Age of Jackson: Crash Course US History #14

2013-05-09

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In which John Green teaches you about the presidency of Andrew Jackson So how did a president with astoundingly bad fiscal policies end up on the $20 bill? That's a question we can't answer, but we can tell you how Jackson got to be president, and how he changed the country when he got the job. Jackson's election was more democratic than any previous presidential election. More people were able to vote, and they picked a doozie. Jackson was a well-known war hero, and he was elected over his longtime political enemy, John Quincy Adams. Once Jackson was in office, he did more to expand executive power than any of the previous occupants of the White House. He used armed troops to collect taxes, refused to enforce legislation and supreme court legislation, and hired and fired his staff based on support in elections. He was also the first president to regularly wield the presidential veto as a political tool. Was he a good president? Watch this video and draw your own conclusions.

Hey teachers and students - Check out CommonLit's free collection of reading passages and curriculum resources to learn more about the events of this episode. One of Andrew Jackson's most lasting and memorable policies was that of Indian removal: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/andrew-jackson-s-speech-to-congress-on-indian-removal

Jackson’s promotion of this cause led to the infamous Trail of Tears: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/excerpt-from-trail-of-tears-diary

Chapters:

Introduction: the Age of Jackson 00:00

Democracy in the United States 0:32

Economics during the Era of Good Feelings 1:56

The Monroe Doctrine 2:48

John Quincy Adams 3:17

The Missouri Compromise 3:56

Martin Van Buren, "The Little Magician", and other Presidential Nicknames 4:58

Andrew Jackson's Presidential Campaign 6:16

The Democratic Party 7:15

The Whig Party 7:41