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Student Text and Activity Packet:- Andrew Jackson: A Man of the People?

- Jackson and His Indian Policy

- The Nullification Crisis: A Precursor to Civil War?

- Jackson and the Bank of the United States: FIGHT!

Name ______________________________________________________________ Period ________

© Mr. Educator, 2013


Andrew Jackson:

A Man of the People?

- An Introduction -

Page 1

Andrew Jackson – A Man of the People? Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States, is perhaps more linked to today than most of the other Presidents of the early nineteenth century. In the wake of the contested election of 2000 and amid growing complaints of the "dirtiness" of politics, we might do well to look back to Jackson's dirty and hotly contested race for the Presidency in 1824, in which he won the popular vote but subsequently lost the Presidency after the election was thrown into the House of Representatives. Throughout his life, Jackson was criticized for his steadfast opinions and tyrannical manner, but he nonetheless proved himself a savvy and thoughtful politician. It was only after he had fully considered his options that he made a decision. Once that decision had been made, however, he pursued it relentlessly, gradually grinding away at his opponents until he got what he needed. In doing so, he helped modernize the nation and forever define his term of office as The Age of Jackson. Andrew Jackson, son of Irish immigrants, Andrew and Elizabeth Jackson, was born in the backwoods of the Carolinas–what was then considered the frontier of America. His father died shortly before Andrew's birth and his mother tried to raise him to be educated. Jackson resisted, and without a father figure, he became a wild young boy who liked to bully his peers. The Revolutionary War affected the teenage Jackson in an intensely personal way, leaving him forever bitter towards the British. When the war came to his area, his oldest brother, Hugh, volunteered to fight and died soon thereafter during the Battle of Stono Ferry. Jackson worked as an errand boy for the commander of the local patriot regiment, but nothing could have prepared him for being taken captive by British troops along with his other brother, Robert. After both were severely wounded by the sword of a British officer, Jackson and his brother were taken to a prisoner-of-war camp where they contracted smallpox. This stint as a captive would cost Jackson's brother his life. Jackson's only remaining relative, his mother, died of cholera while helping soldiers in Charleston. Thus, when the war ended, it left Jackson orphaned and alone. As Jackson grew older, he became engaged in a wild lifestyle of betting, horseracing and partying before eventually settling on law for a career. He traveled west into the new Tennessee territory. After establishing himself as an able politician there, he rose quickly through the political ranks. He soon found himself engaged in military affairs, which fit him well, since he was sometimes a violent man. Throughout his time in Tennessee, he engaged in various duels when he felt someone had threatened his honor–even killing a man once. When the War of 1812 began, Jackson was ordered to help save the city of New Orleans from attack. His daring defense of the city exacted massive casualties on the British and made him a national hero. However, the tyrannical manner in which he led the defense angered many citizens and led a New Orleans court to fine him $1,000 for contempt. The elections of 1824 and 1828 stand as some of the dirtiest campaigns ever waged for the Presidency. Jackson won the popular vote handily in 1824, but, after failing to win a majority of the electoral vote, lost the Presidency in a runoff in the House of Representatives. Jackson quickly turned his attention to 1828 and won a solid victory in that year. Jackson's Presidency was marked by four major issues: The Second Bank of the United States, the Tariff of 1828, the Nullification Crisis, and Indian Removal. Jackson spent much of his eight years as President trying to destroy the national Bank. Jackson felt that the Bank was a tool used by the wealthy to promote rich interests and put the average American at a disadvantage. Jackson went to great lengths to destroy the Bank, a crusade that almost cost him the presidency in 1834. Nonetheless, by 1837, he had killed the Bank. As part of his lifelong distrust of credit, he gave the United States its first economic surplus. Jackson left office in 1839 wildly popular. His appeal rose from his backwoods past: he appeared to be an "everyman" who had risen to the nation's highest office. Jackson was a “man of the people,” and he proved that no matter how gloomy someone’s past may be, he can overcome anything if he puts his mind to it.

© Mr. Educator, 2013Page 2


Imagine you are Andrew Jackson and you are writing an entry into your diary the day after the Election of 1824. Be detailed & specific!

The Election of 1824:

What is Jacksonian Democracy?

Imagine you are Andrew Jackson and you are writing an entry into your diary the day after your inauguration day. Be detailed & specific!

What is the Spoils System? Also, what are your views on this?

Page 3You may have to finish these at the end of class if we have time.


Jackson’s

Indian

Policy

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Image 1 Prediction:

Image 2 Prediction:

Image 3 Prediction:

Image 4 Prediction:


Jackson’s Indian

Policy

Page 5

Jackson’s

Indian

Policy

President Andrew Jackson had little sympathy for Native Americans. In fact, the natives called him “sharp knife” from his time as a frontier settler and Indian fighter. During his Presidency, his attitude toward the natives would become national policy. He believed, as many settlers of this time did, that forcibly removing the Indians from the East was in everyone’s best interest.

Ever since colonial days whites and natives had come into conflict. After the colonies reached their independence, they tried to settle disputes over boundaries and land use with treaties. Typically, treaties drew boundaries to divide up land and included “promises” that Indian land would not be touched by the United States. However, despite these treaties, Native Americans continued to be pushed off their land.

By the time Jackson took over as President, only 125,000 natives still lived east of the Mississippi River. Disease and warfare had greatly reduced the number of Indians. Others had sold their land for mere pennies an acre and peacefully moved across the Mississippi; however, others were not so willing. Jackson was determined to remove the remaining Indians to a new “Indian Territory” in the West.

Since the northeastern United States was settled first, tribes in this area started to relocate as early as 1620. By Jackson’s presidency, most of the eastern Indians lived in the South. They belonged to five tribes. These tribes included the Seminole, Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw. Hoping to remain in their homelands, these Indians had adopted many white

ways of life. Most natives had given up hunting for farming, and many had learned to read and write. These tribes saw the only way to stay in their lands was to assimilate, or to absorb completely, into another culture. The Cherokee even had their own written language, a newspaper, and a constitution that was modeled after the U.S. Constitution.

The whites called these five tribes the “Five Civilized Tribes”; it has been well documented that whites saw these natives as peace-seeking, sharing, and friendly. However, while these tribes hoped to live in peace with their neighbors, whites did not share this goal. As wealthy planters and slave-owners acquired more land westward, this placed increased pressure on Congress to remove the Indians. Eventually, they decided the Indians had to go.

The Indian Removal Act:

Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830 with the full support of President Jackson. This law allowed Jackson to make treaties with the natives, swapping out their land in the East for new land in the West. However, an 1831 Supreme Court ruling stated that the Indians had a right to their land and, therefore, did not have to relocate. Jackson furiously disagreed. Jackson used his power as Commander in Chief of the military to meet any group who refused to move voluntarily. Most times this ended tragically.

This was true of the Sac and Fox tribes in Illinois. Led by a chief named Black Hawk, the Sac and Fox fought removal for two years. Black Hawk’s War ended in 1832 with the slaughter of most of his tribesmen. As he was hauled away in chains, the chief told his captors:

“Black Hawk is an Indian. He has done nothing for which an Indian ought to be ashamed. He has fought for his countrymen, the squaws (women) and papooses (young children), against white men who came, year after year, to cheat them of and take away their land. You know the cause of our making war. It is known to all white men. They ought to be ashamed of it.”

The Trail of Tears:

As Black Hawk said, many whites were ashamed. Many Americans flooded Washington D.C. with protests over their treatment of Indians. Still, the work of Indian Removal continued. In 1836, thousands of Creeks who refused to leave Alabama were rounded up and marched off in handcuffs. Just two years later, under President Martin Van Buren, more than 17,000 Cherokee were dragged from their homes in Georgia and herded west by federal troops. Four thousand died along their long walk to Indian Territory. Those who survived remembered that terrible journey as the “Trail of Tears.” One soldier who forced the Cherokee to leave their homelands called the job the “cruelest work I ever knew.”

Led by a young chief named Osceola, the Seminoles of Florida resisted removal for ten years. Their struggle was the most costly of all the Indian wars. Many Seminoles fled to Indian Territory, but some went into hiding and remained in their lands. Their descendants still live in the state today.

