Political Cartoon: "King Andrew The First"

  This political cartoon from around the year 1833, portrays Andrew Jackson dressed in ornate, regal clothing representing a king or monarch. Jackson was starting to be seen as an overbearing tyrant who did what he wanted without consent from other parties. 
  America, being a nation based on democracy, did not want a supreme ruler, but wanted power to the people. Americans had already been ruled by the monarch of Great Britain, and a repeat of that experience was not desired, so you can see how this cartoon would be seen as a negative portrayal of Andrew Jackson.
  In Jackson's hand there is a scroll titled "VETO", this most likely refers to his controversial decision to veto Congress's bill to recharter the banks in 1832. Jackson believed the Bank of t he United States was unconstitutional and held too much power, so he chose to resist it once the decision to recharter it came around (he vetoed it). This decision by the president was very unexpected, and added to the reasons some Americans believed Andrew Jackson was trying to be a dictator figure versus the president of a democracy.
  The removal of government deposits from the Bank of the United States was an action taken by Jackson to lower the power of the Bank, he did this without congressional approval. Yet another plan by Jackson which caused his view of his own power to be called into question.
  Under foot of Andrew Jackson in the picture is the "Constitution of the United States of America" and the "Internal Improvements U.S. Bank" all tattered and ripped up. This portrays Jackson's apparent disregard for both of these ideals. People began to think that 
Jackson was surpassing his Constitutional power as president, along with his neglectful attitude towards the Bank of the United States and the eventual veto towards rechartering it. A book is also thrown to the side in a disregarding manner, titled "Judiciary of the U.States" implying that Andrew Jackson also had no concern for the constitutional laws of the judicial branch of the Unites States.

 This political cartoon is a negative representation of Andrew Jackson which implies he has too much power, and thinks he can do whatever he believes is good for the country without consequence.

Letter from George Washington to William Crawford, 1767

    The primary source was written in September of 1767 by George Washington to William Crawford about land. It sounded very much like Washington wanted Crawford to "reserve" an amazing piece of land in Pennsylvania for him, but to keep the situation a secret. At this point in time, the French and Indian War was recent history (the British won) and the Proclamation of 1763 was in effect.
(picture to left shows Line of Proclamation)

     Washington seemed not concerned with the Proclamation's rules and states, "I can never look upon that Proclamation in any other light (but this I say between ourselves) than as a temporary expedient to quiet the Minds of the Indians and must fall of course in a few years" He believed the Proclamation wouldn't last very long.

     Washington wanted to snatch the land while he could, he knew it wouldn't be sitting empty and without an owner forever, he writes to Crawford, "such a piece of Land as this be found you woud do me a singular favour in falling upon some method to secure it immediatel⟨y⟩ from the attempts of any other". Crawford was the way Washington was going to receive this amazing piece of land.

     He also seemed to be very serious when instructing Crawford not to tell anyone, he writes "I might be censurd for the opinion I have given in respect to the Kings Proclamation & then if the Scheme I am now proposing to you was known it might give the alarm to others & by putting them upon a Plan of the same nature". Washington did not want his name tainted, or other people to get the same idea as him- he especially didn't want anyone to know how he felt about the King's Proclamation.
     Basically, Washington wanted to get prime land while he could, and wanted Crawford's help to do so. He knew the Proclamation of 1763 wouldn't last forever and seemed to believe it wasn't a smart idea.

link: http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-08-02-0020