Jackson in January-February 1825
Jackson in March-June 1825
Jackson in July-November 1826
Jackson’s Letter to Hugh White February 1827
Andrew Jackson May-September 1827
Andrew Jackson in 1828
Senator Jackson on 5 January 1825 voted with the successful ratification
of the convention made with Russia concerning the Northwest.
Also on the 5th Jackson from the Senate Chamber
wrote this in a letter to Brigadier-General John Coffee:
The political contest you will have discovered
is over in the Electoral colleges and has resulted
in bringing before the House of Representatives
myself, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Crawford.
How it may be decided by that body I know not,
and I am determined to continue my course
and not interfere in any way.
If I am placed there, it shall be without
any solicitation or interference on my part.
My choice would be on the Hermitage enjoying the
blessings of solitude and private happiness with my friends.
I named in my last to you that I had some doubts
whether my funds here would meet my expense;
but from the shortness of little Andrew’s crop,
it will not be more than sufficient to meet the
purchase of the forfeited lands, therefore will
endeavor to do with the surplus of my own crop.
I would if the crop had been as productive
as I expected asked you to have spared me $500
but fearful that it will be wanted I now decline asking
for it, least an injury might accrue to my little ward.
We are all well, the young ladies Mrs. Call, and Donelson,
at parties when they choose; Mrs. Jackson at the church,
and myself harassed with business, and letters
on business, but still my health has improved.
Please write me as soon as you hear from Orleans
the price of cotton, that I may form an estimate of
probable amount of the proceeds of my own crop.1
The next day Jackson in another letter to Coffee wrote,
Information of today gives some reasons to believe
that a coalition is about to be formed, which may be
called the trio, the interest of Crawford, Clay and Adams
combined for the purpose of defeating my election.
Be this as it may, I shall continue my course of
independence of intrigue and management,
and if elected it shall be without any interference of mine.
If not elected by this independent course,
I shall retire upon magnanimous ground,
and I assure you I shall not envy the man who places
himself in the chair of state by intrigue of his friends.2
On 10 January 1825 Andrew Jackson from Washington responded
to a letter from his former real estate partner John Overton
in the founding of Memphis, Tennessee, and he concluded:
The great whore of Babylon being prostrated by the
fall of the caucus, the liberty of our country is safe & will
be perpetuated, and I have the proud consolation to believe
that my name aided in its downfall; and if another is
preferred, I have this consolation, that by the voice of
a majority of the people, my pretensions have been
preferred—hence then my friend, I have no cause but that
of rejoicing; should another be preferred by the Congress,
as it will afford me honorable retirement to the peaceful
walks of private life—there is nothing that can draw me
from that composure and elevation of character that
I have prescribed the rule of my conduct.3
On January 13 Jackson helped ratify a treaty on the Bey of Tunis
and then he voted for treaties with the Iowa, Sauk, and Fox Indians.
On January 18 he voted for an engrossed bill that would
abolish imprisoning people for debt, but it did not pass.
On 24 January 1825 Henry Clay announced his support for John Quincy Adams
in the upcoming vote in the House of Representatives, and on the 26th
Clay explained that he opposed having a “military chieftain” as President.
On that day Senator Jackson voted for a bill
to survey a road from Missouri to a place west of Texas.
On January 27 the Washington Gazette reported
that Clay was backing Adams for President.
On February 7 Senator Andrew Jackson
wrote this letter to Major William B. Lewis:
The Public Journals will have informed you of the letter
to the Editor of the Columbian Observer from a member
of Congress, the card of Mr. Clay, and the reply by another
Card, and the proceedings of the House of Representatives
thereon, who have raised a committee, and referred
the vera dictum of Mr. Clay to the Committee.
This is thought here by many a very novel proceeding
without any parliamentary precedent to warrant it.
What the committee may do, I cannot conjecture.
But you may prepare to hear a debate (if a report is made)
of great excitement not very creditable to our country.
It is believed by some, that this course was taken to
inveigle Mr. Kreamer into an apology, but if I am a Judge of
human nature, they have mistook the man, he would suffer
Martyrdom before he would descend to such humiliation.
I am told he has ample proof of the application of
Mr. Clay’s friends to support his statement in his letter.
If this is true, the committee will not
open the case for this proof.
Should it refuse, there will be no course left Mr. K
but to protest Vs. the proceedings and appeal to the nation.
How the Election of President
may result is impossible to tell.
The rumor of Barter of office, intrigue and
corruption still afloat, which I hope for the
honor of our country there is no truth in.4
The House of Representatives voted for President on 9 February 1825.
The run-off election in the House of Representatives with each State having one vote
for President was between the three candidates with the most electoral votes.
This was the first election in the United States in which
a large number of people were allowed to vote.
Andrew Jackson received 152,901 votes, John Quincy Adams 113,023,
Henry Clay 47,217, and William Crawford 46,979.
Andrew Jackson got 99 electoral votes, John Quincy Adams 84, William Crawford 41;
and Henry Clay with only 37 was eliminated.
He hated Jackson and persuaded the House members in
Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio to vote for Adams.
Although Jackson in the popular voting had won in Illinois, Louisiana, and Maryland,
those states in the House chose to vote for Adams which gave him
a majority with 13 votes to 7 for Jackson and 4 for Crawford.
Jackson won the votes of all the members in 7 states.
Adams won all the members in 10 states, and he won New York 18 to 2,
Ohio 10 to 2, and Maryland 5 to 1, giving him 13 states and the Presidency.
Jackson agreed with the rumor that Clay and Adams had made a “corrupt bargain,”
and he held a grudge against Clay for the rest of his life.
The election of John C. Calhoun as Vice President
in the Electoral College was also confirmed.
Andrew Jackson from Washington on February 10
in a very short letter to John Overton wrote:
The Election is over, and Mr. Adams prevailed
on the first Ballot; Mr. Clay had influence enough
to Barter votes of Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois,
Louisiana, which drew after it Ohio.
These with Maryland giving way decided the vote.
Thus you see here the voice of the people
of the west have been disregarded, and
demagogues barter them as sheep in the shambles,
for their own views and personal aggrandizement.
Mrs. J. has not been well for some days, is now better.
We will be on our return home in March
and hope to reach the Hermitage in April.5
On February 11 Adams selected Clay to be his Secretary of State.
On 12 February 1825 the Senate ratified the Treaty of Indian Springs
that ceded Creek land in Georgia, and many Creeks opposed this.
Senator Jackson on February 14 wrote another letter
to Major William B. Lewis:
I am informed this day by Col. R. M. Johnston of the
Senate that Mr. Clay has been offered the office of
Secretary of State, and that he will accept it.
So you see the Judas of the West has closed the
contract and will receive the thirty pieces of silver.
His end will be the same.
Was there ever witnessed such a bare-faced
corruption in any country before?
The Senate, (if this Nomination is sent to it) will do its duty.
No imputation will be left at its door.
We will soon be with you, farewell.6
On February 15 Senator Jackson voted to postpone a bill
to add three circuit judges in the West, and the bill failed.
On the 18th he voted for a bill to increase relief benefits
for those who fought against the Seminoles.
On 19 February 1825 Andrew Jackson wrote
in a letter to Brigadier-General John Coffee:
I weep for the liberty of my country when I see
at this early day of its “successful experiment,” that
corruption has been imputed to many members of the
House of Representatives, and the rights of the people
have been bartered for promises of office.
Mr. Clay their chief has received by way of the fulfillment
of the rumored contract with him a tender of the office of
Secretary of State, and it is said he has agreed to accept it.
How far the Senate will support his nomination and
consummate this corruption, a few days will determine.
There are many of them I am sure will never
do an act to cover themselves with the
imputation of favoring such corruption.7
On February 20 Henry Clay agreed to be Secretary of State.
Also on that day Andrew Jackson wrote this
extraordinary letter to William Berkeley Lewis:
You have seen from the public Journals that
the rumors of union & barter for office between
Mr. Clay’s friends & Mr. Adams have been
verified by the result of the Presidential election.
The information now is that the contract, so far as
Mr. Clay is concerned, is fulfilled by the offer of
Mr. Adams to Mr. Clay of the appointment of Secretary
of State, which it is said Mr. Clay has agreed to accept.
I have, as you know, always thought Mr. Adams to be an
honest, virtuous man, and had he spurned from him those
men who have abandoned those principles they had always
advocated, (that the people have a right to govern) and
that their will should be always obeyed by their constituents;
I should still have viewed him an honest man; and that
the rumors of bargain and sale were unknown to him.
But when we see the predictions verified on the result
of the Presidential election—when we behold two men
political enemies, and as different in political sentiments
as any men can be, so suddenly unite, there must be
some unseen cause to produce this political phenomena.
This cause is developed by applying the rumors
before the election to the result of that election,
and to the tendering of and the acceptance of
the office of Secretary of State by Mr. Clay.
These are facts that will confirm every unbiased mind,
that there must have been, & were understanding between
Mr. Adams & Mr. Clay of and concerning these scenes
of corruption, that has occasioned Mr. Clay to abandon
the will and wishes of the people of the west, and to
form the coalition so extraordinary as the one he has done.
You know my inmost feelings
upon the subject of the presidential election.
I can reiterate with truth, that if it had not
been for the means used, I would be happy
at the result, as it gives me liberty, when I choose
to retire once more to my peaceful dwelling.
But when I reflect that the result has been brought about
by the offer to Mr. Clay of the Secretary of State’s office
and his influence with the other members,
I look forward & shudder for the liberty of my country.
If at this early period of the experiment of our Republic,
men are found base & corrupt enough to barter the rights
of the people for proffered office, what may we not
expect from the spread of this corruption hereafter.
May we not expect to see not only proffer of office,
but direct bribery by an ambitious demagogue, who is
guided by no principle but that of self-aggrandizement.
From Mr. Clay’s late conduct, my opinion of him,
long ago expressed, is but realized from his conduct
on the Seminole question, I then pronounced him a political
Gambler, and from his late conduct in the abandonment of
all those republican principles which he always professed,
& by which he had obtained the support of the people,
and forming such an alliance so unexpectedly with a man
he had denounced before the nation, and all this for the
office of Secretary of State realizes the fact of his P gamble.
Would it be too much to infer that his ambition
might induce him to reach the Executive chair by
open & direct bribery, as well as the barter of office.
These are my reflections, and I cannot from
the scenes lately, & now acting here, refrain
from shuddering for the liberty of my country.
There is no other corrective of these abuses,
but the suffrages of the people; if they apply calmly
& Judiciously this corrective, they may preserve
& perpetuate the liberty of our happy country.
If they do not, in less than 25 years, we will
become the slaves, not of a “military chieftain,”
but of such ambitious demagogues as Henry Clay.
It is then necessary that the people should look to it now,
as corruption is in the bud, before it extends itself
farther among the representatives in Congress.
Mrs. J. has been unwell for some weeks but is now
mending, and I hope will be able to travel as soon
as the Senate rises, which I cannot leave until it does,
as I have a hope, there is a redeeming spirit in the virtue
of the Senate, which may prevent the consummation
of this corruption, of barter for office….
(Private)
P.S. On the result of the election, a number of my friends
requested that I should not answer that I would or would
not suffer my name again to be run as president—nor to
say whether I would resign or not my seat in the Senate.
It is said Mr. Adams has agreed with Clay to give him
all the support he can to keep up his name in the west.
I have now no doubt, but I have had opposed to me
all the influence of the Cabinet except Calhoun.
Would it not be well that the papers of Nashville &
the whole State should speak out with moderate but firm
disapprobation of this corruption—to give a proper tone
to the people & to draw their attention to the subject.
When I see you, I have much to say.
There is more corruption here than I anticipated;
and as you know, I thought there was enough of it.8
Jackson on 21 February 1825 made a speech in the Senate
in support of a bill to provide relief for Mountain Rangers that passed.
The next day he voted for a bill that passed to allow people in the Missouri
and Arkansas territories to validate their claims of French and Spanish grants.
Also on the 22nd Jackson wrote in this letter to Samuel Swartwout:
Yesterday I received your communication adverting to the
reasons and defense presented by Mr. Clay to Judge Brooks
why duty and reflection imposed on him the necessity of
standing in opposition to me, because of my being
as he is pleased to style me, “a Military Chieftain.”
I had before seen the letter; first when it appeared,
I did entertain the opinion, that perhaps some notice
of it might be necessary for the reason that the expression
seemed to carry with it more the appearance of personality
than anything else; and could the opinion be at all
entertained, that it could meet the object, which
doubtless was intended to prejudice me in the estimation
of my countrymen, I might yet consider some notice
of it necessary; such a belief however I cannot entertain
without insulting the general testimonial with which by
ninety-nine electors of the people I have been honored.
I am well aware that this term “Military Chieftain”
has for some time past been a cant phrase
with Mr. Clay and certain of his retainers;
but the vote with which by the people I have
been honored, is enough to satisfy me, that the
prejudice by them, sought to be produced, availed but little.
This is sufficient for me.
I entertain a deep and heartfelt gratitude to my country for
the confidence and regard she has manifested towards me,
leaving to prejudiced minds whatever they can
make of the epithet “Military Chieftain.”
It is for an ingenuity stronger than mine to conceive
what idea was intended to be conveyed by that term.
It is very true that early in life, even in the days of boyhood,
I contributed my mite to shake off the yoke of tyranny, and
to build up the fabric of free government; and when lately
our country was involved in a war, having the commission
of Major General of Militia in Tennessee, I made an appeal
to the patriotism of the western citizens, when 3,000 of
them went with me to the field to support her Eagles.
If this can constitute me a “Military Chieftain,” I am one.
Aided by the patriotism of the western people, and an
indulgent providence, it was my good fortune to protect
our frontier border from the savages, and successfully to
defend an important and vulnerable point of our Union.
Our lives were risked, privations endured, sacrifices made,
if Mr. Clay pleases, Martial law declared, not with
any view of personal aggrandizement, but for the
preservation of all and everything that was valuable,
the honor, safety and glory of our country.
Does this constitute a “Military Chieftain?” and are
all our brave men in war, who go forth to defend
their rights and the rights of their country to be
termed Military Chieftains and therefore denounced?
If so, the tendency of such a doctrine may be to
arrest the ardor of useful and brave men, in future
times of need and peril: with me it shall make no difference;
for my country at war I would aid, assist and defend
her rights, let the consequences be what they might.
I have as you very well know, by some of the designing
politicians of this country, been charged with taking
bold and high-handed measures; but as they were not
designed for any benefit to myself, I should under similar
circumstances not refrain from a course equally bold;
that man who in time of difficulty and danger shall halt at
any course, necessary to maintain the rights and privileges
and independence of the country, is unsuited to authority;
and if these opinions and sentiments shall entitle me to the
name and character of a Military Chieftain, I am content so
to be considered, satisfied too for Mr. Clay if he chooses,
to represent to the citizens of the West, that as the reason
why in his opinion I merited not his and their confidence.
Mr. Clay never yet has risked himself for his country,
sacrificed his repose, or made an effort to repel an
invading foe; of course his “conscience” assured him
that it was altogether wrong in any other man
to lead his countrymen to battle and victory.
He who fights and fights successfully must according
to his standard be held up as a “Military Chieftain.”
Even Washington could he again appear among us might
be so considered, because he dared to be a virtuous and
successful soldier, an honest statesman, and a correct man.
It is only when overtaken by disaster and defeat,
that any man is to be considered
a safe politician and correct statesman.
Defeat might to be sure have brought with it one benefit:
it might have enabled me to escape the notice and
animadversions of Mr. Clay, but considering that by an
opposing result, my country has been somewhat benefitted,
I rather prefer it even with the opprobrium and
censure which he seems disposed to extend.
To him thank God, I am in no wise responsible, there is a
purer tribunal to which in preference I would refer myself—
to the Judgment of an enlightened patriotic and uncorrupted
people—to that tribunal I would rather appeal whence is
derived whatever reputation either he or I are possessed of.
By a reference there, it will be ascertained that I did not
solicit the office of President; it was the frank and flattering
call of the freemen of this country, not mine, which placed
my name before the nation; when they failed in their
colleges to make a choice, no one beheld me seeking
through art or management to entice any representative
in Congress from a conscientious responsibility
to his own, or the wishes of his constituents.
No midnight taper burned by me; no secret conclaves
were held, or cabals entered into to persuade any to
a violation of pledges given, or of instructions received.
By me no plans were concerted to impair the pure
principles of our Republican institutions, or to frustrate
that fundamental one which maintains the supremacy of
the people’s will; on the contrary, having never in any
manner either before the people or Congress in the
slightest manner interfered with the question, my conscience
stands void of offense and will go quietly with me, heedless
of the insinuations of any, who through management
may seek an influence, not sanctioned by merit.
Demagogues I am persuaded have in times past done
more injury to the cause of freedom and the rights of man,
than ever did a “Military Chieftain,” and in our country,
at least in time of peace, should be more feared.
I have seen something of this in my march through life,
and have seen some men too, making the boldest
professions who were more influenced by selfish
views and considerations, than ever they were
by any workings of an honest conscience.
I became a soldier for the good of my country.
Difficulties met me at every step; I thank God
it was my good fortune to surmount them.
The war over and peace restored, I sought to retire
again to my farm and to private life, where but for
the call made by my country to the Senate,
I should have contentedly remained.
I never yet have been a hanger on upon office and power,
or was willing to hold any post longer than I could be
useful to my country, not myself, and I trust I never shall.
If this makes me so, I am a “Military Chieftain.”9
On February 24 Jackson supported extending the Cumberland Road to Ohio
and
for the government to subscribe for shares in Delaware and Chesapeake Canal stock.
On the 25th the Nashville Gazette endorsed Jackson for President in 1828.
On 3 March 1825 the United States Congress adjourned,
and then the Senate held a special session from March 4 to 9
to accept communications from President John Quincy Adams.
On March 5 Jackson from Washington wrote in another letter to Samuel Swartwout:
Yesterday Mr. Adams was inaugurated amidst
a vast assemblage of citizens, having been escorted
to the Capitol with a pomp and ceremony of
guns and drums not very consistent in my
Humble opinion with the character of the occasion.
Twenty-four years ago when Mr. Jefferson
was inducted into office, no such machinery
was called in to give solemnity to the scene.
He rode his own horse and hitched himself to the enclosure.
But it seems that times are changing.
I hope it is not so with the principles that are to characterize
the administration of justice and constitutional law.
These in my fervent prayers for the prosperity and
good of our country will remain unaltered, based
upon the sovereignty of the People, and adorned
with no forms or ceremonies, save those which
their happiness and freedom shall command.
I have not yet received your New York paper
in which I inferred from your letter, my remarks
upon the term military chieftain are before this published.
To this I have nothing to say.
Mr. Clay has used no delicacy toward me,
and as I have never written anything whether
private or public which my heart and judgement
did not sanction, I am not afraid of the publication
of those remarks or any other which I may have made.10
On March 7 Jackson opposed the confirming of Clay as Secretary of State.
Jackson left Washington on March 10, and he attended celebrations
in Maryland on the 11th and his birthday on the 15th.
Jackson spent four days in Cincinnati from March 27 to 30 at a
church service, a review of militia, a Masonic meeting, and a public dinner.
On 7 April 1825 Cumberland College endowed
two professorships named after Jackson and Lafayette.
Jackson came home to his Hermitage on April 13,
and he was honored at a public dinner in Nashville on the 16th.
Jackson in a short letter to Brigadier General John Coffee on April 24 wrote:
The papers will give you the political news;
to them I refer you.
The poor Devil H. Clay, has come out with an address
to his constituents, in a begging cringing tone, to clear
himself from the corrupt intrigue and management to
procure for himself the office of Secretary of State,
but he steers entirely clear of denying this charge.
The various papers are commenting on it and will
bring to his recollection before they are done
the adage “O that my enemy would write a book.”
How little common sense this man displays in his course, a
man who dwells, as he does, in a glass house, ought never
to cast stones; silence would have been to him wisdom.11
On May 30 Jackson agreed to be chairman of the Presbyterian General Assembly
commission to find a site for a western theological seminary.
The Nashville Bible Society re-elected Jackson Vice President on September 14.
The Tennessee General Assembly meeting at Murfreesboro
nominated Jackson for President on 7 October 1825.
On October 12 Jackson spoke to the Tennessee Legislature and explained
why he was resigning from the United States Senate.
Then he said,
Being about to retire once more to private life,
it may be the last time probably that I shall
have an opportunity of addressing you.
Permit me to suggest to you then some remarks
upon the proposed amendment of the
Constitution of the United States.
Our political fabric being regulated by checks and where
experience assures us, that those which have been resorted
to are inefficient; or however well their boundaries have
been defined by the parchment of the Constitution, some
new barrier to the encroachments of power of corruption
in any of the departments of government is necessary,
a corrective should be applied, and it is the duty of the
people in justice to themselves to see that one is provided.
There is no truth more sacred in politics; and none more
conclusively stamped upon all the state constitutions,
as well as the federal constitution than that which requires
the three great departments of power—the Legislative,
Judicial and Executive to keep separate and apart.
But simple and manifest as this truth is, the difficulty
of arming it in practice with constitutional restraints,
still remains; and forms a question whether in its
amendment the wisdom and virtue of the present
generation may not be usefully employed.
Gratitude to the founders of our happy government
certainly cannot be lessened by honest efforts on our
part to improve, or rather to fortify the blessings which
have been transmitted to us, with such additional
guards as experience has proved to be necessary.
Upon this principle I venture freely to accord
with you in the contemplated change proposed
to the constitution; and indeed would go further.
