...The Trail of Tears In the early 1800’s, The United States was a young, but ambitious nation. Despite being a more primitive period in time, there was still the modern day lust for land and wealth. Native Americans occupied the land early Americans desired. In spite of attempts by the Native Americans to acclimate to American society, they were still forced from their tribal lands. Their treacherous journey west became known as The Trail of Tears. This forced mass exodus has left a blemish on the legacies of both President Andrew Jackson and America. The Trail of Tears was the path the Native Americans were forced to take from the southeastern United States to west of the Mississippi River. The entire length of this forced journey was...
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...Andrew Jackson was the first president to be born in a log cabin. He was not New England wealthy elite, like his opponent John Quincy Adams. If the electors were appointed by the legislature, he did not have a chance of becoming president. When he ran for president in 1828, the land ownership requirements were taken away for the first time, giving all white adult males the chance to vote. In the words of Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy, “the election was a “revolution” comparable to that of 1800.” (Changes in elections- document 2) The election of 1828 was a more democratic election, therefore electing a more democratic president. Due to the new electoral system, Jackson invented the Spoils System to ‘thank’ his supporters. Being a war hero, Jackson thought that To the Victors belong the Spoils. The ‘spoils’ were not just money though. Jackson rewarded his supporters with government jobs, saying “I submit, therefore, to you consideration whether the efficiency of the government would not be promoted … and integrity better secured by a general extension of the law which limits appointments to four years.” (Spoils System document 2)...
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...Andrew Jackson: Evil Tyrant or a Hero for the Common Man? Name: _________________________________________________________ Class: ________________ Guiding Question: Our study of Jackson’s presidency will be focused on answering the question: Was Andrew Jackson an evil tyrant who abused presidential power, ruthlessly killed Native Americans and defied the Supreme Court; or was he a proud hero of the common man who sought to bring an end to the power of the wealthy upper class in government? Assignments for the week: You are responsible for reading all of Chapter 12 in the textbook (p. 353-371) by the end of the week. You are also responsible for reviewing this website as homework: http://www.pbs.org/kcet/andrewjackson The Life of Andrew Jackson Video Questions: 1. What incident early in Jackson’s life made him hate the British? Why? 2. Describe Jackson’s early life and social status. 3. List some words that describe Jackson’s character as a young man. 4. What profession (job) did Jackson pursue when he was 18? 5. What happened in Jackson’s first duel? What did it prove about him? 6. Why was Jackson’s marriage controversial? How did this hurt him later? 7. Describe Jackson’s first attempt at serving as a politician in Washington. 8. What happened in Jackson’s second duel? 9. Why did Jackson earn the nickname “Old Hickory”? 10. What was the “Redstick War”? What role did Andrew Jackson play? 11. What did Andrew Jackson do with a young Native American child captured...
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...There has been much controversy about whether Andrew Jackson should remain on the $20 bill or should be replaced. Andrew Jackson should remain on the $20 bill because of many reasons. He deserves to stay on the $20 bill as a symbol of the Era of the Common Man. Some of these reasons include the destruction of the Second Bank of the United States, the prevention of nullification of South Carolina, and the Indian removal act. The Second Bank of the United States was created in 1816. It was the successor of the First Bank of the United States, and it was “America’s premier financial institution,” as stated in the document ‘Old Slickery. Jackson aimed to destroy the bank because it enabled the rich to get richer, while the poor stays poor. According...
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...The Trail of Tears is a phrase known to define the forceful expulsion of the five civilized Native tribes, away from their traditional lands and forced migration to new Indian ground which was west of the Mississippi River. These tribes were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and the Seminoles. When Andrew Jackson was elected president in the year 1828, the Natives soon became a part of the next racial targeting. President Andrew Jackson encouraged the expulsion; the Congress authorized this removal policy set by the president in 1830. The Indian Removal Act was passed on May 28, 1830; they were involuntarily removed from their homes and forced to move west. The Indian Removal Act was defined as swapping the U.S. western area for the...
