The Reign of Andrew Jackson
by
Frederic Austin Ogg
Part 3 out of 3
For more than a decade after the Bank was destroyed the United States
had a troubled financial history. The payment of the last dollar of
the national debt in 1834 gave point to a suggestion which Clay had
repeatedly offered that, as a means of avoiding an embarrassing
surplus, the proceeds of the sales of public lands should be
distributed according to population among the States. One bill on this
subject was killed by a veto in 1832, but another was finally approved
in 1836. Before distribution could be carried far, however, the
country was overtaken by the panic of 1837; and never again was there
a surplus to distribute. For seven years the funds of the Government
continued to be kept in state banks, until, in 1840, President Van
Buren prevailed upon Congress to pass a measure setting up an
independent treasury system, thereby realizing the ultimate purpose of
the Jacksonians to divorce the Government from banks of every sort.
When the Whigs came into power in 1841, they promptly abolished the
independent Treasury with a view to resurrecting the United States
Bank. Tyler's vetoes, however, frustrated their designs, and it
remained for the Democrats in 1846 to revive the independent Treasury
and to organize it substantially as it operates today.
CHAPTER X
THE REMOVAL OF THE SOUTHERN INDIANS
It was not by chance that the Jacksonian period made large
contribution to the working out of the ultimate relations of the red
man with his white rival and conqueror. Jackson was himself an old
frontier soldier, who never doubted that it was part of the natural
order of things that conflict between the two peoples should go on
until the weaker was dispossessed or exterminated. The era was one in
which the West guided public policy; and it was the West that was
chiefly interested in further circumscribing Indian lands, trade, and
influence. In Jackson's day, too, the people ruled; and it was the
adventurous, pushing, land-hungry common folk who decreed that the red
man had lingered long enough in the Middle West and must now move on.
The pressure of the white population upon the Indian lands was felt
both in the Northwest and in the Southwest; but the pressure was
unevenly applied in the two sections. North of the Ohio there was
simply one great glacier-like advance of the white settlers, driving
westward before it practically all of the natives who did not perish
in the successive attempts to roll back the wave of conquest upon the
Alleghanies. The redskins were pushed from Ohio into Indiana, from
Indiana into Illinois, from Illinois and Wisconsin into Iowa and
Minnesota; the few tribal fragments which by treaty arrangement
remained behind formed only insignificant "islands" in the midst of
the fast-growing flood of white population.
In the South the great streams of migration were those that flowed
down the Ohio, filling the back lands on each side, and thence down
the Mississippi to its mouth. Hence, instead of pressing the natives
steadily backward from a single direction, as in the North, the whites
hemmed them in on east, west, and north; while to the southward the
Gulf presented a relentless barrier. Powerful and populous tribes were
left high and dry in Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama--peoples who in
their day of necessity could hope to find new homes only by long
migrations past the settled river districts that lay upon their
western frontiers.
Of these encircled tribes, four were of chief importance: the Creeks,
the Cherokees, the Choctaws, and the Chickasaws. In 1825 the Creeks
numbered twenty thousand, and held between five and six million acres
of land in western Georgia and eastern Alabama. The Cherokees numbered
about nine thousand and had even greater areas, mainly in northwestern
Georgia, but to some extent also in northeastern Alabama and
southeastern Tennessee. The Choctaws, numbering twenty-one thousand,
and the Chickasaws, numbering thirty-six hundred, together held
upwards of sixteen million acres in Mississippi--approximately the
northern half of the State--and a million and a quarter acres in
western Alabama. The four peoples thus numbered fifty-three thousand
souls, and held ancestral lands aggregating over thirty-three million
acres, or nearly the combined area of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Furthermore, they were no longer savages. The Creeks were the lowest
in civilization; but even they had become more settled and less
warlike since their chastisement by Jackson in 1814. The Choctaws and
Chickasaws lived in frame houses, cultivated large stretches of land,
operated workshops and mills, maintained crude but orderly
governments, and were gradually accepting Christianity. Most advanced
of all were the Cherokees. As one writer has described them, they "had
horses and cattle, goats, sheep, and swine. They raised maize, cotton,
tobacco, wheat, oats, and potatoes, and traded with their products to
New Orleans. They had gardens, and apple and peach orchards. They had
built roads, and they kept inns for travelers. They manufactured
cotton and wool.... One of their number had invented an alphabet for
their language. They had a civil government, imitated from that of the
United States." Under these improved conditions all of the tribes were
growing in numbers and acquiring vested rights which it would be
increasingly difficult to deny or to disregard.
A good while before Jackson entered the White House the future of
these large, settled, and prosperous groups of red men began to
trouble the people of Georgia, Alabama, and other Southern States. The
Indians made but little use of the major part of their land; vast
tracts lay untrodden save by hunters. Naturally, as the white
population grew and the lands open for settlement became scarcer and
poorer, the rich tribal holdings were looked upon with covetous eyes.
In the decade following the War of 1812, when cotton cultivation was
spreading rapidly over the southern interior, the demand that they be
thrown open for occupation to white settlers became almost
irresistible.
Three things, obviously, could happen. The tribes could be allowed to
retain permanently their great domains, while the white population
flowed in around them; or the lands could be opened to the whites
under terms looking to a peaceful intermingling of the two peoples; or
the tribes could be induced or compelled to move _en masse_ to new
homes beyond the Mississippi. The third plan was the only one ever
considered by most people to be feasible, although it offered great
difficulties and was carried out only after many delays.
The State which felt the situation most keenly was Georgia, partly
because there an older and denser population pressed more eagerly for
new lands, partly--it must be admitted--because lands obtained by
cession were, under the practice of that State, distributed among the
people by lottery. The first move in this direction was to dispossess
the Creeks. As far back as 1802, when Georgia made her final cession
of western lands to United States, the latter agreed to extinguish the
Indian title to lands within the State whenever it could be done
"peaceably and on reasonable terms." This pledge the Georgians never
allowed the federal authorities to forget. After 1815 several large
tracts were liberated. But by that date the State wanted unbroken
jurisdiction over all of the territory within her limits, and her
complaints of laxness on the part of the Federal Government in
bringing this about became no less frequent than vigorous.
Near the close of his Administration President Monroe sent two
commissioners to procure a general cession; and at Indian Spring a
treaty was concluded in which the Creeks ceded practically all of
their lands between the Flint and the Chattahoochee rivers. The Senate
ratified the treaty, and the Georgians were elated. But investigation
showed that the Creeks who stood behind the agreement represented only
an insignificant fraction of the nation, and President Adams refused
to allow Troup, the irate Georgian Governor, to proceed with the
intended occupation until further negotiations should have taken
place. Stormy exchanges of views followed, in the course of which the
Governor more than once reminded Adams that Georgia was "sovereign on
her own soil." But in 1826 and 1827 treaties were obtained finally
extinguishing Creek titles in the State. Land west of the Mississippi
was promised to all Creeks who would go there.
The problem of the Cherokees was more difficult. By a series of
treaties beginning in 1785 the United States had recognized this
people as a nation, capable of making peace and war, of owning the
lands within its boundaries, and of governing and punishing its own
citizens by its own laws. At the close of Jefferson's second
Administration the tribe seriously considered moving west of the
Mississippi, and shortly after the War of 1812 most of the northern
members resident in Tennessee took the long-deferred step. The refusal
of the Georgia members to go with the Tenneseeans disappointed the
land-hungry whites, and from that time the authorities of the State
labored incessantly both to break down the notion that the Cherokees
were a "nation" to be dealt with through diplomatic channels, and to
extend over them, in effect, the full sovereignty of the State. In
December, 1828, the Legislature took the bold step of enacting that
all white persons in the Cherokee territory should be subject to the
laws of Georgia; that after June 1, 1830, all Indians resident in this
territory should be subject to such laws as might be prescribed for
them by the State; and that after this date all laws made by the
Cherokee Government should be null and void.
When Jackson became President he found on his desk a vigorous protest
against this drastic piece of legislation. But appeal to him was
useless. He was on record as believing, in common with most
southwesterners, that Georgia had a rightful jurisdiction over her
Indian lands; and his Secretary of War, Eaton, was instructed to say
to the Cherokee representatives that their people would be expected
either to yield to Georgia's authority or to remove beyond the
Mississippi. In his first annual message, on December 8, 1829, the
President set forth the principles that guided him from first to last
in dealing with the Indian problem. It would be greatly to the
interest of the Indians themselves, he said, to remove to the ample
lands that would be set apart for them permanently in the West, where
each tribe could have its own home and its own government, subject to
no control by the United States except for the maintenance of peace on
the frontier and among the tribes. Forcible removal was not to be
contemplated; that would be cruel and unjust. But every effort was to
be made to bring about a voluntary migration. One thing was to be
clearly understood: any tribe or group that chose to remain in Georgia
must submit to the laws of the State and yield its claim to all land
which had not been improved. The President was not indifferent to the
well-being of the red men; but he refused to recognize the Cherokees
as a "nation" having "rights" as against either Georgia or the United
States. A few weeks after the message was received Congress passed a
bill creating an Indian reservation beyond the Mississippi and
appropriating five hundred thousand dollars to aid in the removal of
such Indians as should choose to accept the offer of the Government.
The outlook for the Cherokees was now dark. Both the executive and
legislative branches of the Federal Government were committed to a
policy which offered only the alternatives of removal or subjection;
and, thus encouraged, the Georgia Legislature voted to proceed with
the extension of the full authority of the State over both the
Cherokees and the Creeks after June 1, 1830. To make matters worse,
the discovery of gold in the northeastern corner of the State in 1829
brought down upon the Cherokee lands a horde of scrambling, lawless
fortune seekers, numbered already in 1830 by the thousand. None the
less, the Cherokee opposition stiffened. The Indian legislative
council voted that all who accepted lands beyond the Mississippi and
settled on them should forfeit their tribal membership, that those who
sold their individual property to emigrate should be flogged, and that
those who voted to sell a part or all of the tribal possessions should
be put to death.
One resource remained to be exhausted in defense of the Indian claims;
this was the courts. But here again things went unfavorably. After
many delays a test case, Cherokee Nation vs. State of Georgia, was
placed upon the docket of the Supreme Court. The bill set forth the
plaintiff to be "the Cherokee Nation of Indians, a foreign State, not
owning allegiance to the United States, nor to any State of this
union, nor to any prince, potentate, or State other than their own,"
and it asked that the Court declare null the Georgia Acts of 1828 and
1829 and enjoin the Georgia officials from interfering with Cherokee
lands, mines, and other property, or with the persons of Cherokees on
account of anything done by them within the Cherokee territory. The
Indians were represented before the Court by two attorneys, one of
them being William Wirt; Georgia employed no counsel. The opinion of
the Court as announced at the January term, 1831, by Chief Justice
Marshall was that while the Cherokee nation was a State and had
uniformly been dealt with as such by the Federal Government since
1789, it was not a "foreign State" within the meaning of the
Constitution, and therefore was not entitled to sue in that character
in the courts of the United States. "If it be true," the decision
concluded, "that wrongs have been inflicted and that still greater are
to be apprehended, this is not the tribunal which can redress the past
or prevent the future. The motion for an injunction is denied."
The case was thus thrown out of court. Yet the Cherokees were
recognized as a "domestic, dependent" nation, and there was nothing in
the decision to indicate that the extension of the laws of Georgia
over them was valid and constitutional. Indeed, in a second case that
came up shortly, Worcester _vs._ State of Georgia, the Court strongly
backed up the Indians' contention. Worcester was a Presbyterian
missionary who was imprisoned for violation of a Georgia statute
forbidding white persons to reside in the Cherokee territory without a
license. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, and in the
decision of March 10, 1832, Marshall affirmed the status of the
Cherokees as a "nation" within whose territory "the laws of Georgia
can have no force, and which the citizens of Georgia have no right to
enter but with the assent of the Cherokees themselves or in conformity
with treaties and with the acts of Congress." The statute was
accordingly declared to be unconstitutional and Worcester was ordered
to be discharged.
This ought to have been enough to protect the Cherokees in their
rights. But it was not, and for two reasons: the contempt of Georgia
for the Court's opinions, and the refusal of Jackson to restrain the
State in its headstrong course. Already the state authorities had
refused to take notice of a writ of error to the Supreme Court sued
out in December, 1830, in behalf of a condemned Cherokee, Corn Tassel,
and had permitted the execution of the unfortunate redskin. The state
court now refused to issue a writ of _habeas corpus_ in behalf of
Worcester, and the prisoner was held--precisely as if the law under
which he was convicted had been pronounced constitutional--until he
was pardoned by the Governor a year later.
This action on the part of the State was, of course, nothing less than
nullification. Yet Jackson did not lift a finger. "John Marshall has
made his decision," he is reported to have said; "now let him enforce
it." The South Carolinians were quick to seize upon the
inconsistencies of the situation. Nullification in their State was
apparently one thing; in Georgia, quite another. The very fact,
however, that the Georgians had successfully defied the federal
Supreme Court did much to encourage their neighbors in a course of
similar boldness. Jackson's leniency toward Georgia has never been
wholly explained. He was undoubtedly influenced by his sympathy with
the purpose of the State to establish its jurisdiction over all lands
within its borders. Furthermore he cherished an antipathy for Marshall
which even led him to refuse in 1835 to attend a memorial meeting in
the great jurist's honor. But these considerations do not wholly cover
the case. All that the historian can say is that the President chose
to take notice of the threats and acts of South Carolina and to ignore
the threats and acts of Georgia, without ever being troubled by the
inconsistency of his course. His political career affords many such
illustrations of the arbitrary and even erratic character of his mind.
Meanwhile the great Indian migration was setting in. Emulating the
example of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi extended their laws over
all of the Indian lands within their boundaries; and in all parts of
the South the red folk--some of them joyously, but most of them
sorrowfully--prepared to take up their long journey. In 1832 the
Creeks yielded to the United States all of their remaining lands east
of the Mississippi. By the spring of 1833 the Choctaws and Chickasaws
had done the same thing and were on their way westward. Only the
Cherokees remained, and in his message of December 3, 1833, Jackson
reiterated his earlier arguments for their removal. Realizing that
further resistance was useless, a portion of the tribe signified its
readiness to go. The remainder, however, held out, and it was only at
the close of 1835 that the long-desired treaty of cession could be
secured. All Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi were now
relinquished to the United States, which agreed to pay five million
dollars for them, to provide an adequate home in the new Indian
Territory created by Congress during the preceding year, and to bear
all the costs of removing the tribe thither.
It was not alone the South, however, that witnessed widespread
displacements of Indian populations in the Jacksonian period. How the
Black Hawk War of 1832 grew out of, and in turn led to, removals in
the remoter Northwest has been related in another volume in this
series.[13] And, in almost every western State, surviving Indian
titles were rapidly extinguished. Between 1829 and 1837 ninety-four
Indian treaties, most of them providing for transfers of territory,
were concluded; and before Jackson went out of office he was able to
report to Congress that, "with the exception of two small bands living
in Ohio and Indiana, not exceeding fifteen hundred persons, and of the
Cherokees, all of the tribes on the east side of the Mississippi, and
extending from Lake Michigan to Florida, have entered into engagements
which will lead to their transplantation." With little delay the
Cherokees, too, were added to this list, although a group of
irreconcilables resisted until 1838, when they were forcibly ejected
by a contingent of United States troops under General Winfield Scott.
All of this was done not without strong protest from other people
besides the Indians. Some who objected did so for political effect.
When Clay and Calhoun, for example, thundered in the Senate against
the removal treaties, they were merely seeking to discredit the
Administration; both held views on Indian policy which were
substantially the same as Jackson's. But there was also objection on
humanitarian grounds; and the Society of Friends and other religious
bodies engaged in converting and educating the southern tribes used
all possible influence to defeat the plan of removal. On the whole,
however, the country approved what was being done. People felt that
the further presence of large, organized bodies of natives in the
midst of a rapidly growing white population, and of tribes setting
themselves up as quasi-independent nations within the bounds of the
States, was an anomaly that could not last; and they considered that,
distressing as were many features of the removals, both white man and
red man would ultimately be better off.
CHAPTER XI
THE JACKSONIAN SUCCESSION
"Oh, hang General Jackson," exclaimed Fanny Kemble one day, after
dinner, in the cabin of the ship that brought her, in the summer of
1832, to the United States. Even before she set foot on our shores,
the brilliant English actress was tired of the din of politics and
bored by the incessant repetition of the President's name.
Subsequently she was presented at the White House and had an
opportunity to form her own opinion of the "monarch" whose name and
deeds were on everybody's lips; and the impression was by no means
unfavorable. "Very tall and thin he was," says her journal, "but erect
and dignified; a good specimen of a fine old, well-battered soldier;
his manners perfectly simple and quiet, and, therefore, very good."
Small wonder that the name of Jackson was heard wherever men and women
congregated in 1832! Something more than half of the people of the
country were at the moment trying to elect the General to a second
term as President, and something less than half were putting forth
their best efforts to prevent such a "calamity." Three years of
Jacksonian rule had seen the civil service revolutionized, the Cabinet
banished from its traditional place in the governmental system, and
the conduct of the executive branch given a wholly new character and
bent. Internal improvements had been checked by the Maysville Road
veto. The United States Bank had been given a blow, through another
veto, which sent it staggering. Political fortunes had been made and
unmade by a wave of the President's hand. The first attempt of a State
to put the stability of the Union to the test had brought the Chief
Executive dramatically into the role of defender of the nation's
dignity and perpetuity. No previous President had so frequently
challenged the attention of the public; none had kept himself more
continuously in the forefront of political controversy.
Frail health and close application to official duties prevented
Jackson from traveling extensively during his eight years in the White
House. He saw the Hermitage but once in this time, and on but one
occasion did he venture far from the capital. This was in the summer
of 1833, when he toured the Middle States and New England northward as
far as Concord, New Hampshire. Accompanied by Van Buren, Lewis Cass,
Levi Woodbury, and other men of prominence, the President set off from
Washington in early June. At Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and
intervening cities the party was received with all possible
demonstrations of regard. Processions moved through crowded streets;
artillery thundered salutes; banquet followed banquet; the enthusiasm
of the masses was unrestrained. At New York the furnishings of the
hotel suite occupied by the President were eventually auctioned off as
mementoes of the occasion.
New England was, in the main, enemy country. None the less, the
President was received there with unstinted goodwill. Edward Everett
said that only two other men had ever been welcomed in Boston as
Jackson was. They were Washington and La Fayette. The President's
determined stand against nullification was fresh in mind, and the
people, regardless of party, were not slow to express their
appreciation. Their cordiality was fully reciprocated. "He is
amazingly tickled with the Yankees," reports a fellow traveler more
noted for veracity than for elegance of speech, "and the more he sees
on 'em, the better he likes 'em. 'No nullification here,' says he.
'No,' says I, 'General; Mr. Calhoun would stand no more chance down
east than a stumped-tail bull in fly time.'"
To the infinite disgust of John Quincy Adams, Harvard University
conferred upon the distinguished visitor the honorary degree of doctor
of laws. In the course of the ceremony one of the seniors delivered,
in Latin, a salutatory concluding with the words: "Harvard welcomes
Jackson the President. She embraces Jackson the Patriot." "A splendid
compliment, sir, a splendid compliment," declared the honored guest
after Woodbury had translated the phrases for his benefit; "but why
talk about so live a thing as patriotism in a dead language?" At the
close of the exercises the students filed past the President and were
introduced to him, each greeting him, "to the infinite edification and
amusement of the grizzly old warrior," by his new title _Doctor_
Jackson. The wits of the opposition lost no opportunity to poke fun at
the President's accession to the brotherhood of scholars. As he was
closing a speech some days later an auditor called out, "You must give
them a little Latin, _Doctor_." In nowise abashed, the President
solemnly doffed his hat again, stepped to the front of the platform,
and resumed: "_E pluribus unum_, my friends, _sine qua non_!"
Life at the White House, as one writer has remarked, lost under
Jackson something of the good form of the Virginia regime, but it lost
nothing of the air of domesticity. Throughout the two Administrations
the mistress of the mansion was Mrs. Andrew Jackson Donelson, wife of
the President's secretary and in every respect a very capable woman.
Of formality there was little or none. Major Lewis was a member of the
presidential household, and other intimates--Van Buren, Kendall,
Blair, Hill--dropped in at anytime, "before breakfast, or in the
evening, as inclination prompted." The President was always accessible
to callers, whether or not their business was important. Yet he found
much time, especially in the evenings, for the enjoyment of his long
reed pipe with red clay bowl, in the intimacy of the White House
living room, with perhaps a Cabinet officer to read dispatches or
other state papers to him in a corner, while the ladies sewed and
chatted and half a dozen children played about the room.
Social affairs there were, of course. But they were simple enough to
please the most ardent Jeffersonian--much too simple to please people
accustomed to somewhat rigorous etiquette. Thus George Bancroft, who
had the reputation of being one of Washington's most punctilious
gentlemen, thought well of Jackson's character but very poorly of his
levees. In describing a White House reception which he attended in
1831, he wrote:
"The old man stood in the center of a little circle, about large enough
for a cotillion, and shook hands with everybody that offered. The
number of ladies who attended was small; nor were they brilliant. But
to compensate for it there was a throng of apprentices, boys of all
ages, men not civilized enough to walk about the room with their hats
off; the vilest promiscuous medley that ever was congregated in a
decent house; many of the lowest gathering round the doors, pouncing
with avidity upon the wine and refreshments, tearing the cake with the
ravenous keenness of intense hunger; starvelings, and fellows with
dirty faces and dirty manners; all the refuse that Washington could
turn forth from its workshops and stables."
The "people" still ruled. Yet it was only the public receptions that
presented such scenes of disorder. The dinners which the President
occasionally gave were well appointed. A Philadelphia gentleman who
was once invited to the White House with two or three friends
testifies that "the dinner was very neat and served in excellent
taste, while the wines were of the choicest qualities. The President
himself dined on the simplest fare: bread, milk, and vegetables."
Jackson was never a rich man, and throughout his stay in the White
House he found it no easy matter to make ends meet. He entertained his
personal friends and official guests royally. He lavished hospitality
upon the general public, sometimes spending as much as a thousand or
fifteen hundred dollars on a single levee. He drew a sharp line
between personal and public expenditures, and met out of his own
pocket outlays that under administrations both before and after were
charged to the public account. He loaned many thousands of dollars, in
small amounts, to needy friends, to old comrades in arms, and
especially to widows and orphans of his soldiery and of his political
supporters; and a large proportion of these debts he not only never
collected but actually forgot. Receipts from the Hermitage farm during
his years of absence were small, and fire in 1834 made necessary a
rebuilding of the family residence at considerable cost. The upshot
was that when, in 1837, the General was preparing to leave Washington,
he had to scrape together every available dollar in cash, and in
addition pledge the cotton crop of his plantation six months ahead for
a loan of six thousand dollars, in order to pay the bills outstanding
against him in the capital.
Meanwhile the country came to the election of 1836. From the time of
Van Buren's withdrawal from the Cabinet in 1831 to become, with
Jackson's full approval, a candidate for the vice presidency, there
never was doubt that the New Yorker would be the Democratic
presidential nominee in 1836, or that his election would mean a
continuation, in most respects, of the Jacksonian regime. Never did a
President more clearly pick his successor. There was, of course, some
protest within the party. Van Buren was not popular, and it required
all of the personal and official influence that the President could
bring to bear, backed up by judicious use of the patronage, to carry
his program through. At that, his own State rebelled and, through a
resolution of the Legislature, put itself behind the candidacy of
Senator Hugh L. White. The bold actions of his second Administration,
defiant alike of precedent and opposition, had alienated many of the
President's more intelligent and conservative followers. Yet the
allegiance of the masses was unshaken; and when the Democratic
convention assembled at Baltimore in May, 1835,--a year and a half
before the election--the nomination of Van Buren was secured without a
dissenting vote. There was no need to adopt a platform; everybody
understood that Jackson's policies were the platform, and that Jackson
himself was as truly before the electorate as if he had been a
candidate for a third term. In his letter of acceptance Van Buren met
all expectations by declaring his purpose "to tread generally in the
footsteps of President Jackson."
The anti-Administration forces entered the campaign with no flattering
prospects. Since 1832 their opposition to "executive usurpation" had
won for them a new party name, "Whig." But neither their opposition
nor any other circumstance had given them party solidarity. National
Republicans, anti-Masons, converted Jacksonians, state rights
men--upon what broad and constructive platform could they hope to
unite? They had no lack of able presidential aspirants. There was
Clay, the National Republican candidate in 1832; there was Webster, of
whom Jackson once said that he would never be President because he was
"too far east, knows too much, and is too honest"; and there were
lesser lights, such as Judge John McLean. But, again, how could the
many discordant groups be rallied to the support of any single leader?
Jackson predicted in 1834 that his opponents would nominate William
Henry Harrison, because "they have got to take up a soldier; they have
tried orators enough." The prophecy was a shrewd one, and in 1840 it
was fulfilled to the letter. Upon the present occasion, however, the
leaders decided to place no single nominee in the field, but rather to
bring forward a number of candidates who could be expected to develop
local strength and so to split the vote as to throw the final choice
into the House of Representatives. This seemed the only hope of
circumventing Van Buren's election. Four sectional candidates entered
the race: Webster was backed by New England; the Northwest united on
Harrison; the Southwest joined the Tennessee revolters in support of
White; Ohio had her own candidate in the person of McLean.
The plan was ingenious, but it did not work. Van Buren received 170
electoral votes against 124 in spite of his opponents. He carried
fifteen of the twenty-six States, including four in New England.
