Wednesday, 9 December 2015

What is the first major political issue that marks President Jacksons presidency?

There are two
possible answers to this.  One answer is the veto of the Maysville Road bill and the second is
Indian Removal.  Indian Removal is definitely the bigger issue, at least as we things today, and
it came at nearly the same as the Maysville veto.  However, Jackson did veto the Maysville bill
a day before he signed the Indian Removal bill.

The Maysville Road bill would
have had the federal government pay for building a road that was wholly within the state of
Kentucky.  At this point in history, some people wanted the federal government to aggressively
build up transportation infrastructure in the US in order to help the economy grow.  They felt
that roads and canals were important to the whole country, even if they were only within one
state.  For example, the Maysville Road would have helped goods get to the Ohio River, on which
they could be moved between states.  Jackson, however, vetoed the bill because he said that it
was wrong (and unconstitutional) for the federal government to fund projects that would only
physically exist in one state.  This veto was politically controversial because it limited the
power of the federal government and because some people saw it as an excessive use of
presidential power.

Indian Removal was also controversial.  The issue at hand
was whether the government should take Native Americans from the Southeast and move them out
beyond the Mississippi River.  White settlers wanted the lands where the Indians lived in the
Southeast.  Therefore, they put pressure on the government to remove the Indians.  Jackson was
in favor of removing the Indians, but many people argued against him for various reasons.  Some
people opposed Jackson for humanitarian reasons, but more people opposed him for political
reasons.  They were generally less interested in acting justly towards Native Americans than
with hurting Jackson politically.  Whatever the reasons, this bill was politically controversial
as well.

One of these two controversies is likely to be the correct answer. 
I would guess that you are expected to say that Indian Removal was the first major controversy
in Jacksons presidency, but you should check your textbook and/or class notes to be
sure.

href="https://millercenter.org/president/andrew-jackson/key-events">https://millercenter.org/president/andrew-jackson/key-events

No comments:

Post a Comment

In 1984, is Julia a spy? Please provide specific examples from the book. My teacher says that he knows of 17 pieces of evidence which proves that Julia...

There is some evidence to suggest thatwas a spy throughout 's classic novel . Julia portrays herself as a loyal admirer of Big ...