Not So Much A People Person

In class we started a new lesson on Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United states. The essential question for the lesson was, “Is Andrew Jackson’s long-standing reputation as ‘the people's president’ deserved? Why? Why not?” The essential question is important because it helps us evaluate the leaders in history and compare to see if they benefited the people of our nation. During class my teacher showed the class two videos, one was a Crash Course Video, and the second was a Ted-Ed video. These videos gave important information on Andrew Jackson’s actions while he was president. After we watched the videos and took notes we split up into five groups of four and were assigned a topic; Indian Removal, Spoils system, and the Bank War.

My group was assigned the Bank War. My group decided to make a PowerPoint for our presentation. In our PowerPoint we talked about how Andrew Jackson should not have the title, “peoples president”. The Bank war was in 1833, Andrew Jackson did not agree with the National bank and decided to repeal the second bank. Jackson used the federal funds from the national bank to make smaller “pet banks.” By Jacksons actions he made it seem like he removed the national bank to accommodate the poor; however his actions created a financial crisis. After watching the presentations for Indian Removal act it seems Jackson was not a people's president. The Indian Removal act was when Jackson forced Indian tribes out of their homes and led them to their death on the “trail of tears.” Jackson claimed he was helping the Indians by forcing them to move but he was only looking out for the white people. The spoils system showed that Jackson was not a people's president also. The spoil system is when Andrew Jackson offered his supporters government jobs, and many others lost their jobs. Jackson hired these people knowing that they weren't as qualified as the ones who got fired. Andrew Jackson does not deserve the reputation as ‘peoples president,’ he was not looking out for the greater good of all people, and he affected peoples lives more negatively than positive.

This is my group's presentation about the bank war.