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I am choosing to post about Jackson because the Treasury Department has just announced they will be making a new $20 bill that removes Jackson and replaces him with Harriet Tubman.
My thread is really directed at the Jackson Presidency. Did this man really do anything in office that is worthy of fame or adulation? My recollection is that he gets credit for promoting the "common man" over gentry and aristocrats, but other than that I don't know what he accomplished. Its said that the night of his inauguration there was a huge party at the White House in which everyone off the street was invited. People were supposedly drunk and swinging from the chandeliers.
I think about what was negative that occurred during his presidency and three things come to mind:
1. He ignored the U.S. Supreme Court which legally upheld the right of Cherokee Indians to their lands and used the army to drive them out of Georgia and into Oklahoma after a forced migration during which many Indians died. Seriously, this is an impeachable offense as President. A president is obliged to "faithfully execute the law". This President simply ignored a law, or court ruling, he didn't like.
2. He set out to abolish the Bank of the United States which created insecurity in our monetary policy and probably helped lead to the Panic of 1837 which was a serious recession/depression according to historians.
3. He issued the "Specie Circular" in 1837, just before he left office requiring all persons to pay debts to the government in gold or silver coin. This seriously tightened credit and also helped lead to the Panic of 1837.
All this leaves out being a slave owner, etc. I won't judge that because so many presidents were slave owners before the Civil War.
Jackson may have been a brave commander during the War of 1812 during the Battle of New Orleans, but I fail to find much merit in his presidency.
Why was he famous in the first place and put on the $20 bill?
Your perspective is a modern one. During the time of President Jackson, a majority of the people supported the outrageous things you list above. What we see clearly as a crime, the Indian removal, plenty of white people saw as the great property grab that made their fortunes. That it came at the expense of people they saw as their racial and religious inferiors, was rationalized as the will of God or the destiny of the great free Republic. The same people who saw no problem with owning black slaves, did not have a problem with relocating the red race.
Busting up the National Bank was also extremely popular at the time, the economic depression it would cause did not hit until Jackson had departed office.
Jackson justly deserves credit for standing up firmly and unambiguously to South Carolina's nullification attempts. I don't think there was a person in the South who doubted that if needed, Jackson would have led the troops into Charleston himself.
Good point. We never make a mistake when we view things thru the retrospectoscope.
Congress thought they were being benevolent to the Cherokees when they reserved large tracts of good farmland for them. They didn't realize that they were insulting the men by suggesting they do farming, considered women's work in that society. When they failed to farm, Jackson used that as an excuse to evict them. There are still members of the First Nations that refuse to carry a $20 bill in their pockets.
One good thing that jackson did and I wish other president had been able to do, is actually pay off the national debt. As far as I know, he was the only president to only pull that off.
Is talking about defying a Court order a 'modern perspective'?
Absolutely. Today no one questions the Supreme Court's right of judicial review on Constitutional issues because it is well established by time. In President Jackson's time this right had been asserted just a few decades earlier and was still that..an assertion, not an assumption by everyone.
Many saw Jackson's defiance of the court as proper....him standing up to those who would frustrate the will of the people as manifested by a Congressional act.
America was still being invented back then, our modern certainties were their experiments.
Without him we would have lost the War of 1812 and goodbye USA.
Tubman rescued about 70 family and very close friends only.
Did you know that the Treaty of Ghent had been signed ending the War of 1812 before Jackson even lead our troops in the Battle of New Orleans against the British? Communication was slow in that time period.
Indeed, please explain your statement.
Also, I indicated that no matter how great a general he was that it didn't make him a great President.
Im from Jacksonville FL, my wife is from Jackson Ms.....right
All i know about Jackson is he likes to ride horses and he help moved the natives away from the south. Ive often wondered why they made slaves out of black people and didnt attempt to do so with the natives. Maybe they did try with the natives and the natives rejected it? My Honest take on the faces on currency is I think all 5 faces should be removed only because they have all had their turn. I always wanted to see someone new on all 5 bills. We know a lot about Washington and Lincoln. We dont hear much about Franklin, Hamilton and Jackson though. When I first heard the news of Tubman replacing Jackson I thought maybe it was a prank or some special limited edition run of the 20 bill. After further reading I learn the feminist pro women groups were trying to get Hamilton removed from the 10 and replaced with a woman. This attempt caused some push back from Hamilton supporters to have Jackson removed instead. In a way I find the choice now funny because Ive seen some of the rhetoric from some of these feminist groups and I doubt they had a BLACK woman in mind. Its like the feds are saying "oh you want a woman? well here you go" This only make people who dont like blacks dislike blacks more. Some blacks are gloating about it as if we had something to do with this choice. Most blacks had no clue these groups were even pushing for any change and I read a lot of black media I didnt see any of this until recently. I dont have an issue with it, I just think this was a slight to the pro woman's organizations who were pushing for this change and instead got a black woman. I guess Social Justice Warriors have to be clear on what they ask for.
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