How Did Andrew Jackson Abuse His Power

Improved Essays
Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830
Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830 could be viewed as the start of racial tension between two different cultures. Jackson’s hatred was based on what he wanted and his non-stop effort to obtain Indian land at no cost. Indian suffrage and loss would come at a high cost. This in turn led to the removal called the Trail of Tears, where Indian were forced to move hundreds of miles away from their home land and their lives were lost at a high rate.
In today’s times, some Indians still hold a powerful grudge toward Andrew Jackson. There are many Indians who refuse to carry a twenty dollar bill because it bears Andrew Jackson’s picture. Andrew Jackson’s abuse of power is still seen in today’s society,
…show more content…
With the threat of physical violence, the President insisted the Cherokees would stay away. Ross insisted these papers were nothing more than false. Jackson left office, but his successor Martin Van Buren ordered the removal to begin. Militiamen began forcing Cherokees from the homes and land by using intimidation of guns and rifles, rounding up Cherokee people into prison stockades thus became the beginning of the Trail of Tears.
Why was Andrew Jackson allowed to abuse his power? Is this still seen in today’s times?
Andrew Jackson was able to abuse his power because he was the President of the United States. With the knowledge of gold on Indian land, this was enough to do whatever he needed to obtain the land for his own purpose. Jackson took advantage of the Cherokee people knowing that they were of a peaceful nature.
Allowing all of this unjust to come to pass, Jackson had no remorse or inclination to correct the wrong he had done to the Cherokee people. Abuse of his power has been seen in past and is remembered anytime there is any discussion about the Trail of Tears. The abuse of power has also been seen in today’s political expenditures as

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    “Inskeep, Steve. Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab. Penguin Group USA, 2016” In Jacksonland by Steve Inskeep talks about the different states and different territories that were divided by the “white men “and American Indians own concepts of democracy. Inskeep interlaces together the stories of Andrew Jackson a general, president and author of the Indian removal and John Ross chief of the Cherokee.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jon Meacham, a three-time New York best seller, a native of Nashville, and a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for American Lion, Meacham is an accomplished writer. He received a degree in English literature and had been editor for numerous organizations. While his notorieties should be praised, his background must be noted that he did not earn a degree in History. His writing was vivid and engaging; it was easy to get engrossed by his book. While the literature was impeccable, it should still be noted the historiography is slightly lacking.…

    • 1789 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A cherokee Indian from the “Memorial of the Cherokee Nation,” describes the western land as badly supplied with food and water, unfamiliar cultures, and “wish to die” on this soil (Doc. K). Jackson forced the Indians to surrender their land and failed to provide any support in terms of food and other necessities for their westward migration. Because of the Indian’s utmost disenchantment, it is possible that they took their case to the Supreme Court. However, Jackson could have ignored that decision since he already had a majority vote in Congress to be condemned and impeached. Conjointly, Native Americans were gathered into similar places in the west.…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Was Andrew Jackson a “good” president? The presidency of Andrew Jackson has sparked controversy as to whether or not he really was the patriotic war-hero many have made him out to be. Despite the speculation of Jackson’s success as president, it can be agreed upon that Andrew Jackson made great strides for the United States during his imperfect presidency. Andrew Jackson accomplished much during the two terms he served as president. One notable feat of Jackson was that he was able to pay off the entirety of the national debt shortly after being elected.…

    • 1280 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Democracy is a government form created and run by the peoples in which occupy the area being governed. A government run by the people includes the idea that decisions are made based on the opinion of the majority. Democracy gives the people choice. The citizens have the opportunity to make choices on how their lives are run and how much involvement the government has in their their everyday life. Due to the fact that Andrew Jackson was elected through the utilization of democracy, he used his presidency to further democratize America through bettering the lives of the majority.…

