Portrait of Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States, in 1828, by Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl • GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO Born in 1767, less than 10 years before the Declaration of Independence (1776), Andrew Jackson was the first president of the United States not to belong to the generation of the "Founding Fathers". If he already made himself known during the conflict between the 13 colonies and the British imperial power, he became a leading military leader in the years that followed. A national hero It is illustrated in particular during the "Second War of Independence", led from 1812 to 1815 by the United States against English troops supported by Native American tribes. In this context, he played a major role in the southward expansion of the fledgling United States. Having made an alliance with the Cherokee Indians, he managed to defeat the Creek Nation and seize vast territories in the current states of Georgia and Alabama. Then, from 1816, under the pretext of recovering black slaves who had taken refuge in their territory, he fought the Seminole Indians and the Spaniards in Florida. In 1819, once victory was won, it was integrated into the Union. For Jackson, the Democratic Party must be that of the little white people against the aristocracy of money. His military glory made Andrew Jackson a national hero. If he has already been elected to Congress as a representative of Tennessee, he can now claim the highest office. In 1824, he ran for president for the first time against John Quincy Adams. The system of indirect democracy in the United States is unfavorable to him:although he came first in the popular vote, he did not obtain the majority of the electors. Believing himself robbed, Jackson decided to found a new party, the Democratic Party, which has remained until today one of the two great forces of the American political landscape. For Jackson, this party must be that of the little white people against the aristocracy of money. Jackson finally managed to win the election of 1828. His time as head of state was sufficiently significant for historians to always refer to "Jacksonian democracy" as a period during which certain essential features of American political life took shape. one. The democratic ideal A first aspect of this “Jacksonian democracy” is precisely the rise of democracy. The definition of the electorate is a prerogative of the federated states and, from the beginning of the 1820s, more and more of them adopted universal suffrage for white men (women and black slaves of course remaining excluded from political rights) . Once in the White House, Jackson strongly encouraged this democratization. The involvement of citizens in the political life of the country is reinforced as the right to vote becomes widespread, and American society is gradually learning about democracy. Voter turnout increased dramatically as local and national politicians, beginning with Jackson himself, began to organize rallies, parades, and even barbecues to mobilize their supporters. Without Jackson being solely responsible for this rise to power of the democratic ideal, he certainly reinforced it as founder of the Democratic Party, then as President of the United States. Jackson is also considered to be the initiator of a specific American policy:the spoils system . In 1828, he campaigned against Adams, castigating the corruption of the administration. Once elected, he therefore undertook to "clean the stables of Augias" by dismissing all the senior officials who had surrounded the outgoing president to replace them with men from his entourage. This practice of the spoils system (literally the “spoils system”) has lasted until today:with each change of majority, the staff of the senior civil service is completely replaced by a new team, whose loyalty to the elected president must be indisputable. In truth, Jackson is not the first president to fundamentally reshuffle administrative elites upon taking office. The fact remains that he certainly contributed to consolidating a tradition that has remained fundamental in the American political system to this day. Strengthening the presidency Another feature of "Jacksonian democracy" is the strengthening of the presidency. A strong personality, Jackson claims to be the main representative of the people and makes the presidential election the highlight of democratic life. The President of the United States thus becomes a much more powerful character than he was until then. While Congress prevailed in the institutional balance, Jackson largely contributed to making the chief executive a central player in political life. It has never ceased to be since then. Jackson also strengthens the cohesion of the nation under construction. If he claims to be a supporter of the right of the States vis-à-vis federal institutions, he remains no less viscerally attached to the unity of the country. In 1832, South Carolina opposed the protectionist customs policy adopted by Washington. Some local politicians, led by Senator John Calhoun, consider that the sovereignty of the federated states takes precedence over that of the federal state. According to them, a federated state can therefore refuse to apply the laws of the federal state if they are contrary to its own local law. This defense of nullification – that is, of the possibility of “cancelling” Washington’s decisions – raises fears of a dislocation of the Union. Jackson's nationalism cannot tolerate the risk of secession:wielding carrots and sticks, he brandishes the threat of war against South Carolina while accepting a gradual reduction in customs tariffs. South Carolina therefore renounces nullification, and the "perpetual union" of the United States emerges strengthened from this confrontation between the federal state and a federated state. The “trail of tears” Nationalist, Jackson promotes the territorial expansion of the United States and also considers that the American settlers must already seize all the cultivable lands east of the Mississippi, including at the expense of the Native American tribes. . Even though the Cherokees had fought alongside him in the "Second War of Independence" and the United States government had concluded a treaty with them ensuring their enjoyment of land in the south of the country, Jackson signed in 1830 the Indian Removal Act . This law organizes the deportation of Amerindian nations to an “Indian Territory” created for the occasion in the middle of the Great Plains. This “ethnic cleansing” forced the Cherokees on a grueling march of thousands of miles to Oklahoma. A quarter of them will die along this “trail of tears”. The 7 th President of the United States is no longer the object of unanimous admiration. In addition to his Indian policies, he is criticized for having been a strong supporter of slavery and for having himself owned slaves on his property in Tennessee. Some Native Americans still refuse to use $20 bills, which feature the portrait of Andrew Jackson. Long considered a national hero, the 7 th President of the United States is no longer the object of unanimous admiration. In addition to his Indian policies, he is criticized for having been a strong supporter of slavery and for having himself owned slaves on his property in Tennessee. Under the presidency of Barack Obama, it was therefore imagined to remove his face from the greenbacks and replace it with that of Harriet Tubman, a black anti-slavery activist. The idea is apparently buried, since Donald Trump defines himself as a "big fan" of Jackson. The 45 th President of the United States even had his portrait installed in the Oval Office of the White House. Find out more Andrew Jackson, the private man, by Jean-Marc Serme, L’Harmattan, 2012.History of the United States, under the direction of Bernard Vincent, Flammarion, 2016. Timeline 1819 Jackson's victory over the Seminole Indians and the Spaniards brings Florida into the United States.1828 Jackson finally manages to win the presidential election against John Quincy Adams, after a first failure in 1824.1830 The Indian Removal Act organizes the deportation of Native Americans who settled east of the Mississippi to “Indian Territory”.1837 At the end of his second term, Jackson retired to his cotton plantation in Tennessee, until his death in 1845. DISCOVER OUR SERIES"THE GREAT PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES" 1/10 - George Washington (1732-1799)2/10 - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)4/10 - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)5/10 - Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)6/10 - T. Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)7/10 -Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)8/10 - Harry Truman (1884-1972)9/10 - Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969)10/10 - John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)
