Old Hickory (1287)

The first six Presidents of the United States were all from rich families. All of them came from long-settled states along the Atlantic coast. In 1828, a different sort of President was elected. His name was Andrew Jackson and he had been born into a poor family on the western frontier.

Jackson had commanded the American army at the Battle of New Orleans in 1814. By 1828 he was a rich landowner. But frontier farmers always felt that he was one of them and called him "Old Hickory."

Jackson was one of the founders of the Democratic Party. He said that government should be organized to benefit "the great body of the United States – the planter, the farmer, the mechanic and the labourer." It was the votes of such people that made him President in 1828 and then again in 1832.

Jackson rewarded the people who voted for him by introducing government policies to give them what they wanted. And what they wanted above all were three things – cheap money, cheap manufactured goods and cheap land.

Jackson provided cheap money by encouraging banks to make loans at low rates of interest. He provided cheap manufactured goods by reducing import duties. And he provided cheap land by forcing the Cherokees and other eastern Amerindians to move west of the Mississippi.

Opinions about Jackson's motives are divided. Some believe that he was concerned only about winning popularity and the power. But others say that his policies of giving voters what they wanted were an important landmark in making the United States a more genuinely democratic country.

Check your comprehension.

1. In what way did Jackson differ from his predecessors? 2. What was Jackson before he became the President? 3. What was his nickname and why? 4. Jackson was a Republican, wasn’t he? 5. What was his motto that made him President? 6. How did Jackson reward the people who voted for him? 7. How did he provide cheap money, land and manufactured goods? 8. What were the viewpoints upon his policy?

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Forming the New Nation (1767)	\|	The Indian Removal (2540)

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