Jackson was proud of having solved the Indian problem when he left office. Despite the horrors that he put onto families, and the devastation his push for removal caused, he was confident he would be remembered as a national hero. What do you think?


Name _______________________________________________________________________________ Period_______

Define:

Indian Territory - _____________________________

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“Five Civilized Tribes” - _______________________

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Indian Removal Act - _________________________

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Trail of Tears - _______________________________

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Summarize:Write a summary of this section that uses the following FIVE terms:

Andrew Jackson, Black Hawk, Cherokee, Supreme Court, and Seminole.

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Caption:

In the box below, create a “scene” that shows the effects of Jackson’s Indian Policy:


Jackson’s Indian Policy


The Nullification Crisis: A Precursor to Civil War?


Define:

Tariff:

Nullify:

Secede:

State’s Rights Theory:

Compromise:

Page 9




In 1828, Congress passed a law that raised tariffs. A tariff is an

additional tax paid on imported goods. This meant that any product

imported to the United States from foreign lands had to incur an

additional “tax.” The goal was to encourage growth of manufacturing.

A higher tariff would make foreign goods more expensive, thereby

encouraging people to buy the cheaper, American-made goods.

Most manufacturing was done in the northern states, since that is where the first factories were built. Since this new tariff would

encourage people to buy their products, northerners were largely in favor of this move by Congress. However, southerners

opposed the tariff. Since they relied heavily on foreign imports, they would see the price they paid on goods increase. Too,

they argued that high tariffs discouraged trade in general. What if nations who imported large quantities of southern cotton

imposed their own tariff to make up for lost revenue in the United States? Southerns feared their own cotton sales would

decrease. Lastly, many in the south cried that this law clearly favored one region – the North – and that was unconstitutional!

John C. Calhoun, a life-long South Carolinian and President

Jackson’s Vice President, split from the President and called

for southern states to declare the new tariff “null and

void,” or illegal and not to be honored.

President Jackson understood the concerns of the south –

so in 1832 he made a move to appease them: he signed a

new law that lowered tariffs. However, southerners were

still not pleased. In fact, Calhoun led South Carolina’s fight

to nullify both the 1828 and 1832 tariff laws. The power for

states to reject federal laws was called “nullification.”

But, the fight for nullification was nothing new! Virginia and Kentucky had tried

to reject federal law before, but this time it was different. South Carolina went

one step further – they threatened to secede, or to withdraw from an

organization (in this case, the United States) – if the federal government tried to

enforce the unpopular tariff laws.

“If even one drop of blood is shed in defiance of the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man I see from the first tree I can find.”

jackson was furious with the southern attitude. “If one drop of blood be shed in defiance of the laws of the

United States, I will hang the first man I see from the first tree I can find,” Jackson raged. Jackson even

went so far as to tell Congress to pass the “Force Bill,” which would allow the President to use the federal

army to collect tariffs if necessary. To calm the situation, however, Congress passed another bill to lower

tariffs again. Eventually, South Carolina (and the rest of the South) backed down and the crisis came to an

end. However, this was only a small taste of what was to come between the North and the South.

Page 10

Northern Southern

Thoughts on Tariffs...

Letters to President Jackson...In 5-7 sentences, write a letter to President Jackson from the proper perspective giving him advice on this pressing issue!

Concerns from a Northerner... Worries from a Southerner...



Define:

Tariff - ________________________________________

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Unconstitutional - ______________________________

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Nullification - ___________________________________

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Secede - ________________________________________

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Andrew Jackson, John Calhoun, South Carolina, Northerners, Force Bill

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Caption:

In the box below, create a “scene” that shows the effects of Jackson’s tariff of 1828:


Name _______________________________________________________________________________ Period_______

The Nullification Crisis


The

Nul

lifi

cati

on C

risi

s...

in a

ctio

n!


Jackson and the Bank of the United States:

FIGHT!

