Why Is Andrew Jackson Still On The $20?
Introduction
I had long thought about Andrew Jackson's horrible legacy as a President since I took American History 1 and 2 in roughly 2007/2008. I had often wondered how and why he is still on the US $20 bill. Recent things I learned through my own research in 2021 compelled me to write this document.
Bottom line up front: Andrew Jackson's face
should be wiped off of all US currency and replaced with the
face of Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet Tubman, or someone who
actually deserves this recognition. And if I was ever
elected President, it would be one of the very first things I
do, if not the first thing. Here is a list of reasons why
his face should be removed from our currency.
Most Heinous: Genocide
Most readers are familiar with the Trail of Tears event in US history. But most may not realize that it was Andrew Jackson's "Indian removal policy" that put this event in motion.
One of the first events was the case of Worchester v. Georgia where the US Supreme Court held that the Cherokee constituted a nation with sovereign powers. The state of Georgia annexed Cherokee lands. The state of Georgia ignored the US Supreme Court and asked the US Federal Government to move the Cherokee, which is where Andrew Jackson's famous quote came from (though he actually said the US Supreme Court "cannot coerce Georgia to yield").
Think about it this way: a sovereign people and nation (Cherokee) who didn't do business our way learned how to defend themselves in our legal system but was still forced to move by the US Army. So even though we were the aggressor, they still played by our "civilized" rules and lost. And Andrew Jackson's fingerprints are all over this genocidal event.
It wasn't his first involvement with taking things from the Native Americans. He imposed the treaty of Fort Jackson on the Muskogee to surrender 23 million acres of land. So he took land from the Native Americans before the Trail of Tears event.
Ownership of Slaves
I realize many people in this time period owned slaves, but this is still unacceptable. Again, we should expect our federal governmental officials to defend the Constitution and also our ideals (Declaration of Independence). If they don't, they don't deserve to be honored. They were on the wrong side of history.
Andrew Jackson not only owned slaves but was at one point tasked to prevent the state of Florida (still under Spanish power) from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves (i.e. the Gullah). In fact, when tasked with this by president Monroe, he instead decided to seize Florida from Spain. More war for land. Andrew Jackson's behavior towards the slaves wasn't even just the reprehensible level of owning them: he fought to prevent them from running away.
Andrew Jackson claimed, in a letter, that he could not "bear the inhumanity that [his supervisor in charge of his slaves] has exercised towards my poor Negros, contrary to his promise and has impaired my confidence in him." However, I would point out that Andrew Jackson still owned slaves, which makes him culpable for whatever happened to them, including the responsibility for them even being enslaved (i.e. if you own them, their slavery is your fault).
Jackson's political activities, as a whole,
supported slavery even if Jackson liked to style himself as the
"beneficent" slave owner. And his chosen path of staying
in the Democratic party, the party ultimately responsible for
the beginning of the Civil War and also for Jim Crow laws,
doesn't help his image.
US Bank and Recession
Then on top of this, in my studies in 2007-2008, I discovered that Andrew Jackson fought with the US Bank and had it dissolved through bullying tactics. His actions led to an economic crisis. In evaluating Jackson's claimed reasons for breaking up the US Bank, he really had no legitimate ones, and it seems he merely hated those in charge of it. Basically Jackson ended the US Bank because he hated the person running it.
Jackson's allegations of the US Bank being a
political force were not incorrect, but Jackson's move to put
federal money into local and state banks didn't change the fact
that this gave states power over the federal government.
So in the end, Jackson's behaviors only contributed to the
financial crash of 1837, seemingly because he was too busy
ending the US Bank to make sure what he replaced it with would
prevent the collapse of the US economy. Ironically, while
Jackson paid off the US debts right before this, his actions led
to the US debt increasing during and after the financial
recession he caused.
Generally Not Someone to Look Up To
Even if we ignore these two heinous objections about Andrew Jackson, let us examine what type of man he was. We will shortly find that he was not one worthy of our admonition or emulation.
Sadly, Andrew Jackson claimed to believe in God. This makes what we have discussed, and what comes next, even more damning.
He frequently engaged in duels, and reported participating in over 100 of them. Even if few ended in actual shots being fired, Jackson had a horrible temper and was responsible for at least one murder at the hand of a duel: Charles Dickinson. Never mind the fact that the Bible tells us to solve our differences and not to insult one another. Never mind the fact the Bible has strong words against murder. "Duels were common in those days" is no excuse.
I once read, but the source escapes me, that Andrew Jackson once told someone in the Army that he would rather be feared than respected. He used his anger to get what he wanted.
Replace Andrew Jackson
Therefore, Andrew Jackson's image should be replaced on all US currency and symbols with a better person. Here are some options:
- Martin Luther King, Jr. I assume the reader will know why.
- Harriet Tubman, for her efforts to free the slaves.
- General James Longstreet, for his change of heart after the
Civil War and putting down an uprising in Colfax of whites who
were attempting to block black voters from polling places.