“The Reign of King Andrew”

President Andrew Jackson might have lived a common man’s youth, but he eventually

transformed his life of poverty into that of a king. As Jackson grew older he became a powerful

ambitious man and was ready to assert his influence throughout his presidency. Jackson left a

memorable legacy with his days in office that included forceful removal of Native Americans,

setting off the Spoils System into the American Government, and turning the presidential veto

into an executive weapon; making use of it more than any other president before him.

One of the most controversial events that occurred during Jackson’s presidency was the

“Trail of Tears”. Jackson, a strong oppose of Native American rights, issued the “Indian

Removal Act” which ordered for Indian relocation from their homeland to west of the

Mississippi River; this relocation was meant to be voluntary, but it was not. In 1832, the

Supreme Court mandated that the Cherokee had rights on their own land and did not need to

abide by Georgia’s claims for their land. Jackson ignored the ruling and forced the Cherokee

along with many other tribes to go relocate west of the Mississippi. Jackson’s decision to do this

was considered extremely unconstitutional by many people outside of the Democratic-

Republicans.

President Jackson was heavily against the Bank of the United States. It had the most

power out of any bank in America and Jackson did not agree with this monopolistic kind of

banking. The National Bank controlled most of the country’s gold and silver. Jackson had a

fierce rivalry with the president of the bank, Nicholas Biddle. The fighting between Jackson and

Biddle began in 1832, when Henry Clay and Daniel Webster presented a bill requesting a re-

charter of the National Bank to