Andrew Jackson – The Hermitage
November 12, 2011
The ghost of Andrew Jackson wanders the fields of the Hermitage, calling for his beloved Rachel. But Rachel is no more. She lies under the garden gazebo patiently awaiting her husband. This is one of the many stories we heard during out visit to Andrew Jackson’s plantation outside Nashville, Tennessee.
We flew to Nashville early in the morning, rented a car and zipped over to the Hermitage plantation in 15 minutes. To reach the Hermitage, go east on I-40, take exit 221, drive for five more minutes and you’re there. The admission was $18 for adults with a $2 discount for AAA. For an additional $10 you can take a wagon ride (we did).
At the visitor center, we watched a 15-minute introductory movie on the life of Andrew Jackson, described by the narrator as a "Democratic autocrat." We have learned, as we continue our quest to visit every president's house, that the introductory films are not to be missed if you want to learn about a president, his family and his life.
Jackson served in the American Revolution as a teenager, running messages for the Americans. He was ideal for this role because he knew the Carolina woods. Sadly, the war was cruel to him. In addition to Jackson being captured and imprisoned, he lost his mother and both brothers. His father died before he was born.
Jackson became a lawyer at age 20 and in 1788 moved “West” to Nashville where he practiced law and speculated in land. In 1796, he was elected to Congress as a representative for Tennessee. But he found himself restless and resigned after a year.
He joined the Tennessee Militia as an officer. During the War of 1812 he commanded an army that included pirates (such as Jean Lafitte), freed slaves, and Native Americans to defend New Orleans from the British. Unlike many American troops, Jackson did not flee when attacked, but held his ground and decisively beat the British. His troops called him “Old Hickory” because of his toughness. And his fame grew.
In 1824 General Jackson — he liked to be called General — found himself a candidate for president. As we noted before, Jackson won the most popular and electoral votes but did not have the majority needed. The election was moved to the House of Representatives, which selected John Quincy Adams. Jackson was elected in his own right in 1828. In 1832, he won re-election under the newly formed Democratic Party.
Following the movie, we received a complimentary audio guide that contained 1.5 hours of information keyed to numbers on signs placed throughout the grounds. Always get the audio guides (especially when they're free!): Although they make conversations tough, they are quite informative and interesting.
The museum features life-size statues of General Jackson and his wife. They made a curious pair; he was lean and tall (6’ 1” and 140 lbs.) while his wife, Rachel, was short and chubby. Their love story is unique. Jackson met Rachel while he was boarding in her mother's house. Rachel was married to another man at the time. However, her marriage was troubled -- speculation was spousal abuse -- and Rachel came back to live at her mother’s house. Jackson and Rachel fell in love and married, thinking that her first husband had filed for divorce — but he had not. It was years before they discovered this, filed the necessary paperwork and remarried. This “bigamy” would come to haunt both of them later, when Jackson was running for president. Jackson and Rachel were unable to have children and adopted Andrew Jackson Jr., one of two twins born to a relative.
The Mansion
After the introduction, we walked out the back door of the museum and followed a winding path to the mansion. It is the same path that the many visitors to the Hermitage took 170 years ago.
As we approached the mansion, Doug Stephenson, a large bearded man in period garb, greeted us. When we asked how he was doing, he said, “For an old fat man, I’m doing all right.”
The tour was similar to that of the Mount Vernon mansion in that there are different guides for each part of the house. Mr. Stephenson handed us off to Kim Choudhury in the main entrance. She was dressed in period garb. She confided that things were a bit out of the ordinary--one of the other guides was being buried that day. He had died suddenly following gall bladder surgery.
An interesting aspect of presidents' lives that we're discovering is the importance of the house, specifically the size of the house. Things haven't changed much. The Hermitage is a perfect example of the "bigger is better" mentality of America. Jackson and his wife, Rachel, lived in a small, two-room log cabin on the property when they were first married. But then they upgraded -- to the gigantic mansion visitors see today.
In an effort to make himself look wealthier than he was, Jackson did some creative things with the house. For example, the columns supporting the house and the fireplace mantels in the rooms are painted to look like they're marble, but they are actually wood.
Like John Adams before him, Jackson built himself a house with big rooms — in Jackson's case, rooms that could fit several from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello or James Madison's Montpelier in each one. The house and its rooms are by far the largest we have seen so far on our presidential journey.
Jackson's bedroom is particularly enormous and is shown to tourists complete with volumes of newspapers bound into volumes so he - an avid newspaper reader -- could read them and save them. He died in the bedroom in 1845, at the age of 78. He had many problems throughout his life: dysentery, malaria, and small pox as a child. He also had a bullet in chest near his heart that was constantly hemorrhaging. (More on that later.)
Despite the vast size of the rooms — or maybe because of it — guests had to sleep with each other. The Jacksons would get 20-25 visitors a night, who would have to smush into two guest bedrooms on the top floor. “That means you’re going to sleep with someone you don’t know,” Stephenson said.
Those who didn't fit in the beds slept on the floor. And many visitors, including Madison, Jefferson, James K. Polk, Martin Van Buren, the Marquis de Lafayette and Sam Houston, during the summer slept on the second-story porch where it was much cooler, with a breeze, than cooped up at the top of the house. Remember, heat rises.
The best feature of the mansion was the wallpaper, which is basically a mural showing the story of Telemachus by Fenelon. It is resplendent with bright blues, browns and oranges. Following a fire in 1834, Jackson insisted on replacing the wall paper as it had been—he called it “Rachel’s wallpaper.”
Wagon Ride
After the mansion tour, we were given an option to ride a wagon pulled by two black Percherons, Molly and Rachel. The ride costs $10 and tickets may be purchased at the entrance or directly from the driver. Our driver, Carl, had a honey southern accent that we later learned was a mix of South Dakota and Tennessee.
The horses pulled us through fields and into the Field Quarter, the housing area of the “enslaved people” of the Hermitage. When I asked Carl why he -- and all the signage at the Hermitage -- used the word “enslaved people” rather than “slaves,” he replied that “the word slave is a cuss word” to him. The term “enslaved people” acknowledges the humanity of the people chained to the Hermitage. (It makes perfect sense and we will use that term from now on. “Slave” is a noun, and “enslaved” is an adjective. These people were not property (noun) but rather people subjected to an inhumane condition (adjective)).
Jackson treated the enslaved fairly well; not out of love or respect but rather to maximize their work. He believed that “willing hands work better.” In 1929 he advised one of his overseers to “…treat my negroes with humanity, & attention when sick; & not work them too hard, when well — that you feed and clothe them well…” Jackson considered the enslaved his “black family.” It is not known how the enslaved felt about Jackson.
As we mentioned, the original Hermitage consisted of wooden cabins. These were used from 1804 to 1821. When the mansion was built, the cabins were turned over to the enslaved people of the Hermitage. The enslaved population grew from nine in 1804, to 60-80 in 1821, to 150 in 1845.
Jackson kept families together, mostly to keep individuals from running away. The cabins were better than many of those in the surrounding plantations because they were constructed of brick and had wooden floors and fireplaces. The enslaved were allowed to hunt and fish (proved by archaeological digs that yielded many animal bones). They were also given one day off per week.
There has been much recent excavation in the area, some of which has been covered over by gravel. Atop the gravel are the outlines of the foundations of some of the cabins. The cabins were duplexes, each holding a family. Each living space consisted of a door, a window, and a fireplace. Because each family had between five and eight children -- Maria and Steve Baker actually had 19 — most of the living took place outside.
Under the floor, enslaved families often dug clay pits or root cellars – also known as “hidey ’holes” because they hid things there including slate and pencils (they were not allowed to read and write), coins, beads, etc.
Carl next took us to the former industrial area, which consists of a blacksmith shop, leather shop, spinning and weaving building, distillery, and other trades necessary to run daily life on a plantation. All of these building are gone now; only a grassy field remains.
The overseer’s cabin was just outside the enslaved area. The overseers were looked down upon by the owners (who would not socialize with them) and the enslaved (who would undermine them as best they could.)
Carl told us the story of Betty who would not give up her recipe for maple syrup. Carl said that was an example of someone trying to maintain her job security. Everyone laughed. After the ride, Carl told us the whole story. When the General, who was out of town, found out about her insubordination, he wrote his family a letter recommending that she be publicly whipped. So much for his “black family.”
Even so, Carl has a fondness for the General. He says that he can “still feel his aura.” Knowing about Jackson “makes me want to be a better employee.” The General had a way of instilling hard work and discipline.
When Carl goes out in the field and calls Rachel his horse, he images General Jackson, despondent over the loss of his Rachel, doing the same thing. Carl’s Rachel shows up, unlike the General’s.
The General was convinced that Rachel’s fatal heart attack on Dec. 22, 1828, was caused by the vitriol of the election of 1828. As we learned during out research, John Q. Adams’ close supporters called Andrew Jackson’s wife a bigamist. According to Carl, the General summed up his feelings by saying, “Although I know Rachel has forgiven them, God knows, I never will.” When he was president, Jackson said, “I find myself a solitary mourner, deprived of all hope of happiness this side of the grave, and often wish myself at the Hermitage there to spend the remnant of my days, & daily drop a tear on the tomb of my beloved wife.”
Carl is convinced that the ghost of Andrew Jackson haunts the Hermitage. One night, Carl’s boss saw three white lights floating in the field. When he approached, the lights disappeared. Later he saw the same three white lights but now accompanied by an additional blue light. Carl imagines that the white lights were Rachel, Andrew Donelson (Jackson’s beloved nephew), and Emily Donelson (Andrew Donelson’s wife and de facto first lady at the White House), and that the blue light was General Jackson, showing up to protect his cherished ones.
Walking the Grounds
After the ride, we walked around the grounds. Although the plantation is no longer at its peak acreage of 1,200, it is still quite large and we wandered for a couple of hours. In one building — the Cabin by the Spring —we happily found refuge on a cold, windy day and refreshments and stood next to a crackling fire, sipping hot chocolate and cider.
We eventually ended up in the Garden and headed to the General’s tomb. He and Rachel lie next to each other under a Greek Revival stone gazebo. Also buried in the garden is Alfred, Betty’s son and a third-generation enslaved person. He became close to the Jackson family and did not leave the Hermitage after the Civil War. He eventually became a tour guide. Before he died at age 98, he asked the Ladies’ Hermitage Association that he be buried close to the General and Rachel Jackson. (However, he had to bribe the Ladies with a mirror to have his wish fulfilled.)
Jackson's Presidency
Jackson’s presidency was one of the most important of the first half of the 19th century. His era was called the Jacksonian Age and would influence the next four presidents. As Meacham (2008) writes,
“King Andrew the First,” as his foes styled him, was the most powerful president in the forty-year history of the office, but his power was marshaled not for personal gain — he was always in financial straits — but, as Jackson saw it, for what he believed was in the best interests of the ordinary, the unconnected, the uneducated. He could be brutal in his application of power, but he was not a brute. He could be unwavering, but he was not closed-minded. He was, rather, the great politician of his time, if success in politics is measured by the affirmation of a majority of the people in real time and by the shadow one casts after leaving office.”
He was an activist president and vetoed 12 bills during his two presidencies—more than all of his predecessors combined.
Jackson was also the first president of the modern Democratic Party. The party started as the Democratic Republicans of which Thomas Jefferson was the first. The party stood strongly against the Federalists and advocated states’ rights and strict interpretation of the Constitution.
One of the defining issues of his presidency was nullification. This was the concept that states could declare laws that they considered unconstitutional, null and void. In particular, South Carolina was opposed to a continuation of the so called 1928 “Tariff of Abominations” established during the presidency of John Quincy Adams and a follow-on 1932 tariff bill. The bills were established to protect Northern industries from low-cost imports. However, it hurt the South by raising their cost of imports and by reducing the sale of cotton to the British—who saw their American markets more challenging because of the tariff. South Carolina threatened to ignore the tariff. Jackson’s position on this was initially a mystery —particularly since he had Southern sympathies. But at an 1830 presidential dinner, he offered a toast: “Our Federal union, it must be preserved.” He would not support nullification.
The nullification issue lingered for several years and South Carolina began to arm itself to fight any Federal troops that might arrive to enforce the tariff. Jackson showed his political adroitness by having Congress pass a bill authorizing him to use force against South Carolina—the so called “Force Bill”—and another bill that reduced tariffs to an acceptable level. (It is interesting that three decades later, South Carolina would be the first state to secede from the United States.) (It is also noteworthy that the only Senator to vote against the Force Bill was future President, John Tyler; the other opponents of the bill abstained.)
Another Jackson legacy was his treatment of Native Americans. In his first inaugural speech he said, “It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe toward the Indian tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which is consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our peopleIt was a lie. In 1830 Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act to move all the Indians in the East to west of the Mississippi River. Although treaties had been signed with the tribes, the growing population of whites, ever expanding westward— wanted the land for themselves. The Indians were granted land in the West, but there were no provisions made to transport them — they had to ride their horses (or walk if they had none). Thousands of Indians from many tribes died under horrific conditions. The Indians came to call Jackson “the Devil.” When the Cherokee trekked the “Trail of Tears" following Jackson’s presidency, 4,000 out of 16,000 died en route. It is one of Jackson’s most brutal and unconscionable legacies and a stain on our moral standing.
Jackson was also defined by his stand on the Second Bank of the United States. After the War of 1812, President James Madison established the Second Bank to help the United States finance the war, among other reasons. (Tom visited the Bank during his trip to Philadelphia. It is a stately Greek Revival building with Doric columns and now houses a wonderful portrait gallery.) The Bank received a 20-year charter that was set to end during Jackson’s term. Jackson was not a supporter of the bank because of what he viewed as elitist corruption. He simply wanted to pay off the national debt — which he did during his presidency, the only president to do so even to the present day. In his first inauguration he stated that “the unnecessary duration of [the national debt]… .is incompatible with real independence.” He withdrew all government deposits in the Bank and redeposited them in state chartered banks. He ended the Second Bank by executive order in 1833, although it continued to operate independently under a state charter. Congress retaliated by censuring him — the only president to be censured. Just before leaving office in 1836, his allies in Congress were successful in having the censure expunged from the record.
Old Hickory
There can be no doubt about Jackson’s courage. In addition to fighting in the Revolutionary War, the First Seminole War, and the Battle of New Orleans, he welcomed opportunities for violence. In 1806 he fought a duel to avenge a series of insults to Rachel and himself. The two men stood face to face at about 24 feet. Jackson allowed the other man to shoot first and received a bullet to his ribs. He did not falter, but slowly aimed his pistol and shot the other man dead. The bullet would remain in Jackson’s body throughout his life. In 1813 he was involved in a shoot-out with Thomas Hart Benton and members of Benton’s family and took a bullet in his arm. He carried that bullet for decades before it was removed. (Benton would go on to become a senator and an ally to Jackson.)
Later when he was president, the General was attacked twice, the second time by a would-be assassin — the first in presidential history — who shot two loaded pistols at him. Both misfired and Jackson charged the assailant with his cane.
Final Words
The final words for our narrative come from Meacham (2008) who wrote of the attributes of Andrew Jackson which “included a belief in a generally limited federal government, a debt-free nation, and a country in which the people, acting through the states more fully and frequently than through Washington, made a larger number of important decisions about public affairs. Experience had taught him, however, that there was virtue in the Union and in custom, even if he himself flouted custom when it suited him.”
References
Lee, S.P. and P. Passell. 1979. A New Economic View of American History. W. W. Norton & Company. New York, New York.
May, G. 2008. John Tyler. Henry Holt and Company. New York, NY.
McDougall, W.A. 2004. Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History, 1585-1828. Harper Collins Publishers. New York, NY.
Meacham, J. 2008. American Lion: Andrews Jackson in the White House. Random House. New York, New York.
November 12, 2011
 |
| General Jackson |
We flew to Nashville early in the morning, rented a car and zipped over to the Hermitage plantation in 15 minutes. To reach the Hermitage, go east on I-40, take exit 221, drive for five more minutes and you’re there. The admission was $18 for adults with a $2 discount for AAA. For an additional $10 you can take a wagon ride (we did).
At the visitor center, we watched a 15-minute introductory movie on the life of Andrew Jackson, described by the narrator as a "Democratic autocrat." We have learned, as we continue our quest to visit every president's house, that the introductory films are not to be missed if you want to learn about a president, his family and his life.
Jackson served in the American Revolution as a teenager, running messages for the Americans. He was ideal for this role because he knew the Carolina woods. Sadly, the war was cruel to him. In addition to Jackson being captured and imprisoned, he lost his mother and both brothers. His father died before he was born.
Jackson became a lawyer at age 20 and in 1788 moved “West” to Nashville where he practiced law and speculated in land. In 1796, he was elected to Congress as a representative for Tennessee. But he found himself restless and resigned after a year.
He joined the Tennessee Militia as an officer. During the War of 1812 he commanded an army that included pirates (such as Jean Lafitte), freed slaves, and Native Americans to defend New Orleans from the British. Unlike many American troops, Jackson did not flee when attacked, but held his ground and decisively beat the British. His troops called him “Old Hickory” because of his toughness. And his fame grew.
In 1824 General Jackson — he liked to be called General — found himself a candidate for president. As we noted before, Jackson won the most popular and electoral votes but did not have the majority needed. The election was moved to the House of Representatives, which selected John Quincy Adams. Jackson was elected in his own right in 1828. In 1832, he won re-election under the newly formed Democratic Party.
Following the movie, we received a complimentary audio guide that contained 1.5 hours of information keyed to numbers on signs placed throughout the grounds. Always get the audio guides (especially when they're free!): Although they make conversations tough, they are quite informative and interesting.
 |
| Andrew and Rachel |
 |
| Hermitage |
After the introduction, we walked out the back door of the museum and followed a winding path to the mansion. It is the same path that the many visitors to the Hermitage took 170 years ago.
As we approached the mansion, Doug Stephenson, a large bearded man in period garb, greeted us. When we asked how he was doing, he said, “For an old fat man, I’m doing all right.”
The tour was similar to that of the Mount Vernon mansion in that there are different guides for each part of the house. Mr. Stephenson handed us off to Kim Choudhury in the main entrance. She was dressed in period garb. She confided that things were a bit out of the ordinary--one of the other guides was being buried that day. He had died suddenly following gall bladder surgery.
An interesting aspect of presidents' lives that we're discovering is the importance of the house, specifically the size of the house. Things haven't changed much. The Hermitage is a perfect example of the "bigger is better" mentality of America. Jackson and his wife, Rachel, lived in a small, two-room log cabin on the property when they were first married. But then they upgraded -- to the gigantic mansion visitors see today.
In an effort to make himself look wealthier than he was, Jackson did some creative things with the house. For example, the columns supporting the house and the fireplace mantels in the rooms are painted to look like they're marble, but they are actually wood.
Like John Adams before him, Jackson built himself a house with big rooms — in Jackson's case, rooms that could fit several from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello or James Madison's Montpelier in each one. The house and its rooms are by far the largest we have seen so far on our presidential journey.
