0:00:06.755,0:00:10.037 A national hero? Or public enemy number one? 0:00:10.037,0:00:12.450 Historical figures are often controversial, 0:00:12.450,0:00:14.836 but few were as deified or vilified 0:00:14.836,0:00:16.496 in their lifetime 0:00:16.496,0:00:19.129 as the seventh President of the United States. 0:00:19.129,0:00:22.888 This is History vs. Andrew Jackson. 0:00:22.888,0:00:27.973 "Order, order, hm, uh, what were we...ah yes, Mr. Jackson! 0:00:27.973,0:00:31.225 You stand accused of degrading the office of the presidency, 0:00:31.225,0:00:33.612 causing financial collapse 0:00:33.612,0:00:36.644 and wanton cruelty against American Indians. 0:00:36.644,0:00:39.147 How do you plead?" 0:00:39.147,0:00:41.558 "Now, Your Honor, I am not a big city lawyer, 0:00:41.558,0:00:43.865 but I do know a few things. 0:00:43.865,0:00:45.532 And I know that President Jackson was 0:00:45.532,0:00:47.035 a self-made frontiersman, 0:00:47.035,0:00:48.157 a great general, 0:00:48.157,0:00:50.788 a real man of the people." 0:00:50.788,0:00:52.583 "Your Honor, this 'man of the people' was a gambler, 0:00:52.583,0:00:54.480 a drunk, and a brawler. 0:00:54.480,0:00:55.890 Why, I've heard it said that 0:00:55.890,0:00:57.087 he would fight at the drop of the hat 0:00:57.087,0:00:58.808 and then drop the hat himself. 0:00:58.808,0:00:59.974 I ask you, 0:00:59.974,0:01:02.875 was such a man fit for the most distinguished office in the nation? 0:01:02.875,0:01:05.159 Can we forget the debacle of his inauguration? 0:01:05.159,0:01:07.557 Who ever heard of inviting a drunken mob 0:01:07.557,0:01:09.146 into the White House? 0:01:09.146,0:01:12.205 It took ages to get the upholstery clean." 0:01:12.205,0:01:15.563 "That drunken mob, sir, was the American people, 0:01:15.563,0:01:18.064 and they deserve to celebrate their victory." 0:01:18.064,0:01:21.975 "Order, order! Now, did this celebration have pie?" 0:01:21.975,0:01:24.363 "Very well. Mr. Jackson, is it not the case 0:01:24.363,0:01:25.812 that immediately upon assuming office 0:01:25.812,0:01:27.584 you introduced the spoils system, 0:01:27.584,0:01:30.481 replacing hundreds of perfectly good federal employees 0:01:30.481,0:01:33.497 with incompetent party loyalists?" 0:01:33.497,0:01:35.664 "Your Honor, the President did no such thing. 0:01:35.664,0:01:38.003 He tried to institute rotation in office 0:01:38.003,0:01:41.098 to avoid any profiteering or funny business. 0:01:41.098,0:01:42.514 It was the rest of the party 0:01:42.514,0:01:45.726 who insisted on giving posts to their lackeys." 0:01:45.726,0:01:48.228 "But Mr. Jackson complied, did he not?" 0:01:48.228,0:01:50.251 "Now, uh, see here." 0:01:50.251,0:01:51.435 "Moving on. 0:01:51.435,0:01:53.524 Mr. Jackson, did you not help to cause 0:01:53.524,0:01:55.938 the financial Panic of 1837, 0:01:55.938,0:01:58.063 and the ensuing economic depression 0:01:58.063,0:01:59.808 with your obsessive war 0:01:59.808,0:02:01.524 against the Bank of the United States? 0:02:01.524,0:02:03.391 Was not vetoing its reauthorization, 0:02:03.391,0:02:05.391 as you did in 1832, 0:02:05.391,0:02:08.282 an act of irresponsible populace pandering 0:02:08.282,0:02:10.333 that made no economic sense?" 0:02:10.333,0:02:12.480 "Your Honor, the gentleman has quite the imagination. 0:02:12.480,0:02:14.497 That bank was just a way for rich Yanks 0:02:14.497,0:02:15.742 to get richer. 0:02:15.742,0:02:17.573 And all that money panic was caused 0:02:17.573,0:02:19.458 when British banks raised interest rates 0:02:19.458,0:02:20.835 and cut lending. 0:02:20.835,0:02:23.829 To blame it on the President is preposterous, I say." 0:02:23.829,0:02:26.307 "But if Mr. Jackson had not destroyed the National Bank, 0:02:26.307,0:02:28.678 it would have been able to lend to farmers 0:02:28.678,0:02:31.145 and businesses when other credit dried up, 0:02:31.145,0:02:32.569 would it not?" 0:02:32.569,0:02:34.473 "Hm, this is all highly speculative. 