    • 1563 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I have selected President Andrew Jackson as my topic for a research paper that will satisfy the requirements of my Capstone project, and have elected to title it “Jackson: An Uncommon, Common Man.” President Jackson was a fascinating man, a sparsely educated man who was nevertheless admitted to the bar after being a “reader of law” for two years (just like another President that would follow less than two score years later.) Jackson has been called the first “modern President” in that unlike his predecessors he did not defer to Congress on policy matters, but rather saw himself as a champion of the people (people, in that day, meaning land-owning white males, although that was not Jackson’s fault) who stood against cronyism and elitists…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died on this forced march, which became known as “the trail of tears” the train of tears was horrid. “1 out of out of 8 would die” (“Indian removal act”). Andrew Jackson was risking others lives for his own good, he was known by the native Americans as sharp knife. When Andrew Jackson was taken into account that he was president it seems that known one had a clue that Andrew Jackson could and has done many horrendously bad things in his early years of presidency he has lead these native Americans into a new non-native land and not only that, He is responsible for the many deaths along the way. Andrew Jackson has know clue and won't still to this day that many people do not respect…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most everyone has heard or learned about the Indian removal act and probably wondered how that was made and why it wasn 't vetoed or ruled unconstitutional. The Indian removal act was a law that was passed that allowed the president to make treaties with the native americans and try to offer them money and land somewhere else for there land. Andrew jackson got a lot of the tribes to sign the treaties but the ones that did not were pushed out by force anyway. This led to the Trail of tears which was when Andrew Jackson pushed out all of the Cherokee Nation with force and caused over 4000 native americans to lose their lives. The checks and balances system did not work as planned during this time the government was controlled by one party and…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Territorial Expansion DBQ

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages

    During the harsh winter, the Cherokee walked through four different states (Doc D) to reach the American Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. This event illustrates another president creating his own policy as he disregards the government’s founding laws. Even though Jackson’s decision was mostly disliked, followers supported him by stating “the Cherokees have resisted, and successfully too, every effort to meliorate [improve] their situation, or to introduce among them the most common arts of life” (Doc C). The Indians “moral and their intellectual condition have been equally stationary” and…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There were a few events that led to the Trail of Tears. Native Americans fought alongside the British in both the French/ Indian war and the Revolutionary war. When the Americans won the war they confiscated some of the Native American’s land. Before the Indian Removal Act, the Cherokee Tribe was recognized by the Government as their own nation. Gold was another reason that Americans were so eager to get them off their land.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    As we have previously seen how racial, class, and gender inequality impacted the development of the North American colonies and the early United States it also impacted the expansion as well. Westward expansion began 1783 and by about 1853 the United States almost tripled in size. The western part of the country in the early 1800’s wasn’t well populated at the time. Expansion took place in the east and moved westward. Therefore, we have the start to westward expansion.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Robert V Remini Summary

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Remini says Jackson felt that the only solution for both the Unites States and the Native tribes was that they had to be removed. This attitude towards the Indians followed him into the White house when he was elected President in 1828. Of all the things Jackson accomplished during his presidency, his Indian Removal Act was most important. Jackson finally accomplished his long thought solution to the Indian problem. Today’s historians see this a cruel act against his seemingly long term enemy.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Trail Of Tears Essay

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Trail of Tears was a dark turn in Native American history, which also affected Mississippi during Andrew Jackson’s presidency. Jackson’s Indian Removal Act forced out the Native Americans out of their land by the federal government and walk thousands of miles to designated territories across the Mississippi river. This was caused by white America’s urge to expand and grow cotton in the southern states. Since majority of the states was owned by the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Creek tribes Almost 125,000 Indians preoccupied the states of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida during the 1830s since the time of their ancestors. This issue boiled over when white settlers were infuriated by the population of Native…

    • 1082 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    From George Washington to John Quincy Adams, the president had always been an aristocrat, until Jackson. Jackson was a military hero from Tennessee known for his rough and tumble personality. He became notorious for hanging two British officials in the Seminole War against the Secretary of War’s commands. His truly American personality earned him the name of the “people’s president”. He won the 1828 election by a landslide.…

    • 1664 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    On May 28, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The law authorized Andrew Jackson to negotiate with Indians for their removal to federal land west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their homelands. Andrew Jackson was able to convince the American people that Indians could not coexist peacefully with them. He argued that the Indians were uncivilized and needed to be guarded from their own savage ways. As a result of his actions, thousands of Indians were forcibly ripped from their homes and onto a journey to a unknown territory, that was not as fertile as their home grounds.…

    • 2378 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays