The Era of Change: Executives and Events in a Period of Rapid Expansion

By Bob Navarro

This is the third book written by Bob Navarro on early American history in relation to the evolution of the American Presidency. It focuses on the actions of the chief executives and the events that occurred during a period of rapid change in the United States that occurred before the Civil War.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 23, 2006
• ISBN: 9781462821501

Bob Navarro

Espy and Robert Navarro are est graduates who first took the est training in August 1975. From several hundred hours of participation in various est seminars, they share the power, value and significance of the content and context of these consciousness raising events of the 1970’s. Twenty-six years later, they continue to benefit from this life-altering experience.

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Copyright © 2006 by Bob Navarro.

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Contents

The Changing Face of America

Andrew Jackson

The First Term of Andrew Jackson

The Second Term of Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson: Later Years

Vice President John Caldwell Calhoun

The Indian Removal Act of 1830

Martin Van Buren

The Single Term of Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren: Later Years

Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson

The Panic of 1837

The Aroostook War

The Amistad Affair

William Henry Harrison

The Short Term of

William Henry Harrison

John Tyler

John Tyler: Completion Of Harrison’s Term

John Tyler: Later Years

James Polk

The Single Term of James Knox Polk

James K. Polk: Last Days

Vice President George Mifflin Dallas

David Rice Atchison

The Mexican War—I

The Mexican War—II

The Mexican War—III

The Mexican War—IV

Zachary Taylor

The Short Term of Zachary Taylor

Millard Fillmore

Completion of Zachary Taylor’s Term

Millard Fillmore: Later Years

Franklin Pierce

The Single Term of Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce: Later Years

Vice President William Rufus De Vane King

Prelude to the Civil War

Appendix A

This book is dedicated to Espy,

who is a beautiful human being and divine spirit.

The Changing Face of America

The Executives of Expansion

Only a few people are involved who happen to be at the helm, and whose deeds and actions are crucial in the history of a nation. The chief executives of the United States during the era of change that occurred between 1829 and 1857 are prime examples of this maxim. This period marked a time of urban maturity, a breaking of the agricultural order, and a transition caused by both social and intellectual disruptions. It was a time when America’s westward growth and spirit of Manifest Destiny¹ drove it towards settling the sparsely populated areas of Alta California, New Mexico and Texas—all of which were Mexican provinces.

The chief executives of this period, although they have largely been obscured—except for Andrew Jackson—were a blend of idealistic, scheming and visionary individuals who pushed for this westward expansion of mass settlement that eventually extended to the Pacific Coast. In doing so, they utilized the transformational power of American energy, brute strength and ideals to conquer and acquire more land. In the process they extended the exploration of the West to pave the way for thousands of settlers who followed. The territories of Texas, New Mexico, California and Oregon were incorporated as part of the country in the drive to fulfill the principle of Manifest Destiny—the justification that was used by leaders and politicians to promote the continental expansion by the United States.

The economic, social and political pressures that promoted this expansion by the United States were the result of the following forces:

•   A high birth rate and a high immigration rate

•   Two severe economic depressions—one in 1818, and the other in 1837

•   Cheap, and sometimes free, frontier land

•   New opportunities for commerce and self-advancement

•   The idea of land ownership being associated with wealth

•   The drive to build marine ports on the West Coast

Great social change occurred during this period that eventually led to more democratic reforms, a movement towards temperance, the rise of conflict over the issue of slavery, the displacement of large numbers of Native Americans, and the beginning of women’s rights. The forces that were set in motion had many consequences through the various events that occurred during this great period of change—and they changed the nation forever.

In particular, the removal of Indians was accelerated during this period. When President Jackson took office in 1829, over 125,000 Indians still lived East of the Mississippi River—largely in the areas comprised by Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, which encompassed about 60,000,000 acres. The main issues were whether these Indians would be allowed to block further expansion by white settlers, and whether the United States Government would continue to abide by previously made treaties such as with the Cherokees and Choctaws. The official policy up to this time had been guided by both assimilation and removal. President Jackson favored removal and this began the definite shift in federal Indian policy, starting with the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Even so, the tribal lands that were allocated to the Indians in the West were no more secure than Indian lands had been in the East. By 1851, Congress had passed the Indian Appropriations Act, which sought to concentrate the western Indian population on reservations. This policy was adopted because most Americans—including missionaries and humanitarians—regarded the Indian control of land and resources as an obstacle to expansion and as a threat to the nation’s security.

The doubling of the territory of the United States was accomplished by the acquisition of land from Mexico as a result of the Mexican War. The Mexican government allowed the settlement of Texas by Americans starting in the 1820s. By the early 1830s, so many Americans had settled there that a movement for independence from Mexico began to take hold. After a series of clashes, Texas became independent by defeating the Mexican army in 1836. In 1845, President Tyler signed the annexation bill that allowed Texas to become part of the United States. President Polk instigated a war starting in 1846, and after the defeat of Mexico in 1848, the capitulation resulted in the acquisition of 1,200,000 square miles of territory—including California and New Mexico. In return, the United States paid Mexico $15,000,000 for land that made the United States extend from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast.

A treaty with Great Britain that was finalized in 1846 also resulted in the final determination of ownership of the Oregon Territory, with all land south of the 49th parallel going to the United States—from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Thus, with the three great acts: the removal of the Indians from the East, the war with Mexico and the treaty with Great Britain, the dream of Manifest Destiny was fulfilled.

Endnotes

1   John L. O’Sullivan was an influential editor who coined the name Manifest Destiny in an editorial that he published in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review in July 1845, which called for the annexation of Texas. He later used the same phrase in another editorial published in the New York Morning News in December 1845, which claimed that the United States had full title to the Oregon Territory.

Andrew Jackson

The First Populist

Background

Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in Waxhaw, South Carolina¹. His father—who was also named Andrew Jackson—made his living as a farmer. He died in February 1767, before Andrew was born. His mother, Elizabeth Hutchison, raised Andrew until she died in November 1781, after she became a victim of the plague. His father and mother had emigrated from Ireland to America in 1765, settling first in Pennsylvania, and then moving on to the Carolinas. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth moved into the home of James Crawford who was married to her invalid sister Jane Crawford. While living there, Jackson sporadically attended school at Waxhaw Church, at an academy run by Dr. William Humphries, and at a Presbyterian church school run by minister James White Stephenson—but his education was mostly self-taught.

Revolutionary War

In 1779, Jackson’s brother Hugh was killed while fighting against the British in the American Revolution. In 1780, South Carolina was captured by the British when the Revolutionary Army commanded by American General Benjamin Lincoln fell in the attack on Charleston. At age 13, Jackson and his other brother Robert enlisted for military service under Colonel William Richardson Davie in July 1780. He was assigned to be a mounted messenger. In August 1780, Jackson was present at Hanging Rock, South Carolina where American Colonel Thomas Sumter’s forces destroyed a British regiment.

In April 1781, Jackson and his brother Robert were captured at Cain Creek by British dragoons². They were taken to a military prison in Camden, New Jersey where they were confined in very wretched conditions. Both of them contracted smallpox in the crowded prison. His mother found out about their incarceration and intervened with the British Commander, Lord Rawdon, for their release. She was also acting on behalf of an American militia captain for an exchange of prisoners, her two sons to be included in the deal. They were both released to the custody of their mother, although Jackson’s brother Robert died within two days of his release on the way home.

His mother volunteered to take care of two of James Crawford’s sons who had been held in a British prison in Charleston, South Carolina. They had also contracted a fever, and Jackson’s mother served as a nurse during their recovery. She was able to save one of the brothers, but in doing so succumbed to the cholera plague. In November 1781, Jackson’s mother died leaving him an orphan at the age of fourteen.

Frontier Years

Jackson lived with relatives after the death of his mother. He was apprenticed as a saddler where he learned all about race horsing. In 1783, he inherited a small sum from an uncle in Ireland, and he became involved with horse racing. In 1784, he attended school at the Queen’s Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1785, he was allowed access to the law office of Spruce Macay in Salisbury, North Carolina where he gained a very rudimentary knowledge of the legal system. In 1787, Jackson joined the court at Wadesborough, North Carolina working for the office of Colonel John Stokes, and six months later passed an examination to become an attorney.

After practicing law for a short period in Richmond, Jackson was appointed public prosecutor in 1788, under the judgeship of John McNairy for the western district of North Carolina—an area that was actually part of Tennessee. He handled a variety of small cases, including those involving land claims and simple assault and battery charges. While traveling between Nashville and Jonesboro along the Cumberland Road³, he encountered hostile attacks from Cherokee tribes and became an Indian fighter. He also studied more law from books, in particular, from the Abridgement of the Law. And, he became engaged in the slave trade with the revenue from his law business. He also invested in land and bought 30,000 acres for himself, 50,000 acres jointly with John Overton, and 18,000 acres on commission for Joel Rice.

During 1789, Jackson stayed at the residence of the widow of Colonel John Donelson in Nashville, Tennessee where he met Rachel Donelson Robards, a woman who was married to Captain Lewis Robards⁴. Captain Robards became jealous of Jackson’s attention to his wife, and began to express his displeasure with the situation. The anger between the two men almost led to a duel, except that Captain Robards refused to participate in the activity. However, the marriage was already destroyed between Captain Robards and his wife Rachel, and in 1790, Rachel Robards fled from her husband, and eloped with Andrew Jackson⁵. In August 1791, Andrew Jackson and Rachel Robards were married in an official ceremony at Natchez. They never had any children, but did adopt Rachel’s nephew and named him Andrew Jackson Jr.

Representative from Tennessee

In January 1796, the Constitutional Convention for Tennessee met to decide on statehood⁶. In June 1796, Tennessee was admitted to the Union as a slave-holding state. In November 1796, the voters chose Jackson, who ran without any opposition, as their first Representative—mostly through the influence of Senator William Blount. In December 1796, Jackson reported to the House of Representatives to take his seat at the second session of the Fourth Congress.

Before he became a Representative, Jackson had suggested the impeachment of George Washington for his support of Jay’s Treaty. In the House, Jackson not only differed with President Washington’s support of Jay’s Treaty, but with his Indian policy and with the financial measures that were being undertaken by Alexander Hamilton. Jackson felt that Washington’s reputation was overrated, and in a vote to acknowledge the President in an approval of his administration. Jackson was one of 12 Representatives who voted against the resolution.

Jackson introduced a resolution to reimburse Tennessee for the expenses incurred in the expedition against the Cherokee Indians in 1793. He was initially rebuffed, but then unexpectedly received support from Representative James Madison, and Tennessee was granted a sum of $22,816 by the House of Representatives.

Jackson voted in favor of building three naval frigates—the Constitution, the Constellation and the United States. He also voted against paying tribute to the Muslim pirates of Algiers, against a restriction that confined the expenditure of sums to the specific object for which they were intended, and against an appropriation of $14,000 to acquire new furniture for the White House that was to be established in the new capital by the Potomac River. In March 1797, Jackson quit the House of Representatives at the expiration of his term, and declined to seek reelection.

United States Senator: 1797-1798

When Senator William Blount of Tennessee was expelled from the Senate on a charge of a high misdemeanor, Jackson was chosen by his constituents in Tennessee to replace Blount as their Senator in July 1797⁷. In November 1797, he attended the second session of the Fifth Congress where he became acquainted with Senator Aaron Burr. He was not involved in any major decisions, and his primary stance was being for the French and against the British in the ongoing conflict of the United States with these two nations. However, his own economic situation had been impacted severely by un-honored payments for 33,000 acres of land that he had previously sold. Thus, Jackson quit the Senate in April 1798, to attend to his personal finances.

Supreme Court Judge of Tennessee

After struggling with his finances for about six months, Jackson accepted an appointment to the Superior Court of Tennessee, the highest court in the state—again through the support of William Blount along with Tennessee Governor John Sevier. He became the most popular servant of the law that Tennessee had ever had⁸. In 1801, he was elected as a major general in the Tennessee militia by a single vote over John Siever⁹. In 1804, Jackson resigned the judgeship to once again attend to his personal finances. He then retired to his Hermitage estate, which he had purchased in 1804, near Nashville, Tennessee to work with his 100 slaves to free himself from some of the debt¹⁰.

In May 1805, Jackson received Aaron Burr as a visitor to his home at Hermitage. Burr was planning a southwestern expedition into Mexico, and he wanted Jackson’s influence to raise troops for this action. However, Jackson did not offer any assistance even though he was partial to Burr’s cause. Burr did commission Jackson to build and provision five riverboats, but Jackson soon cut the closeness by declaring that no further intimacy was to exist between himself and Burr¹¹.

War of 1812

Jackson asked for volunteers in March 1812, anticipating a war between the United States and Great Britain. Tennessee Governor Willie Blount (brother of William Blount) gave command of the forces of the state to Jackson. Jackson then offered his militia of 2500 men for service to President James Madison. He was offered the position of Major General by the federal government, but after the war started he was ordered to demobilize his troops. Jackson refused to obey the order, and instead took his troops to Nashville, Tennessee¹².

War Against the Indians

The war with Great Britain also involved a war against Indians. When Creek warriors led by Chief Red Eagle¹³ attacked and massacred more than 400 men, women and children at Fort Mims on August 30, 1813, Jackson set out to avenge the slaughter. On November 3, 1813, Jackson’s troops fought their first battle of the campaign by decisively defeating Creek warriors in their village. On November 9, 1813, Jackson’s forces attacked another band of Creek Indians in another decisive battle¹⁴. In spite of these two successes, Jackson experienced a potential mutiny by some of his troops who were disgruntled by the lack of supplies. Only his steadfast manner in confronting these men prevented their departure on more than one occasion. Nevertheless, by the end of 1813, he only had about 500 men remaining under his command.

On January 21, 1814, Jackson’s troops fought another battle against the Creek Indians at Talladega, Tennessee. Then, on March 27, 1814, Jackson’s troops delivered the decisive blow against the Creek Indians at Battle of Horseshoe Bend by the Tallpoosa River (in what is now Alabama), and thus ended the hostile threat by destroying the Creek Indian power in the southwestern territory. Chief Red Eagle voluntarily surrendered to Jackson, and Jackson set him free in return for Red Eagle’s promise to persuade the remaining Creek Indians to not fight any more. In the ensuing peace negotiations, Jackson demanded and got the surrender of 23,000,000 acres of Indian land in what are now huge portions of the states of Georgia and Alabama.

Florida Campaign

In May 1814, Jackson was appointed as Major General in command of the southern army in the Seventh Military District, which included Tennessee, Louisiana and the Mississippi Territory. He turned his attention to Florida and marched with his troops to Mobile to make his headquarters there. He wrote to President Madison for permission to attack Pensacola, but did not receive any response since the government in Washington, D.C. had been overrun by the British. Convinced that the key to stopping the British operations depended on ousting them from their posts on Pensacola Bay, he took the responsibility and acted on his own to repel the British at Mobile, Alabama. His 3000-man army then followed the British army to Pensacola, Florida where they defeated the British in November 1814, thus droving them out of Florida and ending the threat from that direction.

Battle of New Orleans

Jackson then devoted himself to the defense of New Orleans and arrived in that city with his troops in December 1814. He quickly prepared the defenses of the city along its many avenues of approach and along the six water routes¹⁵ with a force of 4000 soldiers in positions near the Bienvenu and Chalmette plantations. He established his headquarters at the McCarte Mansion at Royal Street from where he planned the strategy that he knew would have the best possibility of success against the British.

British Major General John Keane was overconfident and had made the strategic error of not using the tactically superior route through land from Mobile, Alabama. Instead, he pursued a course of disembarking directly on the Louisiana coast. Jackson did not attempt a defense along the Mississippi River below a point that was 50 miles from the mouth of the river, and thus narrowed his line of defense along the last 55 miles into New Orleans¹⁶.

To capture New Orleans, British Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane sent a naval flotilla of more than 50 ships led by Sir Edward Pakenham to transport 10,000 troops from Jamaica. In mid-December 1814, the British armada overpowered the five American ships commanded by American Lieutenant Thomas Jones in Lake Borgne, and made their way to Bayou Bienvenue to reach Villere’s plantation—a point that was only nine miles away—and only one day away—from New Orleans. The British vanguard had done this by poling its way through a maze of sluggish streams and by traversing marshy land with a high degree of secrecy for such a large military expedition (approximately 2080 men). In the meantime, Jackson’s forces had been augmented by the arrival of American Brigadier General Coffee and his contingent of 800 men on December 20, 1814. A few hours later, American Major General William Carroll had also arrived in New Orleans with 3000 men. Thus, General Jackson now had enough troops to throw in any direction that the British might attempt.

When General Jackson was informed of the British army’s location by three officers¹⁷ who had escaped from Villere’s plantation, Jackson quickly planned to launch a surprise attack against the British¹⁸. With a force of about 2200 men and with support from an American ship, the Carolina, that bombarded the British positions, Jackson attacked the British force of about 4700 men in the early morning of December 22, 1814. Although the battle was a draw, it gained valuable time for the Americans who were greatly outnumbered. Caught off guard, the British army under the command of Colonel Thornton halted their advance toward New Orleans until all of their 10,000 troops could be brought in from the fleet¹⁹. General Jackson’s forces then retreated to the Rodriguez Canal, where he built a mud rampart fortification between the Mississippi River and an impassable cypress swamp.

British Major General Sir Edward Pakenham arrived on December 25, 1814, and readied his attack plans. He first got rid of one of the American ships by blowing up the Carolina, but he was not able to destroy the Louisiana.

When the British army launched a strong advance under General John Keane, General Jackson repulsed them with the help of the Louisiana, an American ship commanded by Daniel T. Patterson that blasted the British army with broadsides from the river. General Keane’s forces next tried to bombard the Americans into submission with an artillery barrage, but General Jackson’s gunners stood their ground. Inexplicably, on December 28, 1814, the British withdrew their forces, thus allowing Jackson to reinforce and strengthen his troops, which now numbered almost 5200 men.

The arrival of fresh troops during the early part of January 1815 provided the British with a greater force that included more than 1000 cannons. On January 8, 1814, General Pakenham decided to overwhelm General Jackson’s thin line of defenders on the riverbank opposite the Rodriguez Canal. He used the traditional style of warfare attack of having his troops advance in the open, marching in perfect formation in what he viewed as a time-tested military maneuver that had been used in Europe against the troops of Napoleon.

General Jackson lined up his riflemen in a defensive strategy of four rows—one behind the other. When the British columns advanced across the open fields toward the Americans, they were mowed down by small arms fire from the Americans who were behind their mud and cotton-bale barricades. The British redcoats made perfect targets as they marched precisely across a quarter mile of open ground while Jackson’s riflemen fired, stepped back behind the remaining three lines, reloaded, and then fired again when their succession turn came up once more. The British suffered very heavy losses, including General Keane, General Pakenham, General Gibbs, Colonel Dale, Colonel Rennie and Major Wilkinson, plus several hundred men, while Jackson’s troops sustained a loss of only seven militiamen who were killed.

The successor in the British line of command, Brigadier General David Morgan, disobeyed General Pakenham’s dying instructions to continue the attack, and he pulled the British survivors off the field. By January 9, 1815, British Colonel William Thornton, the only remaining commander with a force that could have still threatened Jackson’s troops on the western bank of the Mississippi River, had pulled his troops back upon the command of British General Jean Humbert. General Humbert considered the British army as being too low in morale at this point, and realized that Admiral Cochrane’s British fleet that was anchored many miles offshore could offer little or no assistance.

