Jackson served as president from 1829 to 1837 and was known for having an assertive will and confrontational and aggressive demeanor throughout his career. The reactions to his leadership were mixed during his time in office.
His admirers describe him as a populist hero who critiqued the political foundation and heralded the beginning of a pivotal period in American exploration and westward expansion history. Those who opposed him argued that it was wrong to glorify him. This was because he owned enslaved people, treated them harshly, and forced Native Americans to be removed from their ancestral lands, resulting in thousands of deaths.
Jackson was once held in such high regard that his image was chosen to appear on the $20 bill. During his era (1767-1845), Jackson rose from poverty to great fortune thanks to his acceptance of slavery as a legal institution in the United States. The slaves grew his cotton, constructed, and maintained his home, assisting him in establishing a social footing in Southern society.
Jackson’s actions were intentional, and they were primarily for self-gain. In this regard, he got rich thanks to his slave holdings. Enslaved people farmed his cotton on the hermitage, constructed and served in his mansion, establishing him as an affluent and more significant person in Southern society. Jackson had many enslaved people, which is how he got so prominent in Southern culture.
He was also known to abuse his slaves brutally and severely, adding to the uproar. Further, Jackson never spoke out against slavery or touched on the dehumanization of the system. He feared the abolitionists were jeopardizing the Union, and in December of 1835, he forbade the transmission across the South of “incendiary writings meant to provoke the slaves to insurrection”.
Today, America is a diversified country that discourages the seclusion of a particular from being discriminated against. Hence, Jackson’s ideas could not survive in this era. During the last half-century, the narrative of race and racial relations has been mostly hidden.
Therefore, it is significant that more than 40% of African Americans today regard themselves as middle-class, and 42% own their houses. This statistic jumps to 75% when only black married couples are included. Two-parent black households earn just 13% less than white families. Suburbia is home to about a third of the black population, which was impossible to achieve during Jackson’s reign.
Despite the fact that Jackson was a tyrant and irrational individual, some of his actions were unintentional, for they were meant to stabilize and shape the American background. In particular, his reign seemed to validate the democratic transition. In 1829, powerful voices questioned the rationality and morality of democracy; in 1837, few would do so.
Jackson had also set a precedent that subsequent presidential contenders tried to follow. From 1825 through 1837, the two-party system was revived. Jackson never saw himself as a great politician, yet he and his cohorts were the most adept politicians of their day. Jackson was elected president in 1828 as a group, not a party. When he departed office, he left a resurgent and well-organized Democratic Party.