Harrison received 73 votes, White 26 (including those of Tennessee),
and Webster 14. South Carolina refused to support any of the
candidates on either side and threw away her votes on W.P. Mangum of
North Carolina. The Democrats kept control of both branches of
Congress.
Victory, therefore, rested with the Jacksonians--which means with
Jackson himself. The Democrats would have control of both the
executive and legislative branches of the Government for some years to
come; the Bank would not soon be re-chartered; the veto power would
remain intact; federal expenditure upon internal improvements had been
curbed, and the "American system" had been checked; the national debt
was discharged and revenue was superabundant; Jackson could look back
over the record of his Administrations with pride and forward to the
rule of "Little Van" with satisfaction. "When I review the arduous
administration through which I have passed," declared the President
soon after the results of the election were made known, "the
formidable opposition, to its very close, of the combined talents,
wealth, and power of the whole aristocracy of the United States, aided
as it is by the moneyed monopolies of the whole country with their
corrupting influence, with which we had to contend, I am truly
thankful to my God for this happy result."
Congress met on the 5th of December for the closing session of the
Administration. The note of victory pervaded the President's message.
Yet there was one more triumph to be won: the resolution of censure
voted by the Senate in 1834 was still officially on the record book.
Now it was that Benton finally procured the passage of his expunging
resolution, although not until both branches of Congress had been
dragged into controversy more personal and acrid, if possible, than
any in the past eight years. The action taken was probably
unconstitutional. But Jackson's "honor" was vindicated, and that was
all that he and his friends saw, or cared to see, in the proceeding.
As early as 1831 the President conceived the idea of issuing a
farewell address to the people upon the eve of his retirement; and a
few weeks before the election of Van Buren he sent to Taney a list of
subjects which he proposed to touch upon in the document, requesting
him to "throw on paper" his ideas concerning them. The address was
issued on March 4, 1837, and followed closely the copy subsequently
found in Taney's hand writing in the Jackson manuscripts. Its contents
were thoroughly commonplace, being indeed hardly more than a resume of
the eight annual messages; and it might well have been dismissed as
the amiable musings of a garrulous old man. But nothing associated
with the name of Jackson ever failed to stir controversy. The Whigs
ridiculed the egotism which underlay the palpable imitation of
Washington. "Happily," said the New York _American_, "it is the last
humbug which the mischievous popularity of this illiterate, violent,
vain, and iron-willed soldier can impose upon a confiding and
credulous people." The Democrats, however, lauded the address, praised
the wisdom and sincerity of its author, and laid away among their most
valued mementoes the white satin copies which admiring friends
scattered broadcast over the country.
Showered with evidences of undiminished popularity, the General came
down to his last day in office. One enthusiast sent him a light wagon
made entirely of hickory sticks with the bark upon them. Another
presented a phaeton made of wood taken from the old frigate
_Constitution_. A third capped the climax by forwarding from New York
a cheese four feet in diameter, two feet thick, and weighing fourteen
hundred pounds--twice as large, the _Globe_ fondly pointed out, as the
cheese presented to Jefferson under similar circumstances a quarter of
a century earlier. From all parts of the country came callers, singly
and in delegations, to pay their respects and to assure the outgoing
Chief of their goodwill and admiration. March 4,1837, was a raw,
disagreeable day. But Jackson, pale and racked by disease, rode with
his chosen successor to the place where he had himself assumed office
eight years before, and sat uncovered while the oath was administered
and the inaugural delivered. The suave, elegantly dressed Van Buren
was politely applauded as the new Chief to whom respect was due. But
it was the tall, haggard, white-haired soldier-politician who had put
Van Buren where he was who awoke the spontaneous enthusiasm of the
crowds.
Three days after the inauguration Jackson started for the Hermitage.
His trip became a series of ovations, and he was obliged several times
to pause for rest. At last he reached Nashville, where once again, as
in the old days of the Indian wars, he was received with an acclaim
deeply tinged by personal friendship and neighborly pride. A great
banquet in his honor was presided over by James K. Polk, now Speaker
of the national House of Representatives; and the orators vied one
with another in extolling his virtues and depicting his services to
the country. Then Jackson went on to the homestead whose seclusion he
coveted.
No one knew better than the ex-President himself that his course was
almost run. He was seventy years of age and seldom free from pain for
an hour. He considered himself, moreover, a poor man--mainly, it
appears, because he went back to Tennessee owing ten thousand dollars
and with only ninety dollars in his pockets. He was, however, only
"land poor," for his plantation of twenty-six hundred acres was rich
and valuable, and he had a hundred and forty slaves--"servants" he
always called them--besides large numbers of horses and cattle. A year
or two of thrifty supervision brought his lands and herds back to
liberal yields; his debts were soon paid off; and notwithstanding
heavy outlays for his adopted son, whose investments invariably turned
out badly, he was soon able to put aside all anxiety over pecuniary
matters.
Established again in his old home, surrounded by congenial relatives
and friends, respected by neighbors without regard to politics, and
visited from time to time by notable foreigners and Americans, Jackson
found much of satisfaction in his declining years. For a time he fully
lived up to the promise made to Benton and Blair that he would keep
clear of politics. His interest in the fortunes of his party, however,
was not diminished by his retirement from public life. He corresponded
freely with Van Buren, whose policies he in most respects approved;
and as the campaign of 1840 approached the "old war-horse began once
more to sniff the battle from afar." Admitting to his friends that the
situation looked "a little dubious," he exerted himself powerfully to
bring about the reelection of the New Yorker. He wrote a letter
belittling the military qualities of the Whig candidate, thereby
probably doing the Democratic cause more harm than good; and finally,
to avert the humiliation of a Whig victory in Tennessee, he "took the
stump" and denounced the enemy up and down through all western
Tennessee and southern Kentucky. But "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" was
too much for him; the Whig candidates carried both Tennessee and
Kentucky and won the nation-wide contest by 234 to 60 electoral votes.
The old warrior took the defeat--_his_ defeat, he always regarded
it--philosophically, and at once began to lay plans for a recovery of
Democratic supremacy in 1844. For another quadrennium his hand was on
the party throttle. When men speculated as to whether Van Buren,
General Cass, General Butler, or Senator Benton would be the standard
bearer in 1844, they always asked what Jackson's edict on the subject
would be; and the final selection of James K. Polk, while not fully
dictated by the ex-President, was the result of a compromise in which
his advice played a prominent part. Though past seventy-seven and
hardly able to sign his name, Jackson threw himself into the campaign
and undoubtedly contributed to the election of his fellow-Tenneseean.
His satisfaction with the outcome and with the annexation of Texas
which quickly followed found expression in a barbecue attended by all
the Democrats of the neighborhood and by some of note from a distance.
"We have restored the Government to sound principles," declared the
host in a brief, faltering speech from the Hermitage portico, "and
extended the area of our institutions to the Rio Grande. Now for
Oregon and Fifty-four-forty."
Oregon--although not to fifty-four forty--was soon to be duly made
American soil. But Jackson did not live to witness the event. Early in
1845 his health began to fail rapidly and on the very day of Polk's
inauguration he was at the point of death. Rallying, he struggled
manfully for three months against the combined effects of consumption,
dropsy, and dysentery. But on Sunday, the 8th of June, the end came.
In accordance with a pledge which he had given his wife years before,
he had become a communicant of the Presbyterian church; and his last
words to the friends about his bedside were messages of Christian
cheer. After two days the body was laid to rest in the Hermitage
garden, beside the grave of the companion whose loss he had never
ceased to mourn with all the feeling of which his great nature was
capable. The authorities at the national capital ordered public honors
to be paid to the ex-President, and gatherings in all parts of the
country listened with much show of feeling to appropriate eulogies.
"General Jackson," said Daniel Webster to Thurlow Weed in 1837, "is an
honest and upright man. He does what he thinks is right, and does it
with all his might. He has a violent temper, which leads him often to
hasty conclusions. It also causes him to view as personal to himself
the public acts of other men. For this reason there is great
difference between Jackson angry and Jackson in good humor. When he is
calm, his judgment is good; when angry, it is usually bad.... His
patriotism is no more to be questioned than that of Washington. He is
the greatest General we have and, except Washington, the greatest we
ever had."
To this characterization of Andrew Jackson by his greatest American
contemporary it is impossible to make noteworthy addition. His was a
character of striking contradictions. His personal virtues were
honesty, bravery, open-heartedness, chivalry toward women,
hospitality, steadfastness. His personal faults were irascibility,
egotism, stubbornness, vindictiveness, and intolerance of the opinions
of others. He was not a statesman; yet some of the highest qualities
of statesmanship were in him. He had a perception of the public will
which has rarely been surpassed; and in most, if not all, of the great
issues of his time he had a grasp of the right end of the question.