The American forces were now poised to launch a counterattack, and General Jackson wanted to pursue the British army to complete the destruction of it. However, his military advisors who included General Coffee and General Adair and his legal adviser Edward Livingston, recommended that Jackson should not needlessly expose his troops across an open field just to hunt down the retreating British forces. The British forces also made elaborate preparations to protect their narrow avenue of retreat back to Lake Borgne. On January 18, 1814, British General Lambert led his troops over five miles of swamps to the mouth of Bayou Bienvenue where shallow boats were waiting to transport them back to the fleet. Overall, almost 700 British were killed, more than 1400 were wounded, and about 500 were captured. The American losses were only 8 dead and 13 wounded²⁰.

East Florida Campaign

Jackson and his family returned to Nashville, Tennessee in May 1815 to resume the management of his plantation. In the meantime, the United States Army was reorganized into two divisions, with General Jackson being given command of the southern one although Major General Gaines did most of the detail work associated with this position. When the Indian turmoil started again in Georgia, General Gaines was sent by the War Department to quell the Seminole Indians—and to pursue them into the Spanish Florida territory if necessary. These orders bypassed General Jackson, who then declared that he would resign from the army unless orders were transmitted through him instead of through his subordinate, General Gaines²¹.

President James Monroe wrote a conciliatory letter asking Jackson not to resign. President Monroe also instructed his Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun, to order General Jackson to Georgia, and to adopt all necessary measures with full power to conduct this war as he thought best. Jackson proposed a simple plan in which he stated that he could possess East Florida in a campaign that would accomplish this feat in only 60 days. By February 1818, Jackson had assembled troops from Tennessee who marched to Hartford, Georgia on their way to Florida. By March 1818, Jackson’s forces were at Fort Scott near the Florida border.

Jackson quickly took control of a Spanish fort at St. Marks, and he dispatched Navy Lieutenant Isaac McKeever to blockade the west coast of the Florida peninsula with a few gunboats. Jackson then took his army into the Florida jungle where he took over a village that the Seminole Indians had deserted at Suwanee River. By the end of May 1818, Jackson’s forces had captured Pensacola and had turned out the Spanish Governor.

Jackson had moved entirely too fast for the Monroe administration who now found itself in a quandary in its relationship to Spain²². After a cabinet debate in which only the Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, stood up for Andrew Jackson, President Monroe gave the task of dealing with both England and Spain to Adams for the actions that Jackson had undertaken. Adams explained to Spain that Jackson was assisting the Spanish government in maintaining order in Florida. He also justified the execution of two English subjects to Great Britain on the grounds that their conduct forfeited their allegiance, thereby becoming virtual outlaws. Both Spain and England accepted the explanations by Adams who also admonished Spain to properly defend Florida—or else cede it to the United States.

In Congress, the Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, attacked Jackson’s measures, which had been adopted by the Monroe administration—but he disclaimed any ill-will toward General Jackson. However, in February 1819, when the resolutions against the summary executions of the two British subjects, the executions of the Indian captives, the seizure of Pensacola, and the invasions of foreign soil without Congressional approval came up for a vote, all of them were overwhelmingly defeated—and thus Jackson was vindicated of all wrongdoing. On February 22, 1819, Adams and the Spanish ambassador Don Luis de Onis signed a treaty ceding Florida to the United States in exchange for $5,000,000.

Governor of the Florida Territory

Jackson returned to Nashville, Tennessee to his Hermitage mansion in April 1819. In the summer of 1819, he toured the south with President Monroe on a goodwill visit that the President undertook in the tradition of George Washington. When Spain began to renege on its agreement with the United States, Jackson offered his services to President Monroe who had been advised by his Secretary of State Adams to prepare a military movement. Jackson wanted to seize Cuba also, and President Monroe halted the military operations. By February 1821, Spain had capitulated and ratified the treaty ceding Florida to the United States.

President Monroe offered the governorship of Florida to Jackson, but he initially refused to accept the position. However, Jackson’s friends in Congress were determined to have him appointed, and in March 1821, Jackson accepted the appointment. In June 1821, Jackson retired from the army in preparation for his new assignment, and in July 1821, Jackson began his term as Governor at Pensacola, Florida. He met with Don Jose Callava²³, the former Spanish Governor of West Florida and current Commissioner of Spain, to make the formal transfer on July 17, 1821. Having completed his mission, Jackson left the post as Governor of Florida in October 1821—even though President Monroe had asked him to remain a while longer.

United States Senator, 1823-1825

Jackson returned to his Hermitage home near Nashville, Tennessee to cultivate cotton with the help of his 100 slaves. In July 1822, the Tennessee state legislature unanimously placed Jackson’s name as a candidate to be considered by the people of the United States for the office of President. In an attempt to get Jackson out of the way, President Monroe appointed him in January 1823—with full confirmation by the Senate—as Envoy to Mexico. However, Jackson declined to accept the offer in February 1823, and he turned his interests to the presidential campaign.

When John Williams of Tennessee came up for reelection by the state legislature to the United States Senate, Jackson’s name was put in the list of candidates to be considered. On October 1, 1823, Jackson was elected as Senator by a vote of 35 to 25 over Williams. Jackson arrived in Washington, D.C. in December 1823, to take his Senate seat in the Eighteenth Congress. In the Senate Jackson voted consistently in support of internal improvement legislation and for projects for national defense. On the tariff issue, he voted for it as a means of protecting the American manufacturers—especially those who were creating materials that were important for wars.

Election of 1824

In February 1824, the presidential caucus at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania selected Andrew Jackson to be their candidate for the 1824 election. Starting in October 27, 1824, twenty-four states selected their presidential electors, with Jackson leading the race with every count of the votes. However, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and William Crawford pulled enough votes to deprive Jackson of the required majority in the Electoral College. The final tally was 99 votes for Jackson, 84 for Adams, 41 for Crawford and 37 for Clay, and so it was left for the House of Representatives to choose a President from the three highest vote getters²⁴.

Jackson had won eleven states to seven for Adams, and thus needed only two more to clinch the victory. However, Henry Clay threw his support behind John Quincy Adams, and the House selected Adams as President, with a total of 13 states voting for Adams, 7 for Jackson and 4 for Crawford, thus giving Adams the required majority of the 24 states²⁵. When Adams selected Clay as his Secretary of State, the Jackson supporters interpreted this appointment as being a result of a corrupt bargain in consideration for Clay’s support in making Adams the President. Senator Jackson voted against the nomination along with 13 other Senators, but Clay was confirmed by the Senate.

Election of 1828

Jackson resigned from the Senate in 1825, and began his quest for the presidency in the next election. He amassed an overwhelming popularity by virtue of his direct appeal for voter support through a professional political organization. This was brought about by skilled political organizers such as Martin Van Buren who created an extensive network of campaign committees and subcommittees to organize mass rallies, parades, and barbecues, and to erect hickory poles—a symbol for Jackson who was known as Old Hickory. In the ensuing 1828 presidential election and in one of the bitterest campaigns in American history, Jackson swept every state in the South and West while Adams won the electoral votes of every state in the North except Pennsylvania and part of New York.

Jackson won the Electoral College vote by receiving 178 votes to only 83 for Adams. John C. Calhoun was again elected as Vice President, this time under President Jackson. Contemporaries interpreted Jackson’s resounding victory as a triumph for the general populace in an election that marked a watershed in the nation’s political history—the beginning of a new democratic age. However, the elation of being elected as President was greatly dampened by the death of Jackson’s wife, Rachel, from pleurisy in December 1828, before he could take office.

Jackson vetoed a plan for a military pageant, and instead walked with a small party to Capitol Hill. He entered the Capitol via the basement, and made his way to the portico where he was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John Marshall. After giving his inauguration speech, he then rode on horseback with a mob behind him towards the White House where a raucous celebration took place.

Endnotes

1   Andrew Jackson was the first President to be born in a log cabin.

2   When he was captured, Jackson had been ordered to clean the boots of the British officer who was in command. When Jackson refused, the officer cut Jackson with a blow from his sword, inflicting a deep wound to his hand that Jackson was shielding himself with, but also striking Jackson in the head. This injury left a permanent scar.

3   He was accompanied by a slave girl that he had bought for 200 dollars.

4   Rachel Donelson, the widow, kept boarders as a means of protection against the Indians.

5   Captain Robards did not let the matter die and he tried to file a complaint against Jackson. Failing to do so after being intimidated by Jackson, he then filed a petition of divorce that was passed as a bill by the Virginia legislature in December 1790. In September 1793, a jury granted him the declaration of divorce based on the charge of adultery by his wife with Andrew Jackson. Then, to quell all rumors, Jackson officially married Rachel Donelson again in January 1794.

6   Jackson suggested the name of Tennessee, which means, great crooked river, for the new state.

7   Technically, Joseph Anderson has been chosen to replace Blount as Senator. Jackson then replaced the other Senate seat for Tennessee that had been vacated by William Cocke. When Cocke objected, Jackson challenged him to a duel, and Cocke dropped the matter.

8   His guiding motto and advice to juries was as follows: Do what is right between these parties. That is what the law always means.

9   Jackson challenged Siever to a duel when Siever alluded to the circumstances of his marriage to Rachel, but cooler heads prevailed to prevent the situation from happening.

10   On May 29, 1806, Jackson fought another duel, this time with Charles Dickinson who had made an allusion to his wife Rachel regarding her matrimonial history. Dickinson was an excellent marksman, and he shot Jackson by firing first at what he thought was the position of his heart by the set of his coat. However, Jackson wore his coats loosely because of his slender figure, and thus was permanently affected, but not mortally wounded. Jackson returned fire but his gun misfired. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson was forced to stand his ground, and Jackson took aim once more and shot Dickinson in the bowels. Dickinson died later that night. However, the bullet that wounded Jackson was lodged near his heart and could not be safely removed. He carried that bullet in his chest for the rest of his life, and periodically suffered from hemorrhages.

11   Burr was arrested in Kentucky in 1806, and tried for treason by the United States Government, but was acquitted when the chief witness fled to Indiana. When General James Wilkinson betrayed Burr by disclosing the existence of a military conspiracy to President Thomas Jefferson. Burr was arrested once more, but again the witnesses against Burr did not show up to testify. At this point, however, Jackson distanced himself even further from Burr. In 1807, Burr was arrested and indicted for treason, but was acquitted once more. Burr fled from the United States and spent the next five years traveling in Europe in an unsuccessful attempt to enlist European leaders such as Napoleon of France to finance his Mexican invasion plans.

12   Jackson was involved in another duel with Colonel Thomas H. Benton on September 4, 1813. In the encounter between Benton and Jackson at a tavern, Jackson was shot in the shoulder with a bullet that became imbedded against the upper bone of that arm. He almost lost the arm, with the result being that he carried that bullet in his body for over two decades.

13   Chief Red Eagle was actually a Creek half-breed Indian of Scottish ancestry whose real name was Charles Weatherford.

14   During this period Jackson was wracked by severe dysentery from which his stomach never recovered.

15   The six water routes into New Orleans are the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, Bayou La Fourche, Barataria Bay, Lake Borgne, and the Chenes and Bayou Terre streams.

16   New Orleans is located 105 miles from the mouth of the Mississippi River.

17   The three officers included Major Gabriel Villere, the son of Major General Jacques de Villere, Colonel de la Ronde and Dussau de la Croix. Their story actually corroborated an initial report by Augustin Rousseau who had told Jackson about the British presence at Villere’s plantation.

18   General Jackson also declared martial law by which no person would be allowed to leave New Orleans, and through which