Overview

Andrew Jackson was the 7th President of the United States; serving from 1829 to 1837; and is one of the most controversial figures in American history. A military hero celebrated for his victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815; Jackson was also the architect of the Indian Removal Act of 1830; which authorized the forced relocation of approximately 60;000 Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the southeastern United States to territories west of the Mississippi River. The resulting forced marches; known collectively as the Trail of Tears; killed an estimated 15;000-20;000 Cherokee; Chickasaw; Choctaw; Creek; and Seminole people through exposure; disease; and starvation. Jackson defied a Supreme Court ruling (Worcester v. Georgia; 1832) in which Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that Georgia had no authority over Cherokee lands; Jackson reportedly responded: "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it." He was the first president to extensively use the spoils system; rewarding political allies with government positions regardless of qualification. Jackson destroyed the Second Bank of the United States by vetoing its recharter in 1832 and removing federal deposits; triggering the Panic of 1837; one of the worst economic depressions in American history up to that point. He personally enslaved over 300 people at his Hermitage plantation in Tennessee. He fought numerous duels; killing Charles Dickinson in 1806 and carrying bullets in his body for years from other conflicts. Jackson's populist legacy has been invoked by various political movements; and Donald Trump hung Jackson's portrait in the Oval Office. He remains on the $20 bill despite campaigns to replace him with Harriet Tubman; a Treasury Department plan announced in 2016 that was shelved by the Trump administration.

Key Affiliations

Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (3)

Sources & Documentation

3 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports