The Age of Jackson

Tim McNeese

Description

 

Andrew Jackson was one of the most controversial presidents in American History. Raised in the backwoods of Appalachia, he grew up amidst the violence of the Revolutionary War and carried violence with him throughout his life. Though his penchant for dueling left him with a bullet lodged in his chest, Jackson's combative nature served him well in his military career. He quickly rose to prominence as a celebrated Indian fighter and hero of the War of 1812, and his victories against the Spanish and the Seminole in Florida led to the further expansion of the United States. As president, Jackson squabbled with the South over tariffs and fought to dismantle the Second Bank of the United States. But his longest lasting legacy was his policy of Indian Removal. Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which resulted in the forcible relocation of multiple tribes to territories further west, a move that would become known as the Trail of Tears. In The Age of Jackson, follow Andrew Jackson's progress from fighting on the frontier to governing in the White House.

 

Sujets

• Histoire
• Military
• History of the United States
• Politician
• President
• American Revolutionary War
• United States
• History
• American History
• Andrew Jackson

Informations

• Publié par: Infobase Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438198156
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The Age of Jackson
Copyright © 2020 by Infobase
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ISBN 978-1-4381-9815-6
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Contents Chapters Introduction: A Man of the West Raised in the Backwoods A New Frontier Jackson s Expanding Career General Jackson Marching to Fame New Missions From the West to Washington A Controversial President Final Days at the Hermitage Support Materials Chronology Further Reading Bibliography About the Author
Chapters
Introduction: A Man of the West
Off to the west of the United States Capitol Building, the Potomac River, completely frozen over, gleamed in the distance. The March day, though, was warm and sunny. The year was 1829. The weather that day was important to the thousands of excited visitors who had made their way to Washington City to witness the inauguration of a new American president, the seventh, the first Chief Executive raised west of the Appalachian Mountains. Unlike all previous presidents, this one would be inaugurated outdoors on the east portico of the Capitol. It was fitting, given the occasion. Not only was the tall, lanky man of the hour, one raised in the backwoods of Tennessee, accustomed to a life outdoors, so were many of his supporters—common people of the frontier West and rural South—who had voted for a candidate they believed was enough like them that he might actually understand them and support their political wishes. And given the huge crowd gathered in Washington that day, only the outdoors was big enough to accommodate their numbers and their high expectations.

Andrew Jackson, president of the United States, in an 1829 print.
Source: Library of Congress.
Politics of Excitement
They had flocked to Washington by the thousands, converging on the capital from every point on the compass, and many had traveled for hundreds of miles, their enthusiasm over having elected a new president proving uncontainable. They practically outnumbered the population of Washington City itself, which normally stood a near 20,000. Hotels were crammed with lodgers, and boardinghouse proprietors charged as much as $20 a week for any available space, three times the normal rate. Some even slept "on the floors of tap-rooms and hallways," 1 and outdoors and under their wagons. The crowd pushed up the prices on everything during those exciting weeks before the inauguration. With winter extending into March, firewood sold for a premium price of $12 per cord. Restaurant breakfast cost several days' wages. Eggs, if you could find them at all, sold for 80 cents a dozen.
Sixty-two-year-old Andrew Jackson had arrived in Washington in January as a broken man. Despite having defeated his chief political rival, John Quincy Adams [1767–1848] (to whom Jackson had lost four years earlier), within weeks of the election, Jackson's longtime companion, Rachel Jackson [1767–1828], had died of a heart attack. Rachel had been the repeated target of the Adams campaign, as accusations had flown across the country accusing her marrying Jackson while she was still married to another man. The campaign had wounded her deeply and possibly broken her health, as well as her spirit. Jackson came to Washington with more emotions that he knew what to do with. Not only was he bereaved at the loss of his wife of 40 years, but he was still livid toward the Adams men who had smeared the reputation of Rachel, who had become a fervent woman of faith, a devout Presbyterian. So much bad blood had unfolded between Adams and Jackson during the campaign that the president did not remain in Washington City for the inauguration, but left town to avoid any contact with the cantankerous, old Indian fighter all his supporters referred to affectionately as "Old Hickory."
The president-elect had taken up residence at Washington's National Hotel during the days leading up to March 4, Inauguration Day. At 11 a.m., he emerged from the hotel where a contingent of soldiers, some aged veterans of the Revolutionary War and others from the War of 1812, including those who had fought under Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans, began escorting him toward the Capitol building. The streets were lined with well-wishers who cheered wildly. A longstanding resident of Washington, Margaret Bayard Smith, watched, and later described what she saw that morning: We stood on the South steps of the terrace; when the appointed hour came saw the General and his company advancing up the Avenue, slow, very slow, so impeded was his march by the crowds thronging around him. Even from a distance, [Jackson] could be discerned from those who accompanied him, for he only was uncovered, (the Servant in presence of his Sovereign, the People). 2
The crowds waiting to gain a glimpse of the unhatted hero of New Orleans were seemingly uncountable. The famed Massachusetts senator, Daniel Webster [1782–1852], later wrote: "I never saw such a crowd here before. Persons have come five hundred miles to see General Jackson, and they really seem to think that the country is rescued from some dreadful danger!" 3
Webster was commenting on more than he could grasp. Indeed, many of those who voted for Jackson had done so with an anticipation that their man from Tennessee would change Washington politics in some dramatic way. He had campaigned on reform, on changing the political status quo. Using a term from today's politics, Jackson had promised to "drain the swamp" of Washington corruption and insider political cronyism. That day represented an opportunity for those who had elected Jackson to revel in the possibilities of their man and his promises.
New Words
Once Jackson reached the Capitol, he left the thronging crowd behind and entered the Senate chamber, a different and smaller one than today's senate room. There, he watched as several newly elected senators were sworn in. Outside, "thousands and thousands of people, without distinction of rank, collected in an immense mass round the Capitol, silent, orderly and tranquil, with their eyes fixed on the front of the edifice, waiting the appearance of the President in the Portico." 4 When Jackson finally emerged back into the daylight at noon, along with the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, including Chief Justice John Marshall [1755–1835], he took his place on the portico as loud shouts and huzzahs rose from the impatient crowd. Spreading out across the Capitol grounds were perhaps 20,000 people, whom Jackson recognized with a bow. Only then did he take his seat. Again, the crowd burst into cheers. Across the frozen Potomac, over in Virginia, cannon split the air in honor of the new Chief Executive.
Jackson then delivered his inaugural address, the first of his presidency, but despite the thousands in attendance, few could actually hear the words he spoke. His elderly voice did not project well that day. He had prepared his words carefully, though, having drafted his speech back in Nashville, his hometown of the frontier, at the home he called the Hermitage. His reputation as a man with a hair trigger, his legacy of dueling and fights and gun battles and military campaigns well preceded him, but he remained coolly the elder statesman that day. He spoke conservatively, restrained. He talked of limited spending and of ending the national debt. The old soldier surprised his critics by promising not to increase the size of the United States military. He spoke in favor of "internal improvements," the code of the day for federally sponsored roads and canals. He talked of his support for American farmers and commercial interests and even of the expanding Eastern-based manufacturing sector. But he did not steer clear of his campaign promises in support of political reform, which he stated would require "the correction of those abuses" that many felt had tainted the "freedom of elections," placing "power in unfaithful or incompetent hands." 5 With a heartfelt nod to the American republic that he was dedicating himself to serve, Jackson said: "As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will … it will be worth defending." 6 Washington politicians could only wonder what the next four years would bring.

A native of rural North Carolina and veteran of three wars, Andrew Jackson stood in sharp contrast to the six presidents who preceded him, all of whom were eastern aristocrats with strong ties to the founding of the U.S. government. True to his reputation as a commoner, Jackson was the first president to hold his inauguration outdoors on the front steps of the U.S. Capitol as well as the first president to invite the public to his inaugural ball. This mural, which is found in the House corridors of the Capitol, depicts Jackson being sworn in as president by Chief Justice John Marshall .
Source: Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division.
Following the address, Chief Justice Marshall stepped forward to administer the oath of office to Andrew Jackson, whose hand rested on a bible. Once the words were spoken, Jackson leaned forward and kissed it. Once again, cannon fire split the air. The official proceedings completed, Jackson then turned to the people massed around the Capitol and bowed to them once more. Margaret Smith would later write: "Had the spectacle closed here, even Europeans must have acknowledged that a free people … was majesty." 7 But that republican crowd erupted once again. Their man was finally president. No longer capable of restraint, they knocked down the ropes that had demarked their place during the ceremony in an attempt to thro