When I look back at the chapter on Andrew Jackson, I try not to judge the guy too harshly using our 21st Century point of view.  This “Age of Jackson”, the 1820s – 1830s, seems to be an era of change with the Market Revolution (mass production and factories) occurring with the movement of people out West.  Plus, it was a time period when almost all white males were able to vote.  It seemed like a time of progress.

Yet, we see that Jackson destroyed the BUS (Bank of the United States) with a veto in 1832, and removed the Indians of the “Five Civilized Tribes” from the East Coast of the country across the Mississippi where they were thought to be no more of a threat.  He illegally seized Florida from the Spanish while a general in 1818.  He also vetoed (among his record 12 vetoes) national spending bills on canals, roads (Maysville Road), and bridges that would have improved transportation and lowered costs.   He thwarted Henry Clay’s American System at practically every turn.  These “evil schemes” were seen by AJ as a way to make “rich men… richer by acts of Congress” and deny the fundamental American principle of  “equal protection and equal benefits.”

Thirteen polls of historians and political scientists between 1949 and 2009 list AJ as one of the top ten Presidents in history.  He’s on our currency ($20).  Yet, he’s not known for any foreign policy initiatives like the Monroe Doctrine.  His domestic “achievements” are more known for whom he harmed or disabled and not creating positive, groundbreaking laws.  Yet, he got us through the nullification / tariff crisis of 1833 without resorting to war or violence in South Carolina.  He stood for Union and against secession.  And, he (with the help of V.P. Martin van Buren) helped “meld” his followers into the “most successful and durable political party,”  the Democratic Party.

To quote the Miller Center: “Jackson’s own character polarized contemporaries and continues to divide historians. Some praise his strength and audacity; others see him as vengeful and self-obsessed. To admirers he stands as a shining symbol of American accomplishment, the ultimate individualist and democrat. To detractors he appears an incipient tyrant, the closest we have yet come to an American Caesar.”   Is it possible that Jackson was a contradiction embodied in one man?  Or do historians see the best / worst of their times in Andrew Jackson because he so symbolized his time period?

So, where do you see President Jackson’s legacy?  Was he a patriot or a tyrant?  Both?  Did his presidency have a more positive impact than negative?  Explain.

250 words MINIMUM.  Due Wednesday night, Oct. 30 by 11:59 p.m.