Question

First Inaugural Address of Andrew Jackson, selected quotes

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 1829

"Fellow-Citizens:

1. … In administering the laws of Congress I shall keep steadily in view the limitations as well as the extent of the Executive power trusting thereby to discharge the functions of my office without transcending its authority. …
2. In such measures as I may be called on to pursue in regard to the rights of the separate States I hope to be animated by a proper respect for those sovereign members of our Union, …
3. This I shall aim at the more anxiously both because it will facilitate the extinguishment of the national debt, the unnecessary duration of which is incompatible with real independence, …
4. that the spirit of equity, caution and compromise in which the Constitution was formed requires that the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures should be equally favored …
5. As long as our Government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of person and of property, liberty of conscience and of the press, it will be worth defending …"

In Section 3, Jackson identifies what he believes to be a threat to the independence of the United States. What is it?
Manufacturers
Compromise
National debt
States' rights

Answer 1

The national debt, the unnecessary duration of which is incompatible with real independence…" This means that Jackson believed in order to be a completely independent nation, meaning that we did not rely on any other nation for support or assistance, that we needed to extinguish, or get rid of, national debt. Even in today's terms, this still holds true. If you owe your parents money, you are still relying on them. When you can take care of all of your own needs and do not need to borrow from others to support yourself, then you are truly independent.