The Jacksonian Democracy was a period of American history that occurred roughly from the election of President Andrew Jackson in the late 1820’s all the way to the 1850’s. During this time many positive and negative things occurred during the United States history. A common argument that occurs even to this day from this time period is, was President Andrew Jackson a true American hero, or a true American Villain? Andrew Jackson is indeed not a true American Hero, but is a Villain. During his presidential term Jackson did an extreme amount of harm to the United States rather than good. To name a few of his biggest blunders would first be the removal of the indians and the destruction of the US Bank system putting …show more content…
The Indian Removal act was signed by President Andrew Jackson on the day of May 28, 1830. The act authorized the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for the Indian lands that were within the existing state borders. Although a few of the tribes forced to move went peacefully, majority resisted the relocation policy, but were forcibly removed by the United States Government. Five of the most major tribes that were affected were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and the Seminole. This occurred during the fall and winter of 1838 and 1839. The indians were not allowed time to gather their things, and during this transportation of the Indians to western lands, over 4,000 Cherokee people had died due to cold, hunger and disease. This long march was later known to be called the Trail of …show more content…
In August of 1833; he began to present state bank notes for redemption, he called in loans, and generally contracting credit. He believed that a financial crisis would make the need for a central bank more important. This would lead to a immense support for a charter renewal in 1836. This campaign didn 't have as much of an effect as Biddle had hopes, and is said to have only heightened the dangers of a central bank. Then in 1836 Martin Van Buren was elected and had adapted the same financial policies as the president before him Andrew Jackson had. So he went along with the idea of not wanting to recharter The Second Bank of the United States, and the federal deposits were not returned to the Second Bank, and the charter expired in 1836. Withdrawal of federal funds strained the pet banks and they were then, forced to call in loans. Jackson then issued a “specie circular” which required payment for public land sales to be paid in gold, silver, or currency backed by them because he feared rampant speculation. The result of this was a squeezing of of the US money supply and eventually lead to the financial panic making banks banks collapsing, businesses failing, prices declining and thousands of workers losing their jobs. This was the worst economic depression that the United States had ever known. This was all due to President