This week in History, we learned about Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. Our job was to determine whether or not Andrew Jackson really was “the people’s president”. To determine this, my group was assigned to analyze sources about Indian Removal. In 1830, Jackson proposed the Indian Removal Act to Congress, and eventually the Indians were forced to leave their homes and move to present day Oklahoma. Jackson wanted the Indians to move because he wanted to create more room for the European settlers. In this situation, Jackson supported everyone but the Indians. Jackson also didn't approve of the concentration of rich people running the National Bank, so he vetoed the National Bank’s efforts to continue and shut them down. Jackson did this to support the middle and lower economic classes. He wanted the poor to be able to have more say in how loans were given out by the government. This shows that Jackson supported the common man. Although Jackson supported the common man, he also created the spoils system which rewarded his supporters with government jobs. This kept President Jackson in power and kept those who supported him close by. But his supporters took advantage of their jobs sometimes. In this instance, Jackson is also the people’s president for giving his people jobs. Overall, Jackson’s reputation as the people’s president is deserved, although I am not personally a fan of the spoils system because the system wasn't based on merit. Below is my group’s project about Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act.
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