This is a great example of why Jackson is my favorite of the U.S. Presidents. The man's life is both wild and fascinating, chalk full of so many interesting facets that every time I read about him, even in relatively short form as is the case here, I feel like I come away with a mountain's worth of new and gripping information. I find myself in disagreement with him almost as often as I find myself in agreement, and that honestly just makes me like Old Hickory all the more.
H. W. Brands has a great and very readable biography of Jackson. Robert Remini is the go to for scholarship, and in terms of primary sources, get James Parton’s masterful early study.
Andrew Jackson is a study in many contrasts. He led his troops to massacre an entire village of several hundred, then adopted an orphaned child found in the midst of the carnage. He told "mister chief justice Marshall" who had rendered the opinion that the army should not be sent to evict the Seminoles from Florida that Marshall should now enforce his opinion, and sent the army anyway. Many Americans remember him for the trail of tears that followed.
Davy Crockett was against the removal policy and said so in his re-election campaign, which led many Tennessee voters to reject him. When asked about this matter after losing the election, Crockett is said to have remarked, "The voters can go to hell. I'm going to Texas." Where he died at the Alamo the subject of a massacre ordered by generalissimo Santa Anna.
What you say about duels on the old frontier is true. Aaron Burr dindu nuffin wrong. Others have questioned the manner of the exchange of death strokes involving John Wilkes Booth who also didn't survive his encounter despite firing from behind.
Jackson is often remembered for the victory at the battle of New Orleans in the first month of Anno Domini 1815. However, that was after the treaty of Ghent had been signed but before news of it had reached New Orleans. So, if you look at it sensibly, the USA lost the war of 1812. Americans have never been much for looking at things sensibly.
Jackson is also often remembered for his veto message to congress at the time of his refusal to endorse the renewal of the criminal enterprise of the second bank of the United States by signing the law congress had passed. So it is somewhat ironic that he appears on Feral Reserveless scam money, but perhaps they wanted the "era of free banking" for their own nefarious purposes. My long experiences with them in business and industry indicate that bankers are a very strange lot best kept at some distance, preferably below decks, fed only rarely. They beileve in the growth of money which is a strange sort of crop of corruption.
But what you say about our ancestors regarding all of us as low-T beta males is nonsense, my friend. Of course they didn't go in for all this alpha beta gamma delta stuff, though a higher percentage of Americans were literate in Greek and Latin in Jackson's days in the White House than are today. If the scheme were explained to them, they would put the cobratate fellows in "gamma" for sure. Testosterone wasn't discovered until 90 years after Jackson's death, so discussions of low-T would tend to lead to discussions of what all this claptrap about bacteria and viruses is, and why are y'all bathing every day ya weirdos?
It was a lustier time. It was the best of times. It was a filthy time. It was the worst of times. Men were men and sheep were nervous.
The story of Lyncoya, Andrew Jackson’s Creek Indian son, is little known. I invite one of my readers to research it and write an essay; I’ll give it a restack.
Forgiveness is a lost art. Is it because we no longer run into people in small-town life? We can all be anonymous ghosts floating in cyberspace, and we never have to defend our convictions? I think that when the stakes were higher, everyone had more respect for one another
It’s interesting that many of the young men Jackson cultivated drifted away from him, but Benton, who’d gotten into a shootout with him, remained at the end.
What a wild ride! I anticipate I'll be yammering at whoever will listen about Andrew Jackson, Thomas Benton and their escapades for the next several days, in the manner I typically do after reading your historical writeups. Thank you!
So did Jefferson I believe, though he often found himself in Debt, which was probably a one not freeing his slaves, but I’m only speculating. Despite their flaws and their association with Masonry, I very much am a Jeffersonian-Jacksonian with Federalist Characteristics. They got some things right to.
True, that too. And he got rid of property requirements for voting, which I agree with, but I agree with Jefferson and Heinlein’s Citizen Soldier/Service Guarantees Citizenship.
Excellent article, Librarian. The brawl in the hotel lobby was hilarious. Way too much testosterone going on there, blended in with a large batch of comedy. 😂
You should do a follow up, Jackson is a fascinating character. One of the more interesting men in American history.
Grew up in Missouri in the 60s to 70s -- the contentious Scotts-Irish males were still there in full force. Rural high school conflicts between boys were petty but seriously taken nonetheless. I've read this chronic scrappiness in Missouri and much of the rest of the south comes from dependence on cattle-raising and the ease of rustling.
Really like that old way of speaking and writing. It's almost like people were quite a bit more literate then than they are now.
I would say that only he and Theodore Roosevelt could be credibly be said to have personally killed people, and only Jackson in a duel. Oddly, though he fought in numerous wars, there is no record of Jackson killing anyone in combat. His weapons were only fired in anger during personal disputes.
Different son. Lyncoya was the Creek Indian baby Jackson brought home from the Red Stick campaign. He died at 16 of tuberculosis. I invite one of my readers to write about him; I’ll restack it. The son in the anecdote is Andrew Jackson Jr. Jackson’s wife Rachel came from the huge Donalson clan in Tennessee, and she had a sister-in-law who had twins. As she already had a large brood of young children to look after, she adopted out one of the twins to the childless Jacksons. They were 40 when they brought Andrew jr. home- typically the age for grandparents at that time.
This is a great example of why Jackson is my favorite of the U.S. Presidents. The man's life is both wild and fascinating, chalk full of so many interesting facets that every time I read about him, even in relatively short form as is the case here, I feel like I come away with a mountain's worth of new and gripping information. I find myself in disagreement with him almost as often as I find myself in agreement, and that honestly just makes me like Old Hickory all the more.
H. W. Brands has a great and very readable biography of Jackson. Robert Remini is the go to for scholarship, and in terms of primary sources, get James Parton’s masterful early study.
Noted on all accounts. Thank you for the suggestions.
Masterfull storytelling and beautifully rendered. Thank you.
Thank you. I posted in another comment a list of some great sources.
Compellingly written and wonderfully thought provoking
Thank you very much.
Exquisite prose, really embodies the raw energy of these intense characters!
Thank you. Check out the rest of Benton’s memoir if you want some manly prose.
Andrew Jackson is a study in many contrasts. He led his troops to massacre an entire village of several hundred, then adopted an orphaned child found in the midst of the carnage. He told "mister chief justice Marshall" who had rendered the opinion that the army should not be sent to evict the Seminoles from Florida that Marshall should now enforce his opinion, and sent the army anyway. Many Americans remember him for the trail of tears that followed.
Davy Crockett was against the removal policy and said so in his re-election campaign, which led many Tennessee voters to reject him. When asked about this matter after losing the election, Crockett is said to have remarked, "The voters can go to hell. I'm going to Texas." Where he died at the Alamo the subject of a massacre ordered by generalissimo Santa Anna.
What you say about duels on the old frontier is true. Aaron Burr dindu nuffin wrong. Others have questioned the manner of the exchange of death strokes involving John Wilkes Booth who also didn't survive his encounter despite firing from behind.
Jackson is often remembered for the victory at the battle of New Orleans in the first month of Anno Domini 1815. However, that was after the treaty of Ghent had been signed but before news of it had reached New Orleans. So, if you look at it sensibly, the USA lost the war of 1812. Americans have never been much for looking at things sensibly.
Jackson is also often remembered for his veto message to congress at the time of his refusal to endorse the renewal of the criminal enterprise of the second bank of the United States by signing the law congress had passed. So it is somewhat ironic that he appears on Feral Reserveless scam money, but perhaps they wanted the "era of free banking" for their own nefarious purposes. My long experiences with them in business and industry indicate that bankers are a very strange lot best kept at some distance, preferably below decks, fed only rarely. They beileve in the growth of money which is a strange sort of crop of corruption.
But what you say about our ancestors regarding all of us as low-T beta males is nonsense, my friend. Of course they didn't go in for all this alpha beta gamma delta stuff, though a higher percentage of Americans were literate in Greek and Latin in Jackson's days in the White House than are today. If the scheme were explained to them, they would put the cobratate fellows in "gamma" for sure. Testosterone wasn't discovered until 90 years after Jackson's death, so discussions of low-T would tend to lead to discussions of what all this claptrap about bacteria and viruses is, and why are y'all bathing every day ya weirdos?
It was a lustier time. It was the best of times. It was a filthy time. It was the worst of times. Men were men and sheep were nervous.
The story of Lyncoya, Andrew Jackson’s Creek Indian son, is little known. I invite one of my readers to research it and write an essay; I’ll give it a restack.
Bankers should be classified in the same category as actors and prostitutes, in the Roman tradition.
Forgiveness is a lost art. Is it because we no longer run into people in small-town life? We can all be anonymous ghosts floating in cyberspace, and we never have to defend our convictions? I think that when the stakes were higher, everyone had more respect for one another
It’s interesting that many of the young men Jackson cultivated drifted away from him, but Benton, who’d gotten into a shootout with him, remained at the end.
What a wild ride! I anticipate I'll be yammering at whoever will listen about Andrew Jackson, Thomas Benton and their escapades for the next several days, in the manner I typically do after reading your historical writeups. Thank you!
Thank you. It’s the perfect thing to talk about at Thanksgiving.
Andrew Jackson paying off the National Debt easily makes him the best President we've ever had.
Jackson had a lifelong hatred of debt, public or private.
So did Jefferson I believe, though he often found himself in Debt, which was probably a one not freeing his slaves, but I’m only speculating. Despite their flaws and their association with Masonry, I very much am a Jeffersonian-Jacksonian with Federalist Characteristics. They got some things right to.
Closed that Bank like he said he would.
True, that too. And he got rid of property requirements for voting, which I agree with, but I agree with Jefferson and Heinlein’s Citizen Soldier/Service Guarantees Citizenship.
Excellent article, Librarian. The brawl in the hotel lobby was hilarious. Way too much testosterone going on there, blended in with a large batch of comedy. 😂
You should do a follow up, Jackson is a fascinating character. One of the more interesting men in American history.
There are a lot of stories to tell. I have an essay about Sam Houston debuting in another publication soon.
Excellent, post a link when it’s ready. 👍🏻
Grew up in Missouri in the 60s to 70s -- the contentious Scotts-Irish males were still there in full force. Rural high school conflicts between boys were petty but seriously taken nonetheless. I've read this chronic scrappiness in Missouri and much of the rest of the south comes from dependence on cattle-raising and the ease of rustling.
Really like that old way of speaking and writing. It's almost like people were quite a bit more literate then than they are now.
Benton was college educated, but other men of his age with little formal education still managed forceful and creative prose.
Wonderful!! Thank you!! As far as I know the only President to kill a man in a duel.
I would say that only he and Theodore Roosevelt could be credibly be said to have personally killed people, and only Jackson in a duel. Oddly, though he fought in numerous wars, there is no record of Jackson killing anyone in combat. His weapons were only fired in anger during personal disputes.
My fellow Americans, I again ask you to read **Albion's Seed**.
Andrew Jackson makes a sizable appearance.
The book makes our country's past more understandable and gives one a coherent and useful model of our people, culture, and institutions.
It’s a great book.
That adopted son was apure blooded American Indian.
Different son. Lyncoya was the Creek Indian baby Jackson brought home from the Red Stick campaign. He died at 16 of tuberculosis. I invite one of my readers to write about him; I’ll restack it. The son in the anecdote is Andrew Jackson Jr. Jackson’s wife Rachel came from the huge Donalson clan in Tennessee, and she had a sister-in-law who had twins. As she already had a large brood of young children to look after, she adopted out one of the twins to the childless Jacksons. They were 40 when they brought Andrew jr. home- typically the age for grandparents at that time.
I need new buttons on my coats
This was highly entertaining! Thanks for the entertaining post and lesson at the end.
Thanks for the correction.