What is the first major political issue that marks President Jackson’s presidency?

There are two possible answers to this.  One answer is the veto of the Maysville Road bill and the second is Indian Removal.  Indian Removal is definitely the bigger issue, at least as we things today, and it came at nearly the same as the Maysville veto.  However, Jackson did veto the Maysville bill a day before he signed the Indian Removal bill.

The Maysville Road bill would have had the federal government pay for building a road that was wholly within the state of Kentucky.  At this point in history, some people wanted the federal government to aggressively build up transportation infrastructure in the US in order to help the economy grow.  They felt that roads and canals were important to the whole country, even if they were only within one state.  For example, the Maysville Road would have helped goods get to the Ohio River, on which they could be moved between states.  Jackson, however, vetoed the bill because he said that it was wrong (and unconstitutional) for the federal government to fund projects that would only physically exist in one state.  This veto was politically controversial because it limited the power of the federal government and because some people saw it as an excessive use of presidential power.

Indian Removal was also controversial.  The issue at hand was whether the government should take Native Americans from the Southeast and move them out beyond the Mississippi River.  White settlers wanted the lands where the Indians lived in the Southeast.  Therefore, they put pressure on the government to remove the Indians.  Jackson was in favor of removing the Indians, but many people argued against him for various reasons.  Some people opposed Jackson for humanitarian reasons, but more people opposed him for political reasons.  They were generally less interested in acting justly towards Native Americans than with hurting Jackson politically.  Whatever the reasons, this bill was politically controversial as well.

One of these two controversies is likely to be the correct answer.  I would guess that you are expected to say that Indian Removal was the first major controversy in Jackson’s presidency, but you should check your textbook and/or class notes to be sure.