The First Time
The first time Andrew Jackson defied the Supreme Court was when he vetoed a bill called, "An act to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States." Previous presidents had only vetoed bills they deemed unconstitutional, but Andrew Jackson vetoed the bill because he felt that it was biased to make the rich richer. The Supreme Court had ruled that the bill was constitutional, but Jackson refused to sign the bill. This was a tyrannical act by Jackson because the checks and balances system states that Supreme Court Rulings' must be followed, but Jackson completely disregarded this.
Indian Removal Policy
The second time Andrew Jackson defied the Supreme Court was when Congress passed the Indian Removal Policy. This allowed Jackson to make treaties with Native American Tribes, such as giving them supplies and exchanging their Eastern land for Western Land. This law never stated that force could be used to remove the Natives, but Jackson disagreed. John Marshall and the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to move tribes using force, such as the Cherokee, but Jackson sent the Federal Army to remove the Sac, Fox and Creek Indians from their land. This is yet another act of tyranny from Andrew Jackson because he overruled the Supreme Court again.
Nullification Crisis/Force Bill
In 1828, Congress passed a tax on imported goods. The South was angered by this as they thought it favored the North, because factories and trade were based in the North. South Carolina, encouraged by Jackson's vice president, John C. Calhoun, declared the tax null and void, and if Jackson tried to enforce the tax, they would secede from the the United States. This led to Andrew Jackson signing the Force Bill, which stated that the Federal Army could be used to collect taxes. This was another act of tyranny, as Andrew Jackson threatened his own citizens.
Loving Husband and Father
Some people might point out that Andrew Jackson was a loving husband as he got in multiple duels defending his wife, because she had not technically divorced her husband before marrying Jackson. Jackson also adopted two orphaned Indian sons, and raised them as his own. This shows that he could be, at times a loving person. However, in a duel defending his wife once, he killed a man. Even though he took in two orphaned Indians, he had no sympathy for the rest of the Indians, as demonstrated in the Indian Removal Policy. He was willing to use force to clear the Indians from their land.
Tyrant
In conclusion, Andrew Jackson was a tyrant, and nothing more. He defied the Supreme Court twice, once by refusing to sign a bill that was deemed constitutional simply because he didn't like it, and he also used force to carry out the Indian Removal Act, even thought it was deemed unconstitutional. He also signed the Force Bill, which let him use force to collect taxes, and threatened to hang his own citizens. Even though Andrew Jackson was elected the president of the United States of America, he was a tyrant.
Credits:
Created with images by mandalariangirl - "Andrew Jackson 1829-1837" • DonkeyHotey - "Democratic Donkey - Icon" • TBIT - "dollar bank note money" • TradingCardsNPS - "Trail of Tears for the Creek People" • delgaudm - "Andrew Jackson"