Scene the formation of the United States Constitution there have been many political groups that have claimed to be guardians of the constitution and the common man. No group has done better in doing this then the Jacksonian Democrats. Even though the Jacksonian Democrats did occasionally violate the United States Constitution and the ideals of political democracy, equality of economic opportunity, and individual liberty they did so in order to protect the interests of the common man. First of all, Jackson protected the rights of the common man from the rich by denying the renewal of the charter of the national bank. Secondly, the rights of the citizens of the United States were protected ...view middle of the document...
His views on the national bank caused Jackson to get some harsh criticism. In Daniel Webster's reply to Jackson's veto message he said that he believed that Jackson was trying to "inflame the poor against the rich" (Document C). This statement furthermore proves that Jackson was working for the good of the common man. He was working to "inflame" them with the feeling of power to protect their rights form anyone who would try to violate their rights.Jackson was so unwavering in his goal to protect the rights and interests of the common man that he sometimes violated the constitution in order to defend them. This is well shown in the way Jackson's policies towards the Indians. The majority of the citizens in the United States were opposed to the Indian occupation of land because it posed a threat to westward expansion. In order to take care of this threat to the citizens of his country Jackson signed the "Indian Removal Act" into law. The long awaited bill that had been hung up in congress for four months was now law. This act called for the removal of Indians form their land. This legislation finally game the government the power to follow through on their compact, form 1802, with Georgia which traded all of Georgia's western claims to the government in return for the government extinguishing all Indian titles to land within the state. With the government's new legislation in place the Cherokee Indians which lived in Georgia saw their ownership of the land, which they had held for generations, in jeopardy. The Cherokee took their case to the US Supreme Court in 1832 in the case of Worcester vs. Georgia. The court concluded that the Cherokee did have the right to the land on which they had laid claim. However, Jackson went against the findings of the court and proceeded to forcibly move the Cherokee for Georgia to an area west of the Mississippi along what is known as the trail of tears which is well portrayed in the painting in the Woolaroc Museum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma (Document G). Jackson was helping to produce and country like the one witnessed by Harriet Martineau where everyone was a land owner (Document D). The land that was taken away from the Cherokee would be more land that could be inhabited by white settlers where they could build their farms and own land.Sometimes force needed to be added to situations in order to protect the constitution. This is evident in Jackson's dealings with the nullification crisis in South Carolina. South Carolina states in the "Acts and Resolutions of South Carolina" (Document F) that if the national government doesn't take measures to prevent the postal service for delivering Abolitionist papers, "timely measures may be taken to prevent [such mail] form traversing our territory". South Carolina was afraid that the papers might incite the slaves to rebel. The "Acts and Resolutions of South Carolina" suggests that South Carolina will nullify the national governments actions if they violate the intere...
