Andrew Jackson remains as a controversial president to this day. While he did expand the American view of democracy, his attitude towards blacks and native americans were on the opposite side of the spectrum. The famous “Trail of Tears” is one of the major instances where Jackson completely ignored Worcester vs Georgia and forced the Cherokees to move westward, resulting in the decline of the Cherokee population.
This year in March, President Trump actually visited Jackson’s tomb and honored him. This sent further anxiety amongst the Cherokee people. Trump has been incredibly open his admiration towards Jackson and has even hung a portrait of him in the Oval office. It has now become common for people to poke fun at the president by comparing him towards Andrew Jackson in a number of ways. Some claim that both were hypocrites towards how they both spoke to the common man and even have compared their physical appearances. Yet some even question that perhaps Jackson’s general background and love for democracy made him “better” than Trump in certain ways.
President Trump recently decided to rescind DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) which grants protection towards young immigrants who had lived in the US for the majority of their lives but did not have the legal papers. DACA was not granted to everybody, there were a certain list of criteria that one would have to meet to qualify.
Trump’s decision would mean that about twenty two thousand five hundred Indians and Pakistanis could face deportation. Trump has left the final decision to rest on Congress’s shoulders, claiming his rightful decision under the idea of the American ideology. This corresponds to Jackson’s support towards “America first” yet this does not include those outside of the white spectrum of “Americans”. Trump claims that his choice towards ending the program is in a response to help the unemployed and “forgotten” Americans. Congress has until March 5, 2018 to decide what to do about the program.
The similarities between Trump’s view of American and Jackson’s is incredibly surprising considering the length of time that has been between them. While Jackson did not even consider women’s suffrage, his total lack of empathy towards the Native Americans and the blacks who were employed as slave during his time was shown in his administration. Trump rests on his decision for DACA because he share the same view of fighting for white Americans. Either way, we see how history can repeat itself through the comparison of Trump and Jackson.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/05/politics/daca-trump-congress/index.html
http://www.firstpost.com/world/trump-ends-daca-17000-indians-risk-deportation-5500-indian-pak-daca-recipients-in-limbo-4016887.html
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/may/02/whats-up-with-donald-trump-andrew-jackson/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cherokee-nation-trump-andrew-jackson_us_58c9bbd1e4b0ec9d29d88e02
Madison, I really liked your post. You tackled a different angle at the same comparison between the two presidents. I appreciated how you were able to compare the Trail of Tears to the removal of DACA, as you were able to relate Jackson's past actions to specific, recent events in the US today. Another thing similar about the Trump and Jackson historic relationship is their opinion on the Supreme Court. Both have strongly disputed and disagreed with decisions by the Court, and have ultimately found different ways to circumvent, or get the court to agree with their positions. Also, they have semi-similar hair!
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/us/politics/donald-trump-andrew-jackson.html?mcubz=3
Your post was very accurate and captured the essence of the Trump-Jackson parallels. Adding onto what you mentioned about them both being hypocrites, another similarity between Jackson and Trump is that their backgrounds and social statuses do not match their political messages. Jackson was an incredibly wealthy slave owner who loved to show off his luxurious properties, but at the same time, he was against Federalist elitism. Similarly, Trump is a gazillionaire who likes to flaunt his property, but he asked the American people to trust that he would not be an elitist like the Clintons and that he would care for the common man.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.forbes.com/profile/donald-trump/