Page 14


When asked what is most likely to be remembered from his two terms as President,

Andrew Jackson replied,

"I killed the Bank."Make a prediction - what do you think Jackson meant by

this? Do you think he was proud of this or was he ashamed? Would he be ‘for’ or ‘against’ a bank? Do you think he held a

strict or a loose interpretation of the Constitution?____________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Page 15

Make a prediction as to what is going on in this picture: What is Jackson doing? Who do you think the snake’s heads represent? Who are the other people in the picture? Why is Jackson doing what he is doing?

Other #1 Other #2

Get up and talk to two people - summarize what their predictions are!


Jackson & the Bank of the United States:

FIGHT!Jackson believed strongly that he was a champion of the people - thathe stood up for them, represented them, and would never ignore them. He never felt more convinced of this than with his fight against the Bank of the United States.

America’s first president, George Washington, and his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, fought to extend the Constitutional right of the country to own and operate a national banking system. They argued that the United States needed a place to house its money and keep it secure. Jackson, however, disagreed. He believed the national bank had a monopoly on the federal deposits. Jackson asked, and many Americans agreed, “Why can’t federal money go to other banks, ones with better service, which provide superior quality?”

Jackson argued long and hard that the Bank only benefited the wealthiest citizens of the East. He felt the powerful Bank prevented other entrepreneurs from offering similar services in not only the East, but in the South and West as well. Jackson also had a strong distrust of the Bank’s president, Nicholas Biddle. Biddle was a wealthy man, highly educated, and had traveled to many places around the world that Jackson could only dream of. In short, he was everything Jackson wasn’t.

In 1832, Jackson saw an # # opportunity to “slay the monster” as # he called it. The Bank’s charter was # set to expire soon and Jackson prepared to “fight for people” yet again. He likely would have waited until 1836, when the charter officially expired, but Henry Clay, representative from Kentucky, pushed legislation through Congress that would extend the charter four years early. Jackson had to act fast.

Henry Clay had aspirations to run against Andrew Jackson for President in the next election, and he thought he had an opportunity to take an early “dig” at him. Clay thought that whether the President vetoed the bill or signed it into law he would take a political advantage. If Jackson signed the bill, farmers who shared his dislike of the banks would vote against him. At the same time, if he vetoed the charter, he would lose votes from businessmen who depended on the banks for loans. Clay forgot one important fact - there were far more poor farmers than rich bankers and businessmen.

Jackson vetoed the bill. Even though the Supreme Court had ruled the bank constitutional, Jackson declared otherwise. He proclaimed its sole purpose was the “make the rich, richer.” The voters agreed with Jackson when he was reelected by a large majority in 1832. Now, it was just a matter of time before the bank’s charter would expire and the bank would be eliminated.

However, instead of “waiting it out” Jackson decided to starve the bank to death. Since banks can only stay in business if they have money to give, Jackson ordered his Secretary of the Treasury to remove all federal deposits and place them in state banks. Now, the bank had no money to operate. Business owners pleaded with Jackson to not kill the Bank - but he argued it was a victory for “economic democracy.”

In this cartoon of the times, Jackson is battling the many-headed “Bank Snake” with a “veto stick.” Nicholas Biddle, Bank President, is in the center. The many heads of the snake represent the 24 state directors of the Bank.


charter - a written document giving an individual or a business permission to do something

monopoly - the exclusive possession or control of the supply in a service.

Name _____________________________________________________________________________ Period_______

Define:

monopoly - _____________________________________

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entrepreneurs - ________________________________

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charter - _______________________________________

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starve - ________________________________________

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Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Biddle, vetoed, Henry Clay, monopoly

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Caption:

In the box below, create a “scene” that shows the effects of Jackson’s war with the bank:


Jackson and the Bank

Jackson’s Supporters (and Naysayers)

If you were a Southerner, you would view Jackson as ________________________________ in regard to his Indian Removal Policy because:

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If you were a Cherokee, you would view Jackson as ________________________________ in regard to his Indian Removal Policy because:

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If you were a Northerner, you would view Jackson as ________________________________ in regard to his tariff in 1828 because:

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If you were a Southerner, you would view Jackson as ________________________________ in regard to his tariff in 1828 because:

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If you were a farmer, you would view Jackson as ________________________________ in regard to his stance on the national bank because:

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If you were a banker, you would view Jackson as _______________________________ in regard to his stance on the national bank because:

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