The Presidency of Andrew Jackson
The Presidency of Andrew Jackson
Throughout American History it seems to be quite evident that the time lapse during the period in which a presidential candidate holds office, certain crucial events have taken place to significantly impact the American society as a whole. However the duration between the presidencies of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln seem to have little importance to our history because not many events that drastically changed the way the U.S functions took place. The fact that both Jackson and Lincoln have had such accomplishments dealing with national issues tends to sheer the attention away from the presidents who were in office around their terms and focuses on their achievements.
Andrew Jackson served as the seventh president of the United States and served two terms from 1829 to 1837. This time period is known in history as the Jacksonian Era due to several major events that took place. Jackson’s election to the presidency shifted the balance of power in the country from wealthy, East Coast interests to those of the farmers and small business owners in the West. Jackson’s political policies, which included the general public rather than the wealthy, later became known as Jacksonian Democracy. His followers considered themselves the party of the people and criticized their political opponents, the National Republicans, or Whigs as aristocrats. Andrew Jackson’s qualities helped him take on the title of the “common man”, where his interests were placed in pleasing the general common folk. In the decades surrounding the presidency of Jackson democracy began to expand.
Andrew had two major issues to deal with during his presidency, that which include the nullification of South Carolina, and his opposition of the Second Bank of the U.S. Andrew Jackson regarded the South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification of November 1932 as a clear threat to the federal union and to the national authority. In response he submitted to Congress a Force Bill authorizing the use of federal troops in South Carolina. Jackson's determination to use military force if necessary forced South Carolina to retreat. Andrew Jackson also vetoed the renewal of the charter for the Second Bank of the United States. He believed that his reelection was a mandate from the people to break the power of the Second Bank of the United States. To accomplish this, Jackson decided to withdraw government money from the bank to pay current expenses and...