To the Victor, Goes the Spoils

This week our lessons topic was based on the presidency of Andrew Jackson. For this unit, the essential question was, "Is Andrew Jackson's long-standing reputation as "the people's president" deserved?" To answer this question, we were split into 7 groups by card, and given one of Jacksons key policies to examine. Our group was given the spoils system.

The first problem discussed was Andrew Jackson's policy on banks. As the first national banks expiration date was coming up, the government decided to create the second national bank to replace the first one. Jackson however, vetoed the charter for the bank because he believed that the bank would have too much power over the nations economy, and only help the rich. This eventually backfired, and caused the crash of 48'. The second issue discussed was, the spoils system. This was the system in which the winning party of an election, gives it's voters political positions. Though it did help Jackson get voters, it put incompetent people in important offices, which lead to large scale scandals. The last and most infamous policy of the Jackson administration, was the Indian Removal Act. This law, forced many native off their land and made them force march half way along the nation, for resettlement. Though most of Jackson's policies had ephemeral benefits, Jackson tried (and failed) to be a people's president, which is better than not trying. In my opinion, Jackson Does deserve his reputation.      

Floo powder ---> 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w43s7fLCuJE&list=UUuc7-QIEhHZEFC6O4JEyqbw