Jackson DBQ
Mr. Jardines 2007

Historical context: The Jackson era is a period that stretches from about 1820 to 1845, the time of his death. During this period the United Stateswas divided into sections, which were brought on by increased manufacturing in the northeast and the transportation revolution connecting the north and west. The south’s agriculture economy remained somewhat immune to the economic cycles of the rest of the country. Slavery migrated west into the LouisianaTerritory and raised new issue in Congress when Missouri applied for statehood. The Federalist Party ceased to rival the Democratic-Republican, which divided into separate political parties. When Jackson came to the White House in 1829, he was the first from the new Democratic Party that campaigned on the newly enfranchised public. Historian’s opinions are divided when measuring the impact of the Jackson Presidency on the political, social, and economic climate of the United States.

Task: Using the documents below to support your essay, respond to the following question:

(hint: What event does each document represent? What impact did President Jackson decision have on the nation?)

Was Andrew Jackson a “Champion of the People” or “King Andrew”?

Doc 1 Hero of Two Wars: “Battle of New Orleans, 1815”

and “The Seminole Wars, 1817”

Doc 2:Graph on Voter Participation from 1824 to 1860

Doc 3a: Andrew Jackson’s FirstState of the Nation Address, 1829 (excerpt)

“Office is considered as a species of property, and government rather as a means of promoting individual interests than as an instrument created solely for the service of the people. Corruption in some and in others a perversion of correct feelings and principles divert government from its legitimate ends and make it an engine for the support of the few at the expense of the many. The duties of all public officers are, or at least admit of being made, so plain and simple that men of intelligence may readily qualify themselves for their performance; and I can not but believe that more is lost by the long continuance of men in office than is generally to be gained by their experience. I submit, therefore, to your consideration whether the efficiency of the Government would not be promoted and official industry and integrity better secured by a general extension of the law which limits appointments to four years”.

Doc 3b: Andrew Jackson’s First Inaugural Address, 1829 (excerpt)

“In the performance of a task thus generally delineated I shall endeavor to select men whose diligence and talents will insure in their respective stations able and faithful cooperation, depending for the advancement of the public service more on the integrity and zeal of the public officers than on their numbers.’”

Doc 4: Andrew Jackson's Veto Message. Washington, July 10, 1832
To the Senate:
”A bank of the United States is in many respects convenient for the Government and useful to the people. Entertaining this opinion, and deeply impressed with the belief that some of the powers and privileges possessed by the existing bank are unauthorized by the Constitution, subversive of the rights of the States, and dangerous to the liberties of the people, I felt it my duty at an early period of my Administration to call the attention of Congress to the practicability or organizing an institution combining all its advantages and obviating these objections. I sincerely regret that in the act before me I can perceive none of those modifications of the bank charter which are necessary, in my opinion, to make it compatible with justice, with sound policy, or with the Constitution of our country”.

Doc 5a: President Jackson’s 2nd Annual Address, 1833
On December 6, 1830, President Andrew Jackson delivered his annual message to the United States Congress. In his message, Jackson informs Congress of the progress made concerning Indian removal, and explains the advantages of his policy for both the United States and the Native Americans.

“The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves. The pecuniary advantages which it promises to the Government are the least of its recommendations. It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General [National] and State Governments on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters. By opening the whole territory between Tennessee on the north and Louisiana on the south to the settlement of the whites it will incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier and render the adjacent States strong enough to repel future invasions without remote aid. It will relieve the whole State of Mississippi and the western part of Alabama of Indian occupancy, and enable those States to advance rapidly in population, wealth, and power. It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; free them from the power of the States; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels, to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community.”

Doc 5b:Supreme Court Case Worcester v. Georgia (1832, John Marshall).

It established tribal autonomy within their boundaries, i.e. the tribes were "distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries within which their authority is exclusive

Doc 5c: Map on Indian Removal from 1820 to 1840

Doc 6a: “South Carolina’s Exposition and Protest”(John C. Calhouns on the Tariff of 1828)
. . . [The Federal] Government is one of specific powers, and it can rightfully exercise only the powers expressly granted, and those that may be "necessary and proper" to carry them into effect; all others being reserved expressly to the States, or to the people. It results necessarily, that those who claim to exercise a power under the Constitution, are bound to shew [sic], that it is expressly granted, or that it is necessary and proper, as a means to some of the granted powers. The advocates of the Tariff have offered no such proof. It is true, that the third [sic; eighth] section of the first article of the Constitution of the United States authorizes Congress to lay and collect an impost duty, but it is granted as a tax power, for the sole purpose of revenue; a power in its nature essentially different from that of imposing protective or prohibitory duties. . . . The Constitution grants to Congress the power of imposing a duty on imports for revenue; which power is abused by being converted into an instrument for rearing up the industry of one section of the country on the ruins of another. The violation then consists in using a power, granted for one object, to advance another, and that by the sacrifice of the original object. . . .”

Doc 6b: Andrew Jackson quoted in 1830
“If it be expected that the people of this country, reckless of their constitutional obligations, will prefer their local interest to the principles of the Union, such expectations will in the end be disappointed; or, if it be not so, then indeed has the world little to hope from the example of free government”.

Doc 6c: “The Force Bill”

Doc 7: “King Andrew the First” (Political cartoon, 1832)