The country came to the belief that the National Bank should not be
revived. It accepted and perpetuated Van Buren's independent treasury
plan. The annexation of Texas, which Jackson strongly favored, became
an accomplished fact with the approval of a majority of the people.
The moderated protective tariff to which Jackson inclined was kept up
until the Civil War. The removal of the Indians to reservations beyond
the Mississippi fell in with the views of the public upon that subject
and inaugurated an Indian policy which was closely adhered to for more
than half a century. In his vindication of executive independence
Jackson broke new ground, crudely enough it is true; yet, whatever the
merits of his ideas at the moment, they reshaped men's conception of
the presidency and helped make that office the power that it is today.
The strong stand taken against nullification clarified popular opinion
upon the nature of the Union and lent new and powerful support to
national vigor and dignity.
Over against these achievements must be placed the introduction of the
Spoils System, which debauched the Civil Service and did the country
lasting harm; yet Jackson only responded to public opinion which held
"rotation in office to be the cardinal principle of democracy." It
needed a half-century of experience to convince the American people of
this fallacy and to place the national Civil Service beyond the reach
of spoilsmen. Even now public opinion is slow to realize that
efficiency in office can be secured only by experience and relative
permanence.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The events of the period covered in this volume are described with
some fullness in all of the general American histories. Of these, two
are especially noteworthy for literary quality and other elements of
popular interest: Woodrow Wilson's _History of the American People_, 5
vols. (1902), and John B. McMaster's _History of the People of the
United States_, 8 vols. (1883-1913). The Jacksonian epoch is treated
in Wilson's fourth volume and in McMaster's fifth and sixth volumes.
On similar lines, but with more emphasis on political and
constitutional matters, is James Schouler's _History of the United
States under the Constitution_, 7 vols. (1880-1913), vols. III-IV. One
seeking a scholarly view of the period, in an adequate literary
setting, can hardly do better, however, than to read Frederick J.
Turner's _Rise of the New West_ (1906) and William MacDonald's
_Jacksonian Democracy_ (1906). These are volumes XIV and XV in _The
American Nation_, edited by Albert B. Hart.
Biographies are numerous and in a number of instances excellent. Of
lives of Jackson, upwards of a dozen have been published. The most
recent and in every respect the best is John S. Bassett's _Life of
Andrew Jackson_, 2 vols. (1911). This work is based throughout on the
sources; its literary quality is above the average and it appraises
Jackson and his times in an unimpeachable spirit of fairness. Within
very limited space, William G. Brown's _Andrew Jackson_ (1900) tells
the story of Jackson admirably; and a good biography, marred only by a
lack of sympathy and by occasional inaccuracy in details, is William
G. Sumner's _Andrew Jackson_ (rev. ed., 1899). Of older biographies,
the most important is James Parton's _Life of Andrew Jackson_, 3 vols.
(1861). This work is sketchy, full of irrelevant or unimportant
matter, and uncritical; but for a half-century it was the repository
from which historians and biographers chiefly drew in dealing with
Jackson's epoch. John H. Eaton's _Life of Andrew Jackson_ (1842)
describes Jackson's earlier career, mainly on the military side; but
it never rises above the level of a campaign document.
Among biographies of Jackson's contemporaries may be mentioned George
T. Curtis, _Life of Daniel Webster_, 2 vols. (1870); Henry C. Lodge,
_Daniel Webster_ (1883); John B. McMaster, _Daniel Webster_ (1902);
Frederic A. Ogg, _Daniel Webster_ (1914); Carl Schurz, _Henry Clay_, 2
vols. (1887); Gaillard Hunt, _John C. Calhoun_ (1908); William M.
Meigs, _The Life of John Caldwell Calhoun_, 2 vols. (1917); John T.
Morse, _John Quincy Adams_ (1882); Edward M. Shepard, _Martin Van
Buren_ (1888); Theodore Roosevelt, _Thomas Hart Benton_ (1888); and
Theodore D. Jervey, _Robert Y. Hayne and His Times_ (1909).
On many topics the reader will do well to go to monographs or other
special works. Thus Jackson's policy of removals from public office is
presented with good perspective in Carl R. Fish, _The Civil Service
and the Patronage_ (Harvard Historical Studies, xi, 1905). The history
of the bank controversy is best told in Ralph C. H. Catterall, _The
Second Bank of the United States_ (1903); and interesting chapters in
the country's financial history are presented in Edward G. Bourne,
_History of the Surplus Revenue of 1837_ (1885), and David Kinley,
_The History, Organization, and Influence of the Independent Treasury
of the United States_ (1893). On the tariff one should consult Frank
W. Taussig, _Tariff History of the United States_ (6th ed., 1914) and
Edward Stanwood, _American Tariff Controversies_, 2 vols. (1903).
Similarly illuminating studies of nullification are David F. Houston,
_Critical Study of Nullification in South Carolina_ (Harvard
Historical Studies, in, 1896) and Ulrich B. Phillips, _Georgia and
State Rights_ (American Historical Association Reports, 1901, II).
Aside from newspapers, and from collections of public documents of
private correspondence, which cannot be enumerated here, the source
materials for the period fall into two main classes: books of
autobiography and reminiscence, and the writings of travelers. Most
conspicuous in the first group is Thomas H. Benton, _Thirty Years'
View; or, a History of the Working of the American Government for
Thirty Years, from 1820 to 1850_, 2 vols. (1854). Benton was an active
member of the Senate throughout the Jacksonian period, and his book
gives an interesting and valuable first-hand account of the public
affairs of the time. Amos Kendall's _Autobiography_ (1872) is,
unfortunately, hardly more than a collection of papers and scattered
memoranda. Nathan Sargent's _Public Men and Events, 1817-1853_, 2
vols. (1875), consists of chatty sketches, with an anti-Jackson slant.
Other books of contemporary reminiscence are Lyman Beecher's
_Autobiography_, 2 vols. (1863-65); Robert Mayo's _Political Sketches
of Eight Years in Washington_ (1839); and S.C. Goodrich's
_Recollections of a Lifetime_, 2 vols. (1856). The one monumental
diary is John Quincy Adams, _Memoirs; Comprising Portions of his Diary
from 1795 to 1848_ (ed. by Charles F. Adams, 12 vols., 1874-77). All
things considered, there is no more important nonofficial source for
the period.
In Jackson's day the United States was visited by an extraordinary
number of Europeans who forthwith wrote books descriptive of what they
had seen. Two of the most interesting--although the least
flattering--of these works are Charles Dickens's _American Notes for
General Circulation_ (1842, and many reprints) and Mrs. Frances E.
Trollope's _Domestic Manners of the Americans_ (1832). Two very
readable and generally sympathetic English accounts are Frances A.
Kemble's _Journal, 1832-1833_, 2 vols. (1835) and Harriet Martineau's
_Society in America_, 3 vols. (2d ed., 1837). The principal French
work of the sort is M. Chevalier, _Society, Manners, and Politics in
the United States_ (Eng. trans, from 3d French ed., 1839). Political
conditions in the country are described in Alexis de Tocqueville,
_Democracy in America_ (Eng. trans, by Reeve in 2 vols., 1862), and
the economic situation is set forth in detail in James S. Buckingham,
_America, Historical, Statistical and Descriptive_, 2 vols. (1841),
and _The Slave States of America_, 2 vols. (1842).
NOTES
[1: Bassett, _The Life of Andrew Jackson_, vol. I, p. 123.]
[2: Brown, _Andrew Jackson_, pp. 75-76.]
[3: Buell, _History of Andrew Jackson_, vol. n, pp. 94-95.]
[4: Buell, _History of Andrew Jackson_, vol. II, p. 97.]
[5: Turner, _Rise of the New West_, p. 188.]
[6: Turner, _Rise of the New West_, p. 268.]
[7: Parton, _Life of Andrew Jackson_, vol. III, p. 168.]
[8: Brown, _Andrew Jackson_, p. 127.]
[9: Osborn _vs._ Bank of the United States.]
[10: MacDonald, _Jacksonian Democracy_, p. 98.]
[11: Turner, _The Rise of the New West_, p. 325.]
[12: MacDonald. Jacksonian Democracy, p. 239.]
[13: See _The Old Northwest_, by Frederic Austin Ogg (in _The
Chronicles of America_).]
INDEX
Adams, John, Jackson makes acquaintance of, 17.
Adams, J.Q., Secretary of State, and Jackson's Florida expedition,
62, 63, 64.
candidate for presidency, 76-77, 82-83, 84, 86, 87, 88-93.
and Jackson, 80, 93-94, 108, 122, 220.
diary quoted, 88, 109.
"corrupt bargain," 89-92, 96.
elected, 93.
as President, 95-100, 104-106.
personal characteristics, 96-97.
abolishes patronage, 97-98.
and internal improvements, 99, 100, 105.
candidate for reelection (1828), 106, 109-110.
no enthusiasm for, 113.
on Calhoun, 139.
and Indian question, 206.
biography, 238.
Alabama, Indians in, 202, 203, 204, 214.
Ambrister, Robert, 58.
_American_, New York, quoted, 229.
Apalachicola River,
Nicholls builds fort on, 53.
Jackson's army marches down, 57.
Arbuthnot, Alexander, 53, 58.
_Aurora_, Pennsylvania newspaper, 193.
Baltimore,
welcomes Jackson, 64, 219.
Democratic convention at (1835), 225.
Bancroft, George, quoted, 222.
Bank, United States,
Jackson's attitude toward, 79, 184-88.
Adams and, 99.
established, 138, 182.
and the South, 140.
war on, 181-200.
Congress supports, 187.
Jackson plans reorganization of, 187.
bill to recharter, 189-91.
bill vetoed, 190, 218.
as political issue, 191.
believed insolvent by Jackson, 192-93.
removal of deposits, 193-95.
senate censures Jackson for removal, 196-98.
Whigs try to resurrect (1841), 200.
bibliography, 239.
Barry, W.T., Postmaster-General, 118.
Bassett, J.S.,
biographer of Jackson, cited, 4, 238.
quoted, 37.
Benton, Jesse, Jackson encounters, 21, 33.
Benton, T.H., 26, 149, 232, 233.
Jackson fights with, 21, 33.
quoted, 49, 113, 167.
introduces bills against Adams, 105.
on Van Buren's defeat as minister, 136.
on Foote's resolution, 144.
on Hayne, 147.
and United States Bank question, 190-91, 195.
and censure of Jackson, 197.
biography, 238.
Berrien, J.M., Attorney-General, 118.
Biddle, Nicholas, President of United States Bank, 183, 184, 185-86,
187, 188, 189, 192, 195.
Black Hawk War, 215.
Blair, F.P., editor of the _Globe_, 130, 193, 221, 232.
Blount, William, 17.
Governor of Tennessee, 26, 28, 30, 35, 55, 74.
Borgne, Lake, British army at, 40.
Boston,
endorses Jackson's proclamation to South Carolina, 176.
welcomes President Jackson, 219.
Bowyer, Fort, British attempt to destroy, 39.
Branch, John, Secretary of Navy, 118.
Brown, Jacob, of New York, 51.
Buchanan, James, author of "corrupt bargain," 90.
Burr, Aaron,
Jackson makes acquaintance of, 17.
opinion of Jackson, 73.
Butler, General, 233.
Cabinet, Jackson's, 117-18, 129-130, 135-36, 193-94, 218.
Kitchen, 130-31.
Cadwalader, General Thomas, 110, 184.
Calhoun, J.C., father makes home at Waxhaw, 5.
Secretary of War, and Jackson's Florida expedition, 56, 62, 135.
aspirant for presidency, 77-78, 87, 103, 131.
Jackson's attitude toward, 80.
candidate for vice presidency, 84.
elected, 85.
described by Adams, 109.
re-elected to vice presidency, 110.
Eaton controversy, 132-134.
against Van Buren, 134.
sectionalist, 139.
at Hayne-Webster debate, 149.
change in political ideas, 159.
_Exposition_, 161, 168.
and nullification, 161, 162, 164-65, 166, 167-68, 171, 172.
seeks support of South Carolina, 162.
_Address to the People of South Carolina_, 168.
_Fort Hill Letter_, 168.
and tariff, 169.
resigns vice presidency, 172.
in Senate, 172, 196.
on Indian policy, 216.
bibliography, 238.
Calhoun, Mrs. J.C., 134.
Calhoun, Rebecca, marries Andrew Pickens, 5.
Callava, Jose, Governor of Florida, 58-59, 65, 66, 67.
Campbell, G.W., Senator from Tennessee, 23.
Carrickfergus (Ireland), home of Jackson's father, 1, 9.
Carroll, William, 111.
Cass, Lewis, Secretary of War, 136.
accompanies Jackson to New England, 219.
possible candidate for presidency, 233.
Castlereagh, Robert Stewart, Lord Viscount, quoted, 61.
Caucus as nominating device, 81-82, 84.
Charleston (S.C.),
Andrew Jackson's father arrives at, 1.
Jackson in, 9-10.
preparations against, 173.
nullifiers meet at, 178.
Cherokee Indians, number, 203.
location, 203.
civilization, 204.
and Georgia, 207-13.
treaty with, 214.
remainder removed from the East, 215.
Cherokee Nation _vs._ State of Georgia, 210-11.
Cheves, Langdon,
exponent of broad constitutional construction, 159.
President of United States Bank, 183.
Chickasaw Indians,
number, 203.
location, 203.
civilization, 203-204.
removed, 214.
Choctaw Indians,
number, 203.
location, 203.
civilization, 203-204.
removed, 214.
Cincinnati greets Jackson, 115.
Civil service, Adams and, 97-98.
bibliography, 239.
_see also_ Spoils System.
Claiborne, W.C.C., Governor-General and Intendant of Louisiana, 25.
Clay, Henry,
quoted, 43.
and Jackson's Florida expedition, 62, 63.
candidate for presidency (1824), 78, 82, 83, 84, 86, 87, 88.
and Jackson, 80.
"corrupt bargain," 89-92, 96.
Secretary of State, 94, 97, 105.
and nationalism, 100.
loses hope of presidency, 109.
Compromise Tariff, 179.
and United States Bank, 189, 196.
on veto power, 190.
nominee of National Republican party (1832), 191, 225.
on disposal of proceeds from public lands, 199.
on removal of Indians, 215-16.
Clayton, J.M., of Delaware, 148.
Clinton, DeWitt, toasted at Tammany dinner, 64.
Cochrane, Sir Alexander Inglis, Admiral, sends news of peace to
Jackson, 46.
Cocke, General John, 33, 34.
Cohens _vs._ Virginia, 141.
Columbia (S.C.), ordinance of nullification drawn up at, 170-71, 174.
_Columbian Observer_ of Philadelphia, 89, 90.
Concord (N.H.), Jackson goes to, 219.
Congress, question of Jackson's Florida expedition, 62-63.
and Adams, 104-05.
nationalistic laws, 138.
Webster-Hayne debate, 145-57.
Force Bill, 177, 179, 180.
Verplanck Bill, 178.
and United States Bank, 187, 189-91, 196.
Senate censures Jackson, 196-98, 228.
Senate ratifies Indian treaty, 206.
creates Indian reservation, 209.
Constitution, Adams for liberal construction, 99.
amendment proposed, 105.
questions in 1828, 143.
Webster-Hayne debate, 145-57.
Corn Tassel, Cherokee executed in Georgia, 212.
Cotton, influence of price on sentiment of South Carolina, 159.
Crawford, W.H., at Waxhaw settlement, 5.
and Jackson, 62, 80.
supported by Van Buren, 64.
candidate for presidency, 76, 77, 81, 82, 83, 86.
health fails, 83-84.
supporters ally themselves to Jackson, 103.
Creek Indians, and Tecumseh, 25.
massacre at Fort Mims, 31, 32.
outbreak in South, 32-36, 52, 54-55.
treaty with, 37-38.
number, 203.
location, 203.
civilization, 203.
dispossessed, 205-07, 214.
_see also_ Creek War, Seminole War.
Creek War, 32-38.
Cumberland River, Jackson's army down the, 28.
Dale, Sam, and Jackson, 174.
Davie, W.R., Governor of North Carolina, 5.
Democratic party, and United States Bank, 195.
convention (1835), 225.
Dickerson, Mahlon, of New Jersey, 148.
Dickinson, Charles, killed in duel by Jackson, 21.
Donelson, A.J., nephew and private secretary of Jackson, 114, 130.
Donelson, Mrs. A.J., mistress of White House, 114, 221.
Donelson, John,
helps found Nashville, 12.
Jackson marries daughter of, 15.
Duane, W.J., Secretary of Treasury, 193-94.
Earl, R.E.W., artist engaged in painting portraits of Jackson, 114.
Eaton, J.H.,
and Jackson, 7-8, 52, 73, 116, 130.
Secretary of War, 8, 117, 118, 208.
Eaton, Mrs. J.H., 88, 132-34.
Elections, Presidential, of 1824, 82-93,95-96.
manner of selecting President an issue of 1824, 84.
"corrupt bargain," 89-92, 96.
proposed amendment to Constitution providing direct, 105.
campaign of 1828,106-10.
of 1832, 187, 191.
of 1836, 226-27.
of 1840, 232.
of 1844, 233.
