Andrew Jackson's Presidency(1990 DBQ)

4 Pages 961 Words

In the 1820's and 1830's, President Andrew Jackson and the Jacksonian Democrats brought forth the idea that they were guardians of the Constitution and many aspects of the U.S. government. The Democrats had tried to protect what the thought was the right way to guard the Constitution, political democracy, individual liberty, and an equality of economic opportunity. But in the world of democracy, everyone has a different view. Some people supported Jackson’s efforts to preserve their views and beliefs, and other did not. President Jackson and the Jacksonian Democrats proved that they wanted to be guardians of the government, but in reality, showed short in key areas.

President Jackson did not uphold the Constitution very well. He went against what the Supreme Court said was unconstitutional and force the Cherokee Nation out of their homeland(Doc g). Going against what the Supreme Court gave a message that President Jackson was prepared to do what he wanted to do, whether it was proven wrong or not.

President Jackson also vetoed the U.S. Bank charter which was deemed constitutional in the McCulloch v. Maryland hearing of 1819. President Jackson thought that the bank was a monopoly and thought that the shareholders of the bank used the bank the benefit themselves instead of the nation. This decision angered many people, and in Daniel Webster’s reply to President Jackson’s veto(Doc. C), Webster states “It manifestly seeks to inflame the poor against the rich; it wantonly attacks whole classes of people, for the purpose of turning against them the prejudices and the resentment of other classes.” Webster thought that Jackson’s veto was a way to get the economic classes to clash together. He blames Jackson that he is trying to separate the country. Webster also states that the veto “extends the grasp of executive pretension over every power of the government.”, implying that Jackson thinks that he can ove...