Jackson's bedroom is particularly enormous and is shown to tourists complete with volumes of newspapers bound into volumes so he - an avid newspaper reader -- could read them and save them. He died in the bedroom in 1845, at the age of 78. He had many problems throughout his life: dysentery, malaria, and small pox as a child. He also had a bullet in chest near his heart that was constantly hemorrhaging. (More on that later.)
Despite the vast size of the rooms — or maybe because of it — guests had to sleep with each other. The Jacksons would get 20-25 visitors a night, who would have to smush into two guest bedrooms on the top floor. “That means you’re going to sleep with someone you don’t know,” Stephenson said.
Those who didn't fit in the beds slept on the floor. And many visitors, including Madison, Jefferson, James K. Polk, Martin Van Buren, the Marquis de Lafayette and Sam Houston, during the summer slept on the second-story porch where it was much cooler, with a breeze, than cooped up at the top of the house. Remember, heat rises.
 |
| Telemachus Wallpaper |
 |
| The Wagon Ride |
After the mansion tour, we were given an option to ride a wagon pulled by two black Percherons, Molly and Rachel. The ride costs $10 and tickets may be purchased at the entrance or directly from the driver. Our driver, Carl, had a honey southern accent that we later learned was a mix of South Dakota and Tennessee.
The horses pulled us through fields and into the Field Quarter, the housing area of the “enslaved people” of the Hermitage. When I asked Carl why he -- and all the signage at the Hermitage -- used the word “enslaved people” rather than “slaves,” he replied that “the word slave is a cuss word” to him. The term “enslaved people” acknowledges the humanity of the people chained to the Hermitage. (It makes perfect sense and we will use that term from now on. “Slave” is a noun, and “enslaved” is an adjective. These people were not property (noun) but rather people subjected to an inhumane condition (adjective)).
Jackson treated the enslaved fairly well; not out of love or respect but rather to maximize their work. He believed that “willing hands work better.” In 1929 he advised one of his overseers to “…treat my negroes with humanity, & attention when sick; & not work them too hard, when well — that you feed and clothe them well…” Jackson considered the enslaved his “black family.” It is not known how the enslaved felt about Jackson.
As we mentioned, the original Hermitage consisted of wooden cabins. These were used from 1804 to 1821. When the mansion was built, the cabins were turned over to the enslaved people of the Hermitage. The enslaved population grew from nine in 1804, to 60-80 in 1821, to 150 in 1845.
Jackson kept families together, mostly to keep individuals from running away. The cabins were better than many of those in the surrounding plantations because they were constructed of brick and had wooden floors and fireplaces. The enslaved were allowed to hunt and fish (proved by archaeological digs that yielded many animal bones). They were also given one day off per week.
There has been much recent excavation in the area, some of which has been covered over by gravel. Atop the gravel are the outlines of the foundations of some of the cabins. The cabins were duplexes, each holding a family. Each living space consisted of a door, a window, and a fireplace. Because each family had between five and eight children -- Maria and Steve Baker actually had 19 — most of the living took place outside.
Under the floor, enslaved families often dug clay pits or root cellars – also known as “hidey ’holes” because they hid things there including slate and pencils (they were not allowed to read and write), coins, beads, etc.
Carl next took us to the former industrial area, which consists of a blacksmith shop, leather shop, spinning and weaving building, distillery, and other trades necessary to run daily life on a plantation. All of these building are gone now; only a grassy field remains.
The overseer’s cabin was just outside the enslaved area. The overseers were looked down upon by the owners (who would not socialize with them) and the enslaved (who would undermine them as best they could.)
Carl told us the story of Betty who would not give up her recipe for maple syrup. Carl said that was an example of someone trying to maintain her job security. Everyone laughed. After the ride, Carl told us the whole story. When the General, who was out of town, found out about her insubordination, he wrote his family a letter recommending that she be publicly whipped. So much for his “black family.”
Even so, Carl has a fondness for the General. He says that he can “still feel his aura.” Knowing about Jackson “makes me want to be a better employee.” The General had a way of instilling hard work and discipline.
When Carl goes out in the field and calls Rachel his horse, he images General Jackson, despondent over the loss of his Rachel, doing the same thing. Carl’s Rachel shows up, unlike the General’s.
The General was convinced that Rachel’s fatal heart attack on Dec. 22, 1828, was caused by the vitriol of the election of 1828. As we learned during out research, John Q. Adams’ close supporters called Andrew Jackson’s wife a bigamist. According to Carl, the General summed up his feelings by saying, “Although I know Rachel has forgiven them, God knows, I never will.” When he was president, Jackson said, “I find myself a solitary mourner, deprived of all hope of happiness this side of the grave, and often wish myself at the Hermitage there to spend the remnant of my days, & daily drop a tear on the tomb of my beloved wife.”
Carl is convinced that the ghost of Andrew Jackson haunts the Hermitage. One night, Carl’s boss saw three white lights floating in the field. When he approached, the lights disappeared. Later he saw the same three white lights but now accompanied by an additional blue light. Carl imagines that the white lights were Rachel, Andrew Donelson (Jackson’s beloved nephew), and Emily Donelson (Andrew Donelson’s wife and de facto first lady at the White House), and that the blue light was General Jackson, showing up to protect his cherished ones.
Walking the Grounds
After the ride, we walked around the grounds. Although the plantation is no longer at its peak acreage of 1,200, it is still quite large and we wandered for a couple of hours. In one building — the Cabin by the Spring —we happily found refuge on a cold, windy day and refreshments and stood next to a crackling fire, sipping hot chocolate and cider.
 |
| The Gazebo |
We eventually ended up in the Garden and headed to the General’s tomb. He and Rachel lie next to each other under a Greek Revival stone gazebo. Also buried in the garden is Alfred, Betty’s son and a third-generation enslaved person. He became close to the Jackson family and did not leave the Hermitage after the Civil War. He eventually became a tour guide. Before he died at age 98, he asked the Ladies’ Hermitage Association that he be buried close to the General and Rachel Jackson. (However, he had to bribe the Ladies with a mirror to have his wish fulfilled.)
Jackson's Presidency
Jackson’s presidency was one of the most important of the first half of the 19th century. His era was called the Jacksonian Age and would influence the next four presidents. As Meacham (2008) writes,
“King Andrew the First,” as his foes styled him, was the most powerful president in the forty-year history of the office, but his power was marshaled not for personal gain — he was always in financial straits — but, as Jackson saw it, for what he believed was in the best interests of the ordinary, the unconnected, the uneducated. He could be brutal in his application of power, but he was not a brute. He could be unwavering, but he was not closed-minded. He was, rather, the great politician of his time, if success in politics is measured by the affirmation of a majority of the people in real time and by the shadow one casts after leaving office.”
He was an activist president and vetoed 12 bills during his two presidencies—more than all of his predecessors combined.
Jackson was also the first president of the modern Democratic Party. The party started as the Democratic Republicans of which Thomas Jefferson was the first. The party stood strongly against the Federalists and advocated states’ rights and strict interpretation of the Constitution.
One of the defining issues of his presidency was nullification. This was the concept that states could declare laws that they considered unconstitutional, null and void. In particular, South Carolina was opposed to a continuation of the so called 1928 “Tariff of Abominations” established during the presidency of John Quincy Adams and a follow-on 1932 tariff bill. The bills were established to protect Northern industries from low-cost imports. However, it hurt the South by raising their cost of imports and by reducing the sale of cotton to the British—who saw their American markets more challenging because of the tariff. South Carolina threatened to ignore the tariff. Jackson’s position on this was initially a mystery —particularly since he had Southern sympathies. But at an 1830 presidential dinner, he offered a toast: “Our Federal union, it must be preserved.” He would not support nullification.
The nullification issue lingered for several years and South Carolina began to arm itself to fight any Federal troops that might arrive to enforce the tariff. Jackson showed his political adroitness by having Congress pass a bill authorizing him to use force against South Carolina—the so called “Force Bill”—and another bill that reduced tariffs to an acceptable level. (It is interesting that three decades later, South Carolina would be the first state to secede from the United States.) (It is also noteworthy that the only Senator to vote against the Force Bill was future President, John Tyler; the other opponents of the bill abstained.)
Another Jackson legacy was his treatment of Native Americans. In his first inaugural speech he said, “It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe toward the Indian tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which is consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our peopleIt was a lie. In 1830 Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act to move all the Indians in the East to west of the Mississippi River. Although treaties had been signed with the tribes, the growing population of whites, ever expanding westward— wanted the land for themselves. The Indians were granted land in the West, but there were no provisions made to transport them — they had to ride their horses (or walk if they had none). Thousands of Indians from many tribes died under horrific conditions. The Indians came to call Jackson “the Devil.” When the Cherokee trekked the “Trail of Tears" following Jackson’s presidency, 4,000 out of 16,000 died en route. It is one of Jackson’s most brutal and unconscionable legacies and a stain on our moral standing.
Jackson was also defined by his stand on the Second Bank of the United States. After the War of 1812, President James Madison established the Second Bank to help the United States finance the war, among other reasons. (Tom visited the Bank during his trip to Philadelphia. It is a stately Greek Revival building with Doric columns and now houses a wonderful portrait gallery.) The Bank received a 20-year charter that was set to end during Jackson’s term. Jackson was not a supporter of the bank because of what he viewed as elitist corruption. He simply wanted to pay off the national debt — which he did during his presidency, the only president to do so even to the present day. In his first inauguration he stated that “the unnecessary duration of [the national debt]… .is incompatible with real independence.” He withdrew all government deposits in the Bank and redeposited them in state chartered banks. He ended the Second Bank by executive order in 1833, although it continued to operate independently under a state charter. Congress retaliated by censuring him — the only president to be censured. Just before leaving office in 1836, his allies in Congress were successful in having the censure expunged from the record.
Old Hickory
There can be no doubt about Jackson’s courage. In addition to fighting in the Revolutionary War, the First Seminole War, and the Battle of New Orleans, he welcomed opportunities for violence. In 1806 he fought a duel to avenge a series of insults to Rachel and himself. The two men stood face to face at about 24 feet. Jackson allowed the other man to shoot first and received a bullet to his ribs. He did not falter, but slowly aimed his pistol and shot the other man dead. The bullet would remain in Jackson’s body throughout his life. In 1813 he was involved in a shoot-out with Thomas Hart Benton and members of Benton’s family and took a bullet in his arm. He carried that bullet for decades before it was removed. (Benton would go on to become a senator and an ally to Jackson.)
Later when he was president, the General was attacked twice, the second time by a would-be assassin — the first in presidential history — who shot two loaded pistols at him. Both misfired and Jackson charged the assailant with his cane.
Final Words
The final words for our narrative come from Meacham (2008) who wrote of the attributes of Andrew Jackson which “included a belief in a generally limited federal government, a debt-free nation, and a country in which the people, acting through the states more fully and frequently than through Washington, made a larger number of important decisions about public affairs. Experience had taught him, however, that there was virtue in the Union and in custom, even if he himself flouted custom when it suited him.”
References
Lee, S.P. and P. Passell. 1979. A New Economic View of American History. W. W. Norton & Company. New York, New York.
May, G. 2008. John Tyler. Henry Holt and Company. New York, NY.
McDougall, W.A. 2004. Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History, 1585-1828. Harper Collins Publishers. New York, NY.
Meacham, J. 2008. American Lion: Andrews Jackson in the White House. Random House. New York, New York.
