Was Andrew Jackson Truly Transformative President?

Andrew Jackson was born in 1876, amid humble surroundings. Although his formal education during his formative years could be described as sparse, in his teens Jackson was a reader of law long enough to become a member of the bar. He went on to be the first member elected to the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee, a Major General in the War of 1812, and finally the first man elected President to claim Tennessee as his home, having a small plantation (The Hermitage) in the Volunteer State. Jackson’s presidency was the second following end of the Era of Good Feelings, (a time in national politics during which there was virtually only one political party), and was perhaps the most rancorous in the young nation’s history up to that time. Jackson would be a truly transformative President in many respects: he wholly ignored a …show more content…
But it is clear from his writings that Jackson viewed it, in part, as a necessary evil to ensure the continued existence of the Cherokees. In Georgia they enjoyed immunity from state law and held vast tracts of fertile land; their neighbors were jealous of both. Jackson himself had seen this dynamic play out more than once, and always it was the Indians that lost and the whites that won. In a letter extolling the benefits of relocation for the Indians he wrote, “it puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the general and state governments on account of the Indian.” Of course, Jackson’s reasons weren’t altogether altruistic, but that mattered little. They were popular at the time, and Jackson was a popular President. Moreover, although the Supreme Court had ruled, it depended on the Army, commanded by the President, to enforce its ruling, and as Jackson succinctly put it, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce