The Jacksonian democracy was a golden age for the working man and I agree with most of the Jacksonian politics, including the expanding of participation in government and the foundation of a strong federal government. The Jacksonian democracy established by Andrew Jackson was a better base of government, while allowing all adult males to vote. I do disagree with spoils system which allowed friends and relative’s government positions with no real ability to do these jobs; these things though did allow the creation of a government more governed by the common man instead of the wealthy, and experienced.

Andrew Jackson was finally elected in 1829 after a long battle with his rival John Quincy Adams. Adams clever plan to slander Jackson as a player with a prostitute mother, who also killed people and dueled backfired. All of these accusations just made Jackson more appealing to the common man because he was relatable. On the other hand Jackson’s mud sling at Adams worked perfectly, portraying him as an elitist dictator to be. These accusations spread through the post, posters, and pamphlets lead to Jackson’s victory in the election by a landslide.

During Andrew Jackson presidency the suffrage in the United States was increased greatly, though not to the point of women’s or black suffrage but all white adult males were allowed to vote. This increase in suffrage was a great thing for the common man removing the previous land owning requirements. This great leap in representation of the regular Joe allowed for the creation of the things like the working men’s declaration of independence, which proclaimed “That all men were created, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;” these statements led to a great empowering and protection of the bill of right and more protectors of the constitution (A). These things led to a much wider base of voting and more participation in government by the common man.

            The awe created by a nation of under Jackson was created to countries that looked in on us, some British saw America as a country with little poverty and a more educated public, saying every man a landowner, women factory workers, and a nation were the people were the judges of controversial politicians (D).  These great views o education showed that the education system was coming along and that the poverty was controlled and with the continued establishment of new factories and jobs ion the north.

The Indian removal act was one great example of the power of the Jacksonian government. Jackson was able to negotiate no pain agreements with the Indians and refused to remove them forcefully and opposed the trail of tears (G). One great quote describing his attitude towards Indian removal is “This emigration should be voluntary, for it would be as cruel as unjust to compel the aborigines to abandon the graves of their fathers and seek a home in a distant land. But they should be distinctly informed that if they remain within the limits of the States they must be subject to their laws. In return for their obedience as individuals they will without doubt be protected in the enjoyment of those possessions which they have improved by their industry.” This shows he did not want to force them but only wanted them to go peacefully and if they stayed they would be under the jurisdiction of U.S.’s rule and regulations.

Jacksonian’s also apposed the federal bank which made it harder for the common man to get loans and drove local banks out of business. The national bank was also funded by tax revenues and when requesting more money and changes to their charter Jackson showed his opposition with a presidential veto of there plans (B). Though he was shown strong opposition by the opposite side, his veto was criticized by Daniel Webster (C). He also showed his dislike of the national bank by opening his own pet banks in most of the southern states for the common man. These banks took a lot of the funding originally for the national bank leading to its demise.

The only aspect in which I would not consider myself a Jacksonian is in the issue of the spoils system. The spoils system happened as soon as he came into office instead of keeping the last presidents cabinet he fired them all and let in his friends and relatives, so his cabinets became known as the “Kitchen Cabinet”; Jackson actions gave rise to the spoils system. I don’t think that this was effective or fair, it allowed the positions to be taken by people unqualified and not fit for the job, when they should go to the qualified and well taught. This did lead though to greater rise of the common man in politics.

All these aspects of Jacksonian democracy allow me a better view of how their government worked. This presidency was one of the most important in history changing America’s potential oligarchy into a true people’s democracy. The actions of Jackson for suffrage and not exclusion soon lead to the suffrage of others and the common mans say in a government. All these thing taken together lead us to the age of Jacksonian politics and thought of the nation.

So what if you’re vision becomes blurry after 48 straight hours without sleep? And sure, you do start seeing things after the third day without slumber but who doesn’t want to commune with their late uncle? See, being awake is great. How many good experiences have you had while asleep. None I bet.

So here it is an insomniacs guide to never sleeping again. Until your body shuts down that is.

1. Ensure your bed is extra lumpy, and filled with non-poisonous snakes.

The bed is always the best place to start, if it’s really uncomfortable chances are you won’t be able to nod off into a peaceful dreamed fuelled slumber. So, just go at it with an axe. Mess up the springs, replace your pillow with a soiled jumper or maybe lie on it sideways.

Splintered wood. Perfect!

If that doesn’t work just throw some non-poisonous snakes in there. You won’t die but the bites will keep you pleasantly alert until the wee hours of the morning. Then you might want to try step two.

2. Play music with an unusal dynamic range, or just invite a really bad pub band to your bedroom

Noise tends to be one of the biggest complaints when it comes to non-sleepers. Ticking clocks, leaky taps, neighbours having noisy sex all contribute to a disturbed – and occasionally disturbing night. Perfect for keeping you awake. So. Why not enusre noise by playing music. The problem with that is that it might prove soothing, even the most aggressive song played at the same volume can lull you into a false sense of sleepiness.

Oh Slayer, sing me a dream

So make sure it has a weird dynamic range, where it suddenly goes from quiet to VERY LOUD and all of a sudden quiet again. Tom Waits might be a good place to start, just stay clear of his early piano based stuff.

If that fails to work, just get the worst pub band you can find. Pay them in beer and watch them play shit-rock all night while hoping you ears don’t simply give up on you and stop functioning. Perfect. Well unless they get tired or pass out from the alcohol. Then it’s time for drastic action, see step three.

3. Drink copious amounts of water then sleep in a bath filled with ice.

Most insomniacs have weak bladders or at the very least they think they do. They’ll constantly be up and down to the bathroom with phantom urinary pains. Just because that’s the sort of people they are. To ensure you join them, make sure to chug at least two liters of ice cold water before bed-time, that way you’re sure to remain constantly constant. Unless you’re a really sound sleeper, then you risk falling asleep and destroying some kidneys. Then there’s only one other option, instead of drinking the icy water why not simply sleep in it? You’re bound to be awake shivering till the wee hours of the morning.

Yeah, maybe sever your leg too

NOTE: Be sure to occasionally add some lukewarm or tepid water to the mix, just to ensure you don’t die. This is key.

So there you have it. Soon you’ll be hearing inaudible whispers and communing with Andrew Jackson having lost complete touch with reality. And who doesn’t want that when they sleep?

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There is also the case for 1790 in a court record from Sumner County, Tennessee.  In 1859, a Tennessee historian named Albigence Waldo Putnam, found a document in which Andrew Jackson apparently wrote the word OK in reference to a bill of sale.

There is also the 1815 note in a diary of William Richardson. On his travels from Boston to New Orleans he noted “we arrived ok”.

OK came to be used for business documents and as a telegraph signal to mean that all was fine. In general, though, socially, it implied illiteracy or a rustic background.  Over time, OK came into common usage. President Woodrow Wilson, in the 20th century, marked “okeh” on documents; “okeh” was a word from the Native American Choctaw language, which meant something like “it is so”. OK had come into its own.

International Oks:

Native American Choctaw: Okeh – it is so

Scottish: Och aye – oh yes

Greek: Ola kala – all is right

German: ohne Korrektur – without [need for] correction

Finnish: Oikea – correct

Mandinka: O ke – that’s it

Philippines: okay lang – just okay or just fine

See also: http://socyberty.com/social-sciences/a-ms-by-any-other-name/

Woodrow Wilson: Image via Wikipedia

I believe that Polk held the position as one of the best presidents. Although Polk rarely seeps into everyday conversation, he had done a lot of good in his single term. To this day, he is the only president to fulfil his campaign promises. Polk was very energetic and aggressive  when he ran for any of his offices, and continued to be during his term. He was the youngest member of the House of Representative during his time. His wife had been a major assistance to him for much of his terms of office. But, the only flaw that would ruin my opinion of Polk is his connections that he had with Andrew Jackson. The ideals that Andrew Jackson withheld do not seem so glorious in the eyes of modern analysis. If Polk had not spent so much effort promoting Jackson, he could have made America a lot better. But during his term, he did annex Texas, got some of the Oregon territory, and also California. The tariff was reduced to please the southern planters. And finally, Polk removed the Independent Treasury Plan, which was created under Whig control.

 Andrew Jackson became the 7th American President in 1829 (Web ref 1), one of the issues that he faced in his new role was what should be done about Native Americans. America was a constantly expanding west, the one obstacle in their way was the Native Americans. At this point in time it was not thought that the expansion would ever go any further west than the Mississippi river, for this reason Jackson thought that the solution to the problem would be to negotiate with the Indians so that they could have the land to the west and America could have their land to the east. “Jackson was instrumental in negotiating nine out of eleven treaties which divested the southern tribes of their eastern lands in exchange for lands in the west.” (Web ref 2) He could however reach a deal with the two other tribes; the tribes that agreed did so as it was believed that voluntary migration would be best for them in the long run, and meant they still had land just in the west. This was not completely successful for Jackson though as only a small number of Choctaws, Creeks and Cherokees moved.

 On 26th May 1830 Jackson signed The Indian Removal Act, which set out to relocate Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to the west. This was to be done by negotiating with them giving them the promise of land in the west that would not be under threat from America, if they gave up their land in the east. The policy worked in some cases, the tribes that were willing to take part in the deal gave up their land and moved west with the understanding they would be left to live in peace.

 The story for those who were not willing to go along with Jackson’s deal suffered a different fate. It was stated that if they were unwilling to go ahead with the treaty, their only other choice was to adopt an American way of life. Some natives did this as it seemed like a better option than being forced to move. “Removal efforts were cantered on the so-called “Five Civilized Tribes,” the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminole” (Web ref 3) This tribes unlike others were much more what Americans saw as civilized, their life style was not all that different from other Americans. They were mostly farmers, they set up their own constitution, set up their own road systems and some even kept slaves. The Cherokee epically were unwilling to give up their fertile land, that they had worked on and built up.

 By 1838 Jackson’s policy to relocate native Americans was looking to have been successful, all south-eastern land was now free from an native tribes. Of all the tribes the Cherokee was the one that put up the most of a fight, they were however unsuccessful in their fight and ended up being forced from their land by an army of 7000 men. (Web ref 3) In the process 4000 tribe members died out of 15000, they also lost the majority of their possession and livestock.

Bibliography

Websites: 

Web Ref 1: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/andrewjackson  (26th February 2011)

Web Ref 2: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html  (26th February 2011)

Web Ref 3: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h335.html (26th February 2011)

Image via Wikipedia

Andrew Jackson was a frontiersman who embodied the new American spirit, the idol of the new party who now called themselves Democrat Republicans. They represented a new level of land-frenzied, slavery-condoning Indian-killers. They had won the war and were looking for spoils in the form of jobs from the Jackson White House. There was nothing new about this. It has been practiced with every administration from the beginning to the present day.

Our leaders and forefathers didn’t do well with neighbors. Stealing their land was the prime interest. From the time Columbus stepped on dry land in San Salvador, the history of European relations with the natives they met have been written in blood. It’s the story of betrayal and broken promises from Columbus, John Smith and on to the war of 1812. Force of numbers, betrayal and treachery was Euro-American strategy for dealing with the Indians in the cruelest way imaginable,  killing and removing them from their own land.

Hollywood has left a completely false impression of the Indian Wars. Due to them we think of those days as “cowboy and Indian” days. But in fact it was a “killing spree” that began with the arrivals of the Europeans, and ended with the Indians being killed and stripped of their land. As a treaty commissioner, Jackson managed to take away half the Creek lands, which he and his friends bought on very good terms. And it goes on until the present day. There are very few honest politicians,(in my opinion) if they are clean when going into office, they usually come out rich and dirty.

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Martin Van Buren (December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth President of the United States (1837–1841). Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President (1833–1837) and the tenth Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson (1829–1831).

He was a key organizer of the Democratic Party, a dominant figure in the Second Party System, and the first president not of British descent—his family was Dutch. He was the first president to be born an American citizen,  his predecessors having been born British subjects before the American Revolution. He is also the only president not to have spoken English as his first language, having grown up speaking Dutch, and the first president from New York.

As Andrew Jackson’s Secretary of State and then Vice President, he was a key figure in building the organizational structure for Jacksonian democracy, particularly in New York State. As president, he did not want the United States to annex Texas, an act which his successor, John Tyler, would achieve eight years after Van Buren’s initial rejection. Between the bloodless Aroostook War and the Caroline Affair, relations with Britain and its colonies in Canada also proved to be strained.

His administration was largely characterized by the economic hardship of his time, the Panic of 1837. He was scapegoated for the depression and called “Martin Van Ruin” by his political opponents. Van Buren was voted out of office after four years, losing to Whig candidate William Henry Harrison.

In 1848, he ran for president on a third-party ticket, the Free Soil Party.

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837). Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans (1815) and the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814). A polarizing figure who dominated the Second Party System in the 1820s and 1830s, he destroyed the national bank and relocated most Indian tribes to the west. His enthusiastic followers created the modern Democratic Party, and the 1830-1850 period later became known as the era of Jacksonian democracy.

Jackson was nicknamed “Old Hickory” because of his toughness and aggressive personality that produced numerous duels, some fatal. He was a rich slave owner who appealed to the masses of Americans and fought against what he denounced as a closed undemocratic aristocracy. He expanded the spoils system during his presidency to strengthen his political base, regardless of the cost of inefficiency and bias.

As president, he supported a small and limited federal government but strengthened the power of the presidency, which he saw as spokesman for the entire population–as opposed to Congressmen from a specific small district. He was supportive of states’ rights, but, during the Nullification Crisis, declared that states do not have the right to nullify federal laws. Strongly against the national bank, he vetoed the renewal of its charter and ensured its collapse. Whigs and moralists denounced his aggressive enforcement of the Indian Removal Act, which resulted in the forced relocation of Native American tribes to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

His legacy is now seen as mixed by historians. He is praised as a protector of popular democracy and individual liberty for American citizens, but criticized for his support for slavery and Indian removal.

John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth President of the United States (1825–1829). He was also an American diplomat and served in both the Senate and House of Representatives. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former President John Adams and Abigail Adams. As a diplomat, Adams was involved in many international negotiations, and as Secretary of State, he helped formulate the Monroe Doctrine. Historians agree he was one of the great diplomats in American history.

As president, he proposed a program of modernization and educational advancement, but Congress, controlled by his enemies, stymied him. Adams lost his 1828 bid for re-election to Andrew Jackson. In doing so, he became the first President since his father to serve a single term. As president, he envisioned a plan for national greatness resting on economic growth and a strong federal government, but his presidency was not a success as he lacked political adroitness, popularity or a network of supporters, and ran afoul of politicians eager to undercut him.

Adams is best known as a diplomat who shaped America’s foreign policy in line with his conservative and ardently nationalist commitment to America’s republican values. More recently Howe (2007) portrayed Adams as the exemplar and moral leader in an era of modernization when new technologies and networks of infrastructure and communication brought to the people messages of religious revival, social reform, and party politics, as well as moving goods, money and people ever more rapidly and efficiently.