Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the USA, was a legendary figure in the American history, because a large number of fundamental reforms were initiated by him in order to build a stronger republican state. Nevertheless, his methods and ideas were very controversial and thus there are many reasons to believe that Jacksonian democracy was sometimes autocratic and far from the democratic principles. His decisions concerning the Native Americans and the slaves, the patronage system and the new election system were aimed at the redistribution and concentration of power. However, such decisions contributed to the buildup of the political system that became the basis of the contemporary USA.
Firstly, Andrew Jackson was a very conservative man that did not want to grant the human and civil rights to the non-white people. In the 1830s several Indian tribes were made to leave their homelands and move to the other states. Andrew Jackson was one of the key supporters of the removal of Indians even though thousands of people suffered from it. “We see nothing but ruin before us”, was the reaction of one of the members of the Cherokee tribe that moved from Georgia to the Indian Territory, now Oklahoma (Doc K). Those who did not want to travel on their own were forced to go to the special camps and then they were transported by means of trains or boats to their new homeland. Very often transportation occurred in winter and many people lost their lives on the Trail of Tears, a route from the Southern states to the Indian Territory (Doc M). President Jackson did not care about the lives of the Native Americans just as about the lives of the black people. For example, in 1794 he had less than 30 slaves, but after he had become President he owned 135-140 slaves (Doc O).
Secondly, he upgraded the patronage system so that there were more of his supporters among the civil servants. His idea was that the civil servants had to be rotated just as the politicians every four-six years. In his opinion, such a system would limit the corruption and make the civil servants more responsible for their work and “give healthful action to the system. . .” (Doc H). However, sometimes the rotations were ineffective. For example, Andrew Jackson appointed Samuel Swartwout to be collector of the Port of New York. After some time Swartwout embezzled more than $1 million. It was one of the largest scandals in the USA and the opponents laughed of Jackson who introduced the idea of rotation (Doc I).
Finally, he was able to change the election system and later received support of the majority of voters. He grabbed the power because in most of the states the presidential electors were elected by the people and not by the legislature like before (Doc A). His idea was to transfer the power from the political elites to the people and when he put this idea in practice, he used a new system for his benefit. Bailey and Kennedy described Jackson’s victory in 1828 as “a revolution, achieved by ballots instead of bullets” (Doc B). As the result, Jackson and his supporters ruled the country for 8 years.
In conclusion, Jackson’s contribution to the development of the American democracy cannot be underestimated. However, one should understand that Jackson’s decisions were well-thought and targeted against the numerous political opponents. In particular, he implemented very undemocratic policies targeted against the people of other races. Moreover, he made the people with the opposite views resign from the administrative positions. Finally, he and his supporters used the new election system in order to obtain and retain the power. Therefore, Jacksonian democracy was a very important period in the history of the USA and had very clear weaknesses and strengths.
Works Cited
Bailey, T., Kennedy, D. The American Pageant. Lexington, MA: DC. 1994. Web. 2 April
2016 (Doc B)
“Jackson Announces his Policy of Rotation in Office, 1829”. A Compilation of the Messages
and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. III, Bureau of National Literature, p. 1005, 1011-
1012. 1897. Web. 2 April 2016 (Doc H)
Burnett, J. “Two accounts of life on the trail of tears”. Cherokee Messenger. n.d. Web. 2
April 2016 (Doc M)
“Memorial of the Cherokee Nation”. Niles Weekly Register. August 21, 1830. Web. 2 April
2016 (Doc K)
“Methods of Electing Presidential Electors: 1816 to 1836”. Historical Statistics of the United
States, Part 2.1975. Web. 2 April 2016 (Doc A)
Rimini, R. The Life of Andrew Jackson. Harper and Row. 1988. Web. 2 April 2016 (Doc O, Doc I)
