Jackson was a military leader before becoming president of the United States. He led the Americans to their most surprising victory and he gained lots of land for the U.S. He also founded the democratic party which is why he is so popular among white men. He was the champion of democracy according to them. White men could vote during election and even though only they could vote, it was still a step in the right direction for our country today. They also knew that he had saved the country so they thought that he was a hero. People(Common white men) were ecstatic when he was voted to be the president. However, African Americans and Indians were not too happy about it. Although Jackson got endless support from the white men, he was not supported by most African Americans and Indians.
The Indians and Jackson did not get along at all. Jackson had forced them out of the Cherokee land. He thought that because the Cherokees weren't a nation that they couldn't live in Georgia because it's apart of the U.S. land. Jackson and his people wanted to live there and build houses. However, the case was brought to the supreme court and they said that the Cherokee owned the land and didn't have to give it to Jackson. But that didn't stop Jackson. He kicked them out and told them that he is their great white father and is doing what's best for them. But that certainly was not the best for the Cherokee. The Indians then walked the Trial of Tears where more than four thousand people died. The causes were smallpox, cholera, not enough food, water, or medicine, and they were walking in the winter to Oklahoma which was 850 miles away from where they started. The Indians tried to make Jackson happy before he kicked them out by adapting white life like sewing, farming, dressing like whites, and speaking the English language. But it wasn't enough. They then made a constitution to try to persuade Jackson to repeal the Indian Removal but that also didn't work. Jackson killed thousands of innocent people by making them move to a different place for no reason and he didn't care because he was a selfish man.
Jackson played a role in both the patronage and spoil system. They are both very similar but he played an enormous part in the spoil system. Patronage is giving people jobs in the government who are fit for them and the spoil system is giving a government job to someone who you pick even if they aren't fit for the job. Jackson said that he would give the government jobs to whoever was best suited for it. He said that they should have intelligence and experience to take it and that no man would have more rights to a job than another. This would be patronage which everyone wants. Everyone thought that he would go by his word, but he didn't. In one instance, Jackson hired a man with criminal tendencies, Swartwout, just because he was an early supporter of Jackson. He didn't listen to people when they told him it was a bad idea. He never knew what a mistake he made hiring Swartwout until he stole over one million dollars from the government. Although Jackson claimed he was going be patronage, he mostly used the spoil system to give out government jobs which people were not happy about.
Although Jackson might be seen as a hero to some people, he was a villain to most. He was an extremely selfish person who only cared about himself and the people that supported him through his lifetime. Because of the way he was he should be replaced on the twenty dollar bill. We should not be reminded of someone who did not care about every person in his country daily. That's not something our country should be proud of and that is why I think his place on the twenty dollar bill should be taken away from him.