0:02:34.473,0:02:35.648 Can we move on?" 0:02:35.648,0:02:36.791 "Certainly, Your Honor. 0:02:36.791,0:02:38.159 We now come to Mr. Jackson's 0:02:38.159,0:02:39.098 most terrible offense: 0:02:39.098,0:02:41.724 forcing entire tribes out of their native lands 0:02:41.724,0:02:44.312 via the Indian Removal Act." 0:02:44.312,0:02:46.064 "I resent that accusation, sir. 0:02:46.064,0:02:47.913 The U.S. of A. bought that land from the Indians 0:02:47.913,0:02:49.592 fair and square." 0:02:49.592,0:02:51.450 "Do you call coercion and threats 0:02:51.450,0:02:53.898 by a nation with a far more powerful army 0:02:53.898,0:02:55.505 fair and square? 0:02:55.505,0:02:58.144 Or signing a treaty for removing the Cherokee 0:02:58.144,0:02:59.918 with a small group that didn't include 0:02:59.918,0:03:01.294 their actual leaders? 0:03:01.294,0:03:02.588 They didn't have time to properly 0:03:02.588,0:03:05.422 supply themselves before the army came 0:03:05.422,0:03:07.759 and forced them to march the Trail of Tears." 0:03:07.759,0:03:08.802 "Now, hold on a minute. 0:03:08.802,0:03:10.406 This was all Van Buren's doing 0:03:10.406,0:03:12.875 after President Jackson left office." 0:03:12.875,0:03:14.859 "But Mr. Jackson laid the groundwork 0:03:14.859,0:03:17.045 and made sure the treaty was ratified. 0:03:17.045,0:03:19.063 All President Van Buren had to do afterwards 0:03:19.063,0:03:20.720 was enforce it." 0:03:20.720,0:03:22.366 "Look here, Your Honor. 0:03:22.366,0:03:24.061 Our government's been purchasing 0:03:24.061,0:03:25.644 Indian land since the beginning, 0:03:25.644,0:03:27.444 and my client was negotiating these deals 0:03:27.444,0:03:28.744 even before he was President. 0:03:28.744,0:03:30.640 President Jackson truly believed 0:03:30.640,0:03:32.033 it was best for the Indians 0:03:32.033,0:03:33.796 to get compensated for their land 0:03:33.796,0:03:35.151 and move out West, 0:03:35.151,0:03:36.373 where there was plenty of space 0:03:36.373,0:03:37.313 for them to keep living 0:03:37.313,0:03:38.366 the way they were accustomed, 0:03:38.366,0:03:39.724 rather than stick around 0:03:39.724,0:03:41.585 and keep butting heads with the white settlers. 0:03:41.585,0:03:43.380 Some of whom, I remind our court, 0:03:43.380,0:03:45.338 wanted to exterminate them outright. 0:03:45.338,0:03:46.975 It was a different time." 0:03:46.975,0:03:48.926 "And yet, even in this different time, 0:03:48.926,0:03:50.557 there were many in Congress 0:03:50.557,0:03:51.482 and even the Supreme Court 0:03:51.482,0:03:53.035 who saw how wrong the Removal Act was 0:03:53.035,0:03:54.478 and loudly opposed it, 0:03:54.478,0:03:56.140 were there not?" 0:03:56.140,0:03:58.474 "My client was under a great deal of pressure. 0:03:58.474,0:04:00.558 I say, do you think it's easy 0:04:00.558,0:04:02.440 governing such a huge country 0:04:02.440,0:04:03.766 and keeping the Union together, 0:04:03.766,0:04:05.443 when states are fixing to nullify 0:04:05.443,0:04:06.902 federal laws? 0:04:06.902,0:04:08.783 President Jackson barely got South Carolina 0:04:08.783,0:04:10.724 to back down over those import tariffs, 0:04:10.724,0:04:12.808 and then Georgia had to go discover gold 0:04:12.808,0:04:14.701 and start grabbing up Cherokee land. 0:04:14.701,0:04:16.703 It was either get the Indians to move 0:04:16.703,0:04:19.080 or get in another fight with a state government." 0:04:19.080,0:04:20.994 "So, you admit that Mr. Jackson 0:04:20.994,0:04:22.626 sacrified moral principles to achieve 0:04:22.626,0:04:24.141 some political goals?" 0:04:24.141,0:04:27.058 "I do declare, show me one leader who hasn't." 0:04:27.058,0:04:29.308 As societies change and morals evolve, 0:04:29.308,0:04:30.819 yesterday's hero may become 0:04:30.819,0:04:33.470 tomorrow's villain, or vice versa. 0:04:33.470,0:04:35.397 History may be past, 0:04:35.397,0:04:39.397 but our understanding of it is always on trial.