Andrew Jackson
The Democratic Zero
Nullification Crisis
When Jackson and the Congress passed the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832, the South became very angry because these tariffs didn't help the South even though they very much helped the Northern economy. Many Southerners disagreed with this and didn't pay the taxes associated with the tariffs. South Carolina even threatened to secede saying that the U.S. Constitution allowed states to individually nullify federal laws for the whole union. After hearing this, Jackson quickly passed the Force Bill which allowed the United States Army to come and enforce the tariffs.
Destroyed The National Bank
In 1833, Jackson destroyed the National Bank because he thought the bank symbolized the privileged, wealthy businessmen oppressed the will of the common man, who Jackson represented. He planned to challenge the constitutionality of the bank, even though most of his supporters were against it. When Jackson presented his case to Congress against the bank, the Congresses' members agreed that it was indeed constitutional. A couple years later, when Congress attempted to draw up a new charter for the bank, which Jackson vetoed. On the tenth of September, 1833, Jackson removed all federal funds from the bank, separating them into different state banks. Even though Jackson got what he wanted, Congress attacked Jackson for what they thought was an abuse of presidential power during the "Bank War".
Indian Removal Act
In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which made the Indians have to move to the "Indian Territory", which the federal government had bought and set up from the Louisiana Purchase. Even though in cases such as Worcester vs. Georgia in 1832 and Cherokee vs. Georgia in 1831 where the Supreme Court objected to the act and removal saying that the Indians were sovereign nations and "in which the laws of Georgia [and other states] can have no force. Andrew Jackson and the federal government ignored the Supreme Court's ruling and didn't enforce it. Even though Jackson didn't necessarily carry out the Trail of Tears, he came up with the idea which sent 4,000 out of 16,000 Cherokee Indians to their deaths.