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...Andrew Jackson’s likeness is found on the front of every twenty dollar bill, but most Americans know very little about our seventh President. Jackson’s influence on America was both positive and negative. He was a popular military commander and in his political career advocated the expansion of democracy to include the common citizen, not just the elite class. He believed the national bank favored the wealthy and …..Yet, he also oversaw the forced removal of Native Americans from their ancestral lands. Jackson influence can still be felt almost 200 years after his death. Jackson became an American military hero during the War of 1812. As Major General in the US Army, Jackson was responsible for the 7th District, which included Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana territory. In 1814, the British Army had become more aggressive, invading Maine and New England. On August 24, they were successful in capturing and burning Washington. After learning of a British plan to attack through the south, Jackson worked to strengthen his defenses in Mobile and...
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...Compared to the early 1800's standards, President Andrew Jackson did not demonstrate democracy on numerous occasions. He violated the Constitution by overriding the Supreme Court's decision to let Indians remain untouched in their land, and kicked the Indian tribes out of Georgia and sent them on the notorious Trail of Tears (Doc 8). Jackson again failed to practice democracy when he assigned his supporters as the nation's leaders, even though some of them were thieves and hurt the people. He was being nondemocratic and was not thinking of everyone beyond the common white man. Although some would argue that Andrew Jackson was democratic when he paid special attention to the poor, he failed to make both the powerful and the common people...
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...Who really was Andrew Jackson? Most people know that he was a United States president and a war commander. However, he was much more than that. He was just a normal civilian and he didn't come from money or power . He and his brothers were in poverty when they were children. He changed from when he was a kid to an adult. He was the owner of a lot of slaves. Jackson made inadequate choices during his presidency. In my opinion, Andrew Jackson was a far bigger villain than a hero. Andrew Jackson did many things that made him a villain. One of these things is that he was a major slave owner. A hero would not be someone who makes other people be their slaves. Also, owning slaves was Jackson's first major source of wealth. Using other people...
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...The Trail of Tears was a brutal encounter with nature, disease and the American government. It was an unjust tragedy that forced Native Americans to leave their homelands and endure unthinkable misfortune. The events leading up to the actual exile of the Native Americans was felt prior to the Trail of Tears and the repercussions of these events were felt far after the journey. Many unimaginable laws were passed to benefit the colonists in their pursuit of a better life at the expense of the Native Americans. Even though the Trail of Tears occurred in 1838 the events leading up to it started long before that time. 25,000 Native Americans lived on such lands as Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee and included various tribes...
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...Name: University: Course Title: Instructor: Date: Definition of key terms/ people/places/events Andrew Jackson 236- is a former president of the USA who was inaugurated in 1824. He was commonly called “a man of the people” as he advocated reforms to allow more people the right to vote. Anti-masonry 251- this is a movement which emerged in the early 1820s in a bid to resist the Society of Freemasons. Aroostook 255- this is a war between Canadians and Americans which took place at the Aroostook River region in 1838. Bank war 247- this term refers to a war between Andrew Jackson and the Bank of the United States. Jackson wanted to destroy the bank but the bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle was determined to save it. Caroline affair 255- a ship by the name Caroline was ferrying supplies to American rebels across the Niagara River. British authorities however detained the ship and burnt it down. In retaliation, the American authorities arrested a Canadian, Alexander McLeod and charged him with the murder of the American who had died when the ship was burnt down. This is what was referred to as the Caroline Affair. Daniel Webster 242- he was a senator for Massachusetts who challenged Robert Hayne’s call for nullification. Dorr rebellion 237- it was started by Thomas W. Dorr who sought to increase the percentage of voters in Rhode Island. He drafted a constitution which...
