Jackson DBQ
...me trials and tribulations that the common man faced. His empathy and understanding for the common man gave him a lense and prospective that helped in his decision making to benefit them. A prime example of this is the Bank War. Andrew Jackson had once lost everything due to the bank's unfairness and hated the idea of a national back that favored the wealthy and created inequality amongst white male citizens. So, when he was presented with the option to re-charter the bank in 1832, he vetoed it. In Jackson's veto message in July of 1832 he makes it clear that he thinks that the back is a “danger to our liberty” and purely run by the elitists who “too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes”. Jackson withdrew all of the federal funds and put them into pet banks on the basis that a national bank only made the poor poorer and the rich richer. Jackson also had to deal with accusation and slander in regards to his wife when he was running for president and blamed her death on the ridicule she received. This led him to stand up for the common woman when he saw that a colleague's wife Peggy Eaton, who was formerly a madam, was being excluded and shunned by the high society wives. He failed in attempting to make the aristocratic wives include Peggy, but we see how much compassion he had for the underdog and he tried his best to make things fair. Jackson was accused of letting personal biases dictate his frequent vetoes but in reality, it was his lack of bias, and his conscience to protect the common man that made him veto so many bills. Former presidencies only vetoed a bill when they deemed it constitutional. In Jackson's mind, the Congress, who passes the bills were mostly rich elitists and its suffice to say that most of the bills they passed would benefit their social group. Jackson was known as King Veto because he vetoed 12 bills while in office but that was simply because he wouldn't approve the bills that would hurt the common man. Daniel Webster replied to Jackson's veto message regarding the national banks re-charter with an air of disgust. He accused Jackson of being a self interested dictator who was using and abusing his veto power. Despite the critisism, Jackson still did what was best for the people, vetoing projects like the Maysville Road that was an internal improvement that would only benefit the single state of Kentucky. In the Charles River Bridge v Warren Bridge in 1837, Jacksonian Democrat Chief Justice Rodger B. Taney ruled that they couldn't charted another bridge because it would increase the chance of monopolies of the rich. His decision was made to create equal opportunities for everyone. So, although the bridge may have been good for the economy, he thought that it didn't promote equality and based his ruling on that factor. These actions may come off a bit dictatorship like, but he was doing it for the good of the people. When Harriet Martineau, a British author, reported on her 1834 visit to the United states she commented on how independent, free, and prosperous all of the people were, including the lower classes. Jackson used his power to help the people and did not abuse it because he had all good intentions. Andrew Jackson was so much a common man himself that he displayed the same prejudice views on racism that most white America had at the time which in turn helped the common man gain land and power over minorities. The immigrants, the blacks, and the Native Americans were all ignored and hindered in this era which is exactly what the common white man wanted. Phillip Hone, a New York City business man and Whig politician, described riots in eastern cities during the 1830's between the Irish and the Americans. He also describes violence that erupted between the blacks and whites over insignificant arguments. In the Acts and Resolutions of South Ca...