Why Was Andrew Jackson Controversial

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Much like the lives and careers of many politicians today, Andrew Jackson’s presidency was also filled with many political controversies. Actually, even Jackson’s pre-Presidential career contained one of the biggest controversies in American history, the “Corrupt Bargain.” However, he was not the beneficiary in this shady deal. In the 1824 Presidential election, no candidate received a majority of the popular vote or the electoral vote. Jackson had received the highest percentage of the popular vote with forty-three percent, but the winner was still to be chosen by the House of Representatives (Bixby, The "Corrupt Bargain"). Then, supposedly in return for a Cabinet position, Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, threw his support to John Quincy Adams and secured him the Presidency. Andrew Jackson was the odd man out. But Jackson …show more content…
In the 1830s, Jackson signed off on his own bill that required all Native Americans living in the South to relocate west of the Mississippi River. Jackson was forcing a large population of people off of their ancestral homelands and into a place of which they had no knowledge. A few groups of the targeted Native Americans tried to appeal this policy, but all their appeals accomplished was prolonging the inevitable. A group, the Cherokee, was at least able to create a treaty with the federal government stating they would leave for the west peacefully as long as they were provided with sufficient food, water, and medicine. However, the government did not follow through with their end of the deal, and as a result, the Native Americans suffered on their journey to the west. By the end of the mass relocation, between 4,000 and 8,000 Cherokee died as a result of dehydration, malnutrition, or disease. The horrific conditions of this journey earned it the nickname the Trail of Tears and leaves an everlasting negative impact on Andrew Jackson’s

Why Was Andrew Jackson Controversial

In 1828, Andrew Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States. As an accomplished war hero, he was the popular choice of many Americans at the time due to his success at the Battle of New Orleans and conquest of Florida. Although he was elected president for two terms, he proved to make some poor decisions that split America between his supporters and opposition. Andrew Jackson’s opinions and actions on the elite, Native Americans, and expansion of voting rights made him divisive…

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Jacksonian presidency was one riddled with controversial decisions. Andrew Jackson did not uphold values that were prevalent in American politics and society at the United States’ founding, some examples of this would be the Nullification Crisis, the Bank Veto, and his implementation of the Trail of Tears. Although he did make many controversial decisions during his presidency, Andrew Jackson remained widely popular among his loyal fan base which was the Democratic party. One reason why I would say that…

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