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...of support. Andrew Jackson had many defects, but one thing that helped him with the election was his idea that people were more important than the law. Jackson’s claim for the “common man” were supported by his ideas of the veto of the National Bank, his identity as a war hero, and his decision for the trail of tears. The National Bank was an idea with a lot of controversy. Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill from congress to renew the bank because he believed the bank to be unconstitutional and harmful to state rights. In the Panic of 1819, farmers and low class workers were bitter about the national bank since it was low-key noticed that the bank favored the wealthy. Jackson supported the lower class colonists and stated that he would kill the bank before it killed him. Jackson’s move to bring down the bank was rejoiced since it resembled so closely how the colonists supported the East Tea Company. The bank became an issue in the election of 1832, but Jackson easily won with his support of the citizens....
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...Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region on the border of North and South Carolina. Jackson himself maintained he was from South Carolina. The son of Irish immigrants, Jackson received little formal schooling. The British invaded the Carolinas in 1780-1781, and Jackson’s mother and two brothers died during the fight, leaving him with a lifelong anger toward Great Britain. He soon moved west of the Appalachians to the region that would soon become the state of Tennessee, and began working as a prosecuting lawyer in Nashville. He later set up his own private practice and met and married Rachel Donelson Robards. Jackson grew prosperous enough to build a mansion, the Hermitage, near Nashville, and to buy slaves. In 1796,...
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...Understand the circumstances that led to the Louisiana Purchase The circumstances that led to the Louisiana Purchase were the transcontinental railroad that would connect Atlantic to the Pacific that allowed settlers a faster and safer way to California and the West. It led to the now famous Lois and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean. We championed westward expansion and exploration which doubled the size of the landscape. He fanned fundamental disagreement about the spread of slavery to the western territories. Jefferson learned that Spain had transferred title to the entire region to France. Congressmen urged Jefferson to prepare for war against France. When he heard that Napoleon had become impatient for his money, Jefferson rushed the treaty to a Senate eager to ratify it. Know the function of cities in Jeffersonian America The function of cities in Jeffersonian America became important commercial ports. They became deports for international trade. Only about 7 percent of the nation’s population lived in urban centers. Most of these people owed their livelihoods either directly or indirectly to the carrying trade (major port cities of the early republic—New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore). Understand Jefferson’s views on economy and federal debt A top priority of the new government was cutting the national debt. Jefferson also wanted to diminish the activities of the federal government. He urged Congress to repeal all direct taxes, including the tax...
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...Book Review: John Ehle’s Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation The book Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation by John Ehle is a book about the Cherokee Indians and the suffering they endured during the late 1830s. Ehle wrote a book that was more than just a documentation of what happened on the Trail of Tears; he wrote a detailed documentation of Native American history. It centered more around the Cherokees than any other textbook could considering it helped visualize who the Cherokees were as people and not what they went through during such a political time period. Ehle used an abundance of historical facts to convey the Cherokee way of life before and during the Trail of Tears like no author of any textbook ever could. Furthermore, the way Ehle helped the audience envision the Cherokees is what I really enjoyed about this book. Starting out Ehle shapes the Cherokees in a way that helps the audience distinguish that they were not entirely blameless for what actually happened. He helps us take a look into the darker sides of the Cherokee culture we many not read in our textbooks or generally many websites that describe the culture. White Americans are generally blamed for always pushing themselves forward and at the rise to the top stepping over whomever comes their way, but now we see who America was stepping over. Regarding this, Cherokees were not so different from White Americans. Just like many other races the Cherokees held...
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...There are many factors that led to the Trail of Tears. For many years, the English settlers had been trying to convert the Native Americans’ religious beliefs and cultural practices. English settlers wanted the Native Americans to assimilate to the traditional European lifestyle. With the number of immigrants coming to America increasing, more and more land was being taken from the Native Americans. This was particularly an issue in Georgia, where gold had been discovered on Cherokee land. State governments began to help the settlers financially, by pushing the Native Americans out of their land by passing legislation that limited the Native Americans’ rights and sovereignty. The president at the time was Andrew Jackson, who signed the “Indian...
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