England, frontiersman's attitude toward, 25.
_see also_ War of 1812.
Everett, Edward, cited, 219.
Finance,
national debt paid, 199.
Government funds in state banks, 199.
independent treasury system, 199-200, 235.
_see also_ Bank, United States. Tariff.
Florida and Jackson, 22, 27-28, 30-31, 39-40, 51-61.
Southwest longs for conquest of, 26.
encourages Indian uprising, 32.
Spain and, 52, 53, 55-56, 61.
controversy over Jackson's expedition, 61-64.
United States treaty with Spain, 64.
Foote, S.A., of Connecticut, 144.
Force Bill, 177, 179.
nullified by South Carolina convention, 180.
Forsyth, John, of Georgia, 149.
Fowltown, fight at, 54, 55.
Franklin, "Western District" tries to set up State of, 12.
Frelinghuysen, Theodore, of New Jersey, 148.
Friends, Society of, protest removal of Indians, 216.
Gaines, General E.P., 54, 55.
Gallatin, Albert,
Jackson makes acquaintance of, 17.
describes Jackson, 18.
_Gazette_, Nashville, 75.
General Neville (river boat), Jackson travels down Ohio on, 101.
Georgia,
and state rights, 142.
and tariff, 169.
Indians of, 202, 203, 204, 205 et seq.
nullification, 213.
Ghent, Treaty of, 43, 53,137.
Gibbs, General, 40.
Girard Bank of Philadelphia, treasury receipts to be deposited in,
194.
_Globe_, administration organ, 130, 230.
Green, Duff,
party manager for Jackson, 115.
edits _United States Telegraph_, 118.
in Kitchen Cabinet, 130.
Grundy, Felix, of Tennessee, 74, 75, 149.
Hall, D.A., Federal district judge in New Orleans, 47.
Hamilton J.A., 117, 118.
Hamilton, James, Governor of South Carolina, 168, 170, 179.
Harrisburg (Penn.), nominating convention at, 84.
Harrison, W.H.,
Governor of Indiana, at Tippecanoe, 25.
Jackson offers aid to, 26.
resigns commission, 37.
candidate for presidency, 226-27.
Hartford Convention, 138.
Harvard University confers degree on Jackson, 220.
Havana, Jackson sends Spaniards to, 60.
Hayne, R.Y., 110, 167.
speech in Congress, 144-45.
debate with Webster, 145-57.
personal characteristics, 147.
change in political ideas, 159, 163.
and nullification, 162, 176.
elected Governor of South Carolina, 172.
biography, 239.
Hermitage, The, Jackson's home, 19-20, 50, 55, 67, 68-72, 102-103,
218, 223, 231, 233, 234.
Hill, Isaac, 111, 116, 221.
Senate rejects nomination of, 129.
in Kitchen Cabinet, 130.
quoted, 164-65, 181.
Holmes, John, of Maine, 148.
Horseshoe Bend, battle with Creeks at, 35.
Houston, Sam, 35.
Hunter's Hill, Jackson's plantation near Nashville, 15, 19.
Huntsville (Ala.), Jackson brings forces together at, 33.
Indian Queen Tavern (the Wigwam), 115, 120.
Indian Territory created (1834), 214.
Indians, 142.
hostility near Nashville, 12.
Creek War, 32-38.
Seminole War, 54-58.
removal of, 201-16, 236.
_see also_ names of tribes.
Ingham, S.D., Secretary of Treasury, 117.
Internal improvements, 138.
Jackson on, 79.
issue in 1824, 84.
Adams and, 99, 100, 105.
South opposes, 140.
South Carolina and, 159.
Maysville Road veto, 218.
Jackson, Andrew, father of the President, 1-3.
Jackson, Andrew,
birth (1767), 3-4.
birthplace, 4-5.
early life, 5 _et seq_.
personal characteristics, 6, 7, 11, 15, 18, 19, 20-21, 213, 217,
234-35.
education, 7, 10.
in the Revolution, 8-9.
attitude toward British, 9.
business enterprises, 9-10, 19-20.
in Charleston, 9-10.
admitted to bar, 11.
goes to Tennessee, 13-14.
as "solicitor" in Nashville, 14-16.
marriage, 15.
represents Tennessee in Congress, 16-17.
in Senate, 17-18, 69.
as judge in Tennessee, 18-19.
quarrels, 20-21.
in War of 1812, 26 _et seq_.
nicknamed "Old Hickory," 30:
in Creek War, 33-38.
at New Orleans, 40-43, 45-50.
popularity, 45, 50, 63-64, 115, 210, 229-30.
in Seminole War, and Florida expedition, 55-61.
controversy about Florida expedition, 61-64.
as Governor of Florida, 64-67.
life at the Hermitage, 68-72, 102-03.
candidate for presidency (1824), 73 _et seq_., 95.
and tariff, 79, 143, 162-63, 169, 235-36.
and Adams, 80, 93-94, 108, 122, 220.
and Crawford, 80.
and Clay, 80.
and Calhoun, 80, 134-35.
candidate for presidency (1828), 100 _et seq_.
resigns from Senate, 102.
as a politician, 107-08.
election, 109-10.
journey to Washington, 114-15.
as President-elect, 115-19.
Cabinet, 117-18, 129-30, 135-36, 193-194, 218.
inauguration, 119-124.
and Spoils System, 124-127, 236.
and Congress, 128.
Kitchen Cabinet, 130-31.
Eaton controversy, 132-34.
toast to the Union, 164-66.
and nullification, 167, 173-77.
candidate for reelection (1832), 168, 218.
proclamation to South Carolina (1832), 175-176.
Force Bill, 177, 179, 180.
and United States Bank, 182, 184 _et seq_., 218.
censured by Senate, 196-98, 228.
and Indian policy, 208-09, 214-16.
and Georgia, 213.
journeys to New England, 219.
Harvard confers degree on, 220.
life at White House, 221-23.
his finances, 223-24.
political influence, 224-28.
farewell address, 228-29.
return to Nashville, 230.
last years, 231-34.
death (1845), 234.
Webster's characterization of, 234-35.
achievements, 235-36.
bibliography, 237-38.
Jackson, Mrs. Andrew, mother of the President, 3-4, 5, 8-9.
Jackson, Mrs. Andrew, wife of the President, 48-50, 65, 71, 122.
quoted, 65-66, 68-69.
death, 111-12.
Jackson, Fort, 36.
Treaty of, 54.
Jamaica, British from, 40.
Jefferson, Thomas, Jackson makes acquaintance of, 17.
on Jackson, 18.
candidate of the masses, 113.
and State rights, 139, 141-42, 164.
Jonesboro (Tenn.), Jackson's traveling party at, 13.
Kemble, Fanny, and Jackson, 217.
Kendall, Amos, 221.
in Kitchen Cabinet, 130.
Kentucky made a State (1791), 16.
Key, F.S., at Jackson's inauguration, 121.
King, W.R., of Alabama, 149.
Kitchen Cabinet, 130-31.
Knoxville (Tenn.), 25.
convention at, 16.
Kremer, George, and "corrupt bargain," 89-91.
La Fayette, Marquis de, 219.
and Jackson, 71-72.
Lavasseur, secretary to La Fayette, 70.
Lewis, Major W.B., 63, 125, 129, 134-35.
campaign manager for Jackson, 74, 75, 85, 103, 111, 112, 163.
accompanies Jackson to Washington, 114, 116, 221.
in Kitchen Cabinet, 130.
Livingston, Edward, 48.
Jackson makes acquaintance of, 17.
declines place in cabinet, 117.
Secretary of State, 136.
and proclamation to South Carolina, 175.
and United States Bank, 188.
minister to France, 193.
Lodge, H.C., quoted, 146.
Louisville greets Jackson, 115.
Macay, Spruce, lawyer with whom Jackson studied, 10, 12.
M'Culloch _vs._ Maryland (1819), 141, 183.
MacDonald, William, _Jacksonian Democracy_, quoted, 152.
McDuffie, George, 162, 189.
McKemy family at whose home Jackson is said to have been born, 4.
McLane, Louis, Secretary of Treasury, 136.
and United States Bank, 188, 193.
McLean, John, Postmaster-General, 118.
candidate for presidency, 226.
McNairy, John, 12-13, 14, 21.
Mangum, W.P., of North Carolina, 227.
Marshall, John, Chief-Justice,
at Jackson's inauguration, 120, 121.
and State rights, 138,141.
on Cherokee nation, 211.
and Jackson, 213.
Martinsville (N.C.), Jackson practices law at, 11.
Mason, Jeremiah, branch bank president, 185.
Maysville Road veto, 218.
Mims, Fort (Ala.), massacre at, 31, 32, 36.
