Andrew Jackson: Uncommon Common Man?

Objective

• Through an overview of his early life, students will determine the degree to which Andrew Jackson was a “common man” who supported other common men.

I. Jackson: The Age of the Common Man?

• Common Man: though there is no one definition, it was thought at the time that Jackson represented men who were poor, but patriotic and upright.

I. Jackson: The Age of the Common Man?

• However, some scholars have argued that instead of representing the common man, Jackson was really just a violent, power-hungry elitist.

I. Early Life

• Jackson was born in 1767 Waxhaw, North Carolina, the son of Scottish immigrants.

• His father died while he was still young, and his mother struggled to get by.

• When the Revolution began, Jackson, 13, enlisted as a courier.

I. Early Life

• However, Jackson lost his brother and his mother because of the war.

• Moreover, Jackson was taken prisoner by the British.

I. Early Life

• Jackson held many jobs in his early life, but after about a year of apprenticeship, he became a lawyer in the new frontier state of Tennessee.

I. Early Life

• While there, he met and married Rachel Robards.

• Rachel Robards, one of the most beautiful and accomplished women in Tennessee, was married to an abusive husband.

I. Early Life

• After separating from her husband, she became acquainted with Jackson, and the two fell deeply in love.

• Though fleeing an abusive relationship and truly in love with Andrew Jackson, their marriage was marked by charges of bigamy.

I. Early Life

• Jackson and Rachel eventually acquired a plantation for themselves in Nashville, Tennessee called the “Hermitage.”

• This cotton plantation spanned over 1000 acres and was worked on by over 44 slaves.

I. Early Life

• Jackson, like many southerners and westerners, was involved in many duels in his life.

– “Old Bag of Bullets”

II. National Hero

• Jackson became a noted military hero fighting Native Americans during the War of 1812, especially with his victory at Horseshoe Bend.

• Indeed, Native Americans across the western United States feared him because he so brutally burned their villages and crops, and killed their warriors.

• However, his greatest victory was the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. – "Old Hickory."

II. National Hero

• Late in 1817, he received orders to subdue the Seminole Indians, who were raiding across the border from Spanish Florida.

• Jackson followed the Seminoles into Florida itself, both because of his hatred for the Seminoles and for glory.

• He captured its major cities, and executed two British nationals whom he charged with abetting the Indians.

III. President

• Jackson used his national popularity to bring him to victory over John Quincy Adams in 1828 (after losing to him in 1824)– Death of Rachel

III. President

• Despite his depression over losing Rachel, Jackson’s inauguration became a celebration for working class people.– White House Party!

• So, was Jackson a hero of the common man?