Rate Andrew Jackson as President

Rate Andrew Jackson as President


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The Trail of Tears in many respects was inevitable. Nothing could stop the flood of white settlers into the FCT (Five Civilised Tribes) land, and the US Gov wasn't going to try. That said, I wish it was done more... politely.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
I've recently been toying with the idea of having the Tribes sent to Florida. Not that it would be better--still ethnic cleansing and all that--but it would be rather interesting.
 
Many of Jackson's policies are poorly understood by today's contemporary audience. He is known more for his personality and a few controversial actions than for the majority of his solid governing decisions. His two most unpopular decisions (the Indian Removal Act and the Bank War) are perhaps two of his most mischaracterized and understood decisions. The Indian Removal Act was certainly a controversial and unfortunate decision. But Jackson's reasoning for support of it was not due to racism or a genocidal tendency, as some have hinted at. Jackson saw the Act as an opportunity to prevent the mass genocide of the Free Tribes. He believed that if the tribes weren't relocated that the Georgia militia (larger than the United States Army at the time) would overrun the natives and slaughter them. He believed that by moving them peacefully the tribes would be able to safely relocate for the time being. Once again, not the ideal solution by any means, but one that was driven by good intentions.

The issue of the bank is also an area of controversy where Jackson's view has been misconstrued. He was not an economic ignoramus who opposed the banks merely due to a personal distrust of them. The Second Bank of the United States was quite different from the current Federal Reserve System. It was far more centralized, and was involved much more in rampant and often reckless speculation. Yes, it provided credit to many growing industries. But even it that respect its decisions and practices were highly questionable. Most importantly, the Bank had become quite corrupt and entangled with Congress. Nicholas Biddle was particularly invested in the politics of the time. Therefore, when Jackson vetoed the bank's charter, he had many legitimate reasons to do so. The corruption and special privileges that the Bank was so heavily involved in were reaching a head, as was the fact that the Bank concentrated power in the hands of a few. Jackson's veto helped to delay the massive concentration of wealth in the United States that came with industrialization.

Was Jackson a good or bad President? It's a very difficult question to answer, as is the case with any President of a time other than our own. He did quite a bit to shape the nature of the Chief Executive and the nation overall. At the same time, he was unfortunate not to be able to predict the future and know what would happen to the Native Americans and the world's economy as a whole. The way he saw it, he was fighting for the common man against the entrenched special interests that had come to inhabit Washington. Using his own objectives as a criteria, he was a good President.
 
If so, he was a 'good' president, but an absolute failure as a human being.

America was still in economic depression and had the highest level of unimployment recorded to that date when Jackson left office. I'd hardly call that leaving the country in a stronger position than he found it.
 
The only thing Jackson did right was to tell South Carolina in the 1830s to go fuck itself. Otherwise he was one of the worst POTUSes the USA has ever had, and as a general his invasion and occupation of Florida to prevent slaves using it as a base to run away should be seen as one of the vilest acts ever done by a man wearing the stars of a US Army general.
 
The only good thing that Jackson did was try to get rid of the Electoral College.

While I don’t agree with his policy towards Indians it was understandable back then when times were tough.

His paying of the national debt the only achieving event in his administration is forgettable compared to his policy’s bordering on insanity.

He really made a mess in politics that took years to clean up he was a bad president.

No, it really wasn't understandable at all. Starting with the reality that both the Congress and the Court objected to it, the reality is that this is the USA's most infamous version of ethnic cleansing. He wasn't the only POTUS to do this kind of thing, both Lincoln and Andrew Johnson also did this. That, however, is what it was.

Even though now the Trail of Tears seems horrible, it was sadly a popular measure at the time. I also disagree with the handling of the Bank of the United States. I do support his electoral college measures, so that's why I put both bad and good.

That it was popular did not make it constitutional. Nor does it make it a morally correct thing to do. No ethnic cleansing ever is.

The Trail of Tears in many respects was inevitable. Nothing could stop the flood of white settlers into the FCT (Five Civilised Tribes) land, and the US Gov wasn't going to try. That said, I wish it was done more... politely.

There's no polite way to ethnically cleanse an entire people with a mentality that they should cough up their land or else.
 
Many of Jackson's policies are poorly understood by today's contemporary audience. He is known more for his personality and a few controversial actions than for the majority of his solid governing decisions. His two most unpopular decisions (the Indian Removal Act and the Bank War) are perhaps two of his most mischaracterized and understood decisions. The Indian Removal Act was certainly a controversial and unfortunate decision. But Jackson's reasoning for support of it was not due to racism or a genocidal tendency, as some have hinted at. Jackson saw the Act as an opportunity to prevent the mass genocide of the Free Tribes. He believed that if the tribes weren't relocated that the Georgia militia (larger than the United States Army at the time) would overrun the natives and slaughter them. He believed that by moving them peacefully the tribes would be able to safely relocate for the time being. Once again, not the ideal solution by any means, but one that was driven by good intentions.

Except his idea was patent self-serving nonsense. Jackson was an extreme racist and his views in this regard can be and are illustrated in his forcible annexation of Florida, as well as his conduct of wars with the Natives. The idea was unconstitutional, and it continued the pattern that whites who wanted Indian lands could get them by any means, no matter what the reality of the law or morality.
 

Wolfpaw

Banned
Even though now the Trail of Tears seems horrible, it was sadly a popular measure at the time.
Constitutional democracy is designed to protect minorities against what gun-toting majorities find popular. And among the Courts and Congress, the kind of ethnic cleansing proposed by this particularly imperialistic frontiersman left a particularly bad taste in most people's mouths, especially given the glut of territory available to settlers.

Jackson just exploited what Hamilton had originally noted to be the true check the judicial branch; its lack of an army to enforce its will.
 
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