 20 years. That charter was not to expire until 1836 (the last year of Andrew Jackson’s second term if he were elected again).
Jackson went after the Second Bank of the United States whenever he could, partly by firing federal employees that were in cahoots with the bank.

19. The president of the Bank of the United States, Nickolas Biddle, met with his cronies in congress to devise a scheme to stop Andrew Jackson from being elected to a second term.
Their plan was to ask for a bill to renew the bank’s charter in 1832 (four years early). They thought that Jackson would not want to veto the bill because it would cause too much controversy in an election year as he was looking to run for a second term.

20. They underestimated Old Hickory. He was no coward
They underestimated Old Hickory. He was no coward. Risking his reelection, he vetoed the bill. He made an inspiring veto speech and congress was not able to override his veto.
He went into the 1832 election with the campaign slogan, “Jackson, and no bank.”
the fight was far from over.

21. Soon after being reelected, Jackson told his secretary of treasury to remove the government’s money from the national bank and put them into state banks. The first and second secretary of treasuries refused to do this, therefore, he fired both of them until the third, Roger B. Taney finally obeyed.
By doing this, Jackson’s plan was to weaken the national bank by draining it of government funds.
What did Biddle do? He manufactured an economic depression.

22. “Nothing but widespread suffering will produce any affect on congress… Our only safety is in pursuing a steady course of firm restriction [of money] – and I have no doubt that such a course will ultimately lead to restoration of the currency and the re-charter of the bank.”
- Nicholas Biddle, President of the Second Bank of the United States

23. How did Biddle create a depression?
Central banks have a monopoly of the money supply. Biddle decided to shrink the supply of money by calling in old loans and refusing to issue new loans.
A financial panic ensued, followed by a depression.
Biddle blamed Jackson for the depression, saying it was caused by withdrawing federal funds from the bank. This was a lie.

24. “You are a den of vipers! I intend to rout you out, and by the Eternal God, I will rout you out. If the people only understood the rank injustice of our money and banking system, there would be a revolution by morning.”  - Andrew Jackson, 1834

25. No friend of the Indian
Andrew Jackson like many people of his time was raised to discriminate against Indians. In early American history, Indians were often looked upon as lower than black slaves.
Ironically, he was saved by an Indian at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, during the war of A Cherokee Indian, Junaluska, stopped a Creek Indian (allied with the British) as he was lunging at Andrew Jackson with a knife.
This event held no sway over Jackson’s decision to relocate Indian nations to Oklahoma.

26. The Indian Removal Act of 1830
Andrew Jackson and many of his time thought the Indians were a problem in the South. He didn’t believe in assimilation and therefore planned to move the many Indian tribes to the West.
Assimilation - to adopt the ways of another culture : to fully become part of a different society, country, etc.
Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and for the next 8 years proceeded to move the Cherokee, Chicksaw, Choctow, Creek, Seminole, and other tribes to the Oklahoma territory.

27. Some people like to think of Indians as one race and one culture but they would be wrong. These tribes were forced to move to a land foreign to them and for some of them being forced to move next to their enemies.
Perhaps in today’s perspective it would be similar to moving the K.K.K. and the Black Panther Party to a foreign country and telling them they must live side by side.

29. Some tribal members, especially the Seminoles, fought back and would hide deep in the bush.
The Cherokees tried to fight back through the legal system. In 1832 the supreme court ruled in favor of the Cherokee nation against Georgia. The court, under Chief Justice John Marshall, ruled that Georgia was not entitled to regulate the Cherokee nor to invade their lands.
Jackson didn’t obey the decision and said, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.”

30. Despite their legal victory, the Cherokee faced immense pressure to relocate to the west.
Some of the Cherokee gave under the pressure and decided to move to the west. This created a rift between the Cherokee tribe that still exist today. Those that were in favor of the move became the Western Band of Cherokee. Those that favored to stay became the Eastern Band.

31. The Trail of Tears
Thousands of the Eastern band of Cherokee still remained.
In 1838, President Martin Van Buren (Jackson was no longer president) decided to forcibly remove the rest of the Cherokee.
The Cherokee were forced from their homes at the bayonet by soldiers. The soldiers looted their wealth/belongings that they had to leave behind.

32. “I fought through the civil war and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.” - Georgia Volunteer

33. Roughly a quarter of them did not survive the 800 mile trek from North Georgia to the Oklahoma Territory. They moved them in the beginning of a particularly cold winter. Many died of disease, exposure, and starvation.

34. One can’t help but wonder…
A) Why did the government move the Cherokee at the start of winter?
B) Why didn’t the government lead the Cherokee on a more direct route to Oklahoma?