Mississippi and Indians, 214.
Mississippi Valley, British plan assault on, 38.
Missouri Compromise, 159.
Mobile,
Jackson and, 29, 37, 39, 57.
Congress authorizes taking of, 30.
Monroe, Fortress, 173.
Monroe, James, Secretary of War, 40.
Jackson writes to, 13.
and Jackson's Florida expedition, 56, 61, 62, 67.
Jackson supports, 80.
Adams confers with, 94.
popular approval of, 95.
and Indian question, 206.
Monticello, home of Jefferson, 18.
Morganton (N.C.), 25.
Jackson joins traveling party at, 13.
Nashville (Tenn.),
founded, 12.
Jackson goes to, 13-14.
in 1789, 14.
Phillips reaches, 25.
Jackson's army assembles at, 28.
entertains Jackson, 37, 101.
Jackson in, 51, 230.
Natchez (Miss.), Jackson's troops in, 29, 30.
_National Intelligencer_, 62, 89.
National Republican party, 104, 108.
defends United States Bank, 191, 195.
joins Whigs, 225.
Negro Fort, Nicholas's, 53, 54, 57.
New England receives President Jackson, 219-20.
New Orleans, news of War of 1812 reaches, 25.
Jackson and, 28, 37, 39, 40-43, 45-50.
gunboats sent from, 57.
New Orleans Territory, Jackson denied governorship of, 20.
New York (State) controls vice presidency, 75-76.
New York City,
fetes Jackson, 63, 219.
and nullification, 176.
Nicholls, Colonel Edward, 32, 52-53.
Nolte describes Jackson and his wife, 49-50.
North Carolina,
claims to be Jackson's birthplace, 4.
and tariff, 169.
Nullification, 161-80, 236.
and Jefferson, 142.
Georgia and, 142, 213.
_South Carolina Exposition_, 142.
Hayne on, 150.
Webster on, 151, 152-53.
Calhoun and, 161, 162, 164-165, 166, 167-68, 171, 172.
Turnbull's _Crisis_, 161.
Calhoun's _Exposition_, 161.
Jackson and, 167, 173-77, 219.
South Carolina's ordinance of, 170-171, 179-80.
Force Bill, 177, 179, 180.
Compromise Tariff, 178-79.
bibliography, 239.
Ohio on State rights, 141.
O'Neil, "Peggy," _see_ Eaton, Mrs. J.H.
O'Neil's Tavern, 87-88.
Onis, Luis de, Spanish Minister, 61, 64.
Oregon, Jackson desires extension in, 233.
Osborn _vs._ United States Bank (1824), 183.
Pakenham, General Sir Edward, 40, 42.
Panama Congress (1826), 105.
Parton, James, biographer of Jackson, 238.
cited, 4, 18-19, 29, 72, 175.
Peale, picture of Jackson by, 64.
Pennsylvania, 193-94.
grants Bank charter, 198.
Pensacola, Jackson and, 29, 39, 40, 58.
Nicholls at, 32.
Spanish in, 52.
toast to, 60.
Philadelphia, national capital, 17.
fetes Jackson, 63, 219.
Phillips, William, "Billy," courier, 23, 24-25, 26.
Pickens, Andrew, at Waxhaw settlement, 5.
Pittsburgh greets Jackson, 115.
Poinsett, J.R., of South Carolina, 174.
Political parties, no party lines in 1822, 76.
_see also_ Democratic, National Republican, Republican, Whig.
Polk, J.K., 230, 233.
Public lands,
Adams and, 99.
Foote's resolution (1829), 144-145, 155.
sale of, 169, 199.
Randolph, John, 17, 93, 96.
"Red Sticks," name for Creek braves, 36, 54.
Reid, John, biographer of Jackson, 7.
Republican party,
and Constitution, 99.
supports Jackson, 103.
Rhea, John, 56, 74.
"Rhea letter," 56.
_Richmond Enquirer_, 141.
Roane, Judge, of Virginia, 141.
Robertson, James, helps found Nashville, 12.
Rush, Richard, cited, 61.
St. Augustine,
Jackson and, 29.
Spaniards in, 52.
St. Marks,
Spaniards in, 52.
Jackson and, 57, 58.
Salisbury (N.C.), 25.
Jackson studies law at, 10-11.
Scott, General Winfield, 173, 215.
Scott, Fort, 55, 57.
Seminole Indians, 52.
Seminole War, 54-58.
Sevier, John, Governor of Tennessee, 20.
Seymour, Horatio, of Vermont, 148.
Slavery, South resists federal legislation on, 140.
South, The,
on State rights, 139-140, 143.
and United States Bank, 140.
and tariff, 160-61.
_see also_ names of States.
South Carolina,
claims to be birthplace of Jackson, 4.
and tariff, 142, 145, 159, 166.
_see also_ Nullification.
_South Carolina Exposition_, 142.
"Southwest Territory," 16.
Spain,
and Florida, 52, 53, 55-56.
treaty with, 64.
_see also_ Florida.
Spoils System, Jackson and, 124-27, 236.
State rights, 139-40.
Hayne on, 150, 154.
Webster on, 152.
_see also_ Nullification.
Story, Judge Joseph, quoted, 123.
Strother, Fort, 34, 35.
Supreme Court,
on State rights, 138-39.
on United States Bank, 183.
on Indian rights, 210-12.
Georgia defies, 212,-213.
Suwanee (Fla.), Jackson at, 58.
Swann, Thomas, Jackson and, 21.
Tammany entertains Jackson, 63.
Taney, R.B.,
Attorney-General, 136.
writes for Jackson, 190, 228.
Secretary of Treasury, 194, 196.
Tariff, 84, 158 _et seq_.
Jackson and, 79, 143, 162-63, 169, 235-36.
Adams and, 99.
Calhoun votes for protection, 139.
South opposes protective, 140, 142, 143, 159-60.
woolens bill (1827), 160.
Act of 1824, 160, 161.
Act of 1828, 160, 169, 170.
Act of 1832, 169, 170.
Force Bill, 177, 179, 180.
Verplanck Bill, 178.
Compromise Tariff, 179.
bibliography, 239.
_see also_ Nullification.
Tecumseh works among Southern Indians, 25-26.
Tennessee,
admitted as State (1798), 16.
meaning of name, 16.
Legislature favors Jackson's nomination, 102.
Indians, 202.
Texas, Jackson favors annexation, 235.
Tippecanoe, Battle of, 25.
Tohopeka, battle at, 35.
Troup, G.M., Governor of Georgia, 206.
Turnbull, R.J., _The Crisis_, 161.
Turner, F.J., _The Rise of the New West_, quoted, 159-60.
Twelve-mile Creek, Jackson's father settles on, 2.
Tyler, John,
President, 148.
Bank vetoes, 200.
Union County (N.C.), Jackson's father settles in, 3.
_United States Telegraph_, of Washington, Jackson organ, 102,
118, 130.
Van Buren, Martin, 63, 115, 219, 221, 232, 233.
supports Jackson, 103-04.
Governor of New York, 116-17.
Secretary of State, 117, 118.
in Kitchen Cabinet, 130.
aims at presidency, 132-34, 135.
in Eaton controversy, 133-34.
appointment as minister to Great Britain not ratified, 136.
advises Jackson, 166.
candidate for vice presidency, 168, 224.
sets up independent treasury system, 200.
candidate for presidency, 224-25.
election, 226-27.
inauguration, 230.
biography, 238.
Verplanck, J.C., of New York, tariff bill, 178.
Virginia,
controls presidency, 75-76.
and State rights, 141-142.
and tariff, 169.
War of 1812, 24 _et seq_., 52, 99, 137-38.
Washington, George, 14, 219.
Washington,
captured, 38.
Jackson journeys to, 50-51, 85, 114-15.
Waxhaw settlement, Jackson family at, 2.
notable people from, 5.
in the Revolution, 8
Weathersford, Creek half-breed, 36
Webster, Daniel, 18, 93, 189, 196.
quoted, 115-16, 127.
constitutional debate (1830), 145-57.
life and characteristics, 147-148.
Jackson's estimate of, 225-26.
on Jackson, 234-35.
bibliography, 238.
Webster, Ezekiel, 113.
West, The,
and War of 1812, 25.
and Indian policy, 201 _et seq_.
"Western District" tries to set up State, 12
Whig party, 225.
tries to resurrect United States Bank, 200.
White, H.L.,
of Tennessee, 116, 149.
candidate for presidency, 224, 226, 227.
Wilkinson, General James, 29, 31, 37.
Wirt, William, 210.
Woodbury, Levi, Secretary of Navy, 136, 148, 219.
Worcester _vs_. State of Georgia, 211-12.
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