With a view to sustain more effectually in practice,
the axiom which divides the three great classes of
power into independent constitutional checks, I would
impose a provision rendering any member of Congress
ineligible to office under the general government for
and during the term for which he was elected, and
for two years thereafter except in cases of Judicial office;
and these I would except for the reason that vacancies
in this department are not of frequent occurrence;
and because no barrier should be interposed in the
selecting to the bench men of the first talents and integrity.
Their trusts and duties being of the most responsible kind,
the widest possible range be permitted, that
proper and safe selections may be made.
The politician may err; yet his error may presently
be retrieved, and no considerable injury result;
but with Judges, particularly in the last resort,
error is fatal, because without a remedy.
The effect of such a constitutional provision is obvious.
By it Congress will in a considerable degree be freed
from that connection with the Executive departments,
which at present gives strong ground of apprehension
and jealousy on the part of the people.
Members instead of being liable to be withdrawn from
Legislating upon the great interests of the nation, through
prospects of Executive patronage, would be more liberally
confided in by their constituents; while their vigilance would
be less interrupted by party feeling and party excitement.
Intrigue and management would be excluded.
Nor would their deliberations or the investigation
of subjects consume so much time.
The morals of the Country would be improved;
and virtue uniting with the labors of the Representatives,
and with the Official ministers of the law, would tend
to perpetuate the honor and glory of the government.
But if this change in the Constitution should not be
attained, and important appointments continue to
devolve upon the Representatives in Congress,
it requires no depth of thought to be convinced,
that corruption will become the order of the day,
and under the garb of conscientious sacrifices to establish
precedents for the public good, evil may arise of serious
importance to the freedom and prosperity of the Republic.
It is through this channel that the people may expect
to be attacked in their constitutional sovereignty,
and where tyranny may well be apprehended
to spring up in some favorable emergency.
Against such inroads every guard ought to be interposed,
and none better occurs than that of closing the suspected
avenue with some necessary constitutional restriction.
We know human nature to be prone to evil.
We are early taught to pray that we may not be
led into temptation; and hence the opinion that
by constitutional provisions all avenues to temptation
on the part of our political servants should be closed.
My name having been before the Nation for the Office
of chief magistrate during the time I served as Senator,
placed me in a situation truly delicate.
But delicate as it was, my friends do not, and my
enemies cannot charge me with descending from the
independent ground then occupied, or with degrading the
trust reposed in me by intriguing for the Presidential chair.
As your honorable body have by a resolution thought
proper again to present my name to the American people,
I must entreat to be excused from any further service in
the Senate; and to suggest in conclusion, it is due to myself
to practice upon the maxims recommended to others and
hence feel constrained to retire from a situation where
temptation may exist and suspicion arise of the exercise
of an influence tending to my own aggrandizement.
Accept I pray you for yourselves and tender
to the honorable bodies over which you
respectively preside, my sincere regard.12
On 3 March 1826 Jackson from his Hermitag
wrote in this letter to John Branch:
Your uniform disinterested & independent course
in the Senate of the United States & elsewhere
merits not only my confidence, but that of every
virtuous patriot of our country—you possess it.
The great body of the people rejoice to see the
Senate pause & ponder well upon the Panama Mission;
it is a subject of vast importance to our country;
it might lead to serious & embarrassing consequences.
To be represented at a congress of Independent
confederated nations is an event, which I presume,
the framers of our Constitution never thought of,
while deliberating upon those Enumerated powers
which they conceived necessary & proper
to be given to our confederated government.
The moment our Representatives appear and take
their seats at this Congress, we must be viewed by
the Governments of Europe to be members of that
Confederation which compose it, and whether our
representatives vote with the majority or not on measures
that may be adopted, still these acts, are our acts in
contemplation, and may this not lead to war.
The ground taken by the President in his message,
“that he had accepted the invitation, & ministers would be
appointed & commissioned to represent us at Panama,”
gave much alarm to the Republicans
of the old school of 1798-99.
But his friends explain that he only meant to say that he
would do this by & with the advice & consent of the Senate.
We await for the injunction of Secrecy to be taken
from your proceedings in the Senate, for a full
explanation of his views of his constitutional powers.
It appears however, that he has assumed to himself
the power of accepting the invitation, & giving a
pledge that we would be represented there.
Upon the more mature reflection on this Subject,
I cannot bring myself to believe, that this
is a case embraced in our Constitution
under the Treaty-making power.
It would seem to me that the consent of the people
to the expediency of this measure should have been
first had, at least by their representatives in Congress—
before the invitation should have been accepted,
& a pledge given that we would be represented there.
Under the circumstances of this case, the course
adopted by the leading members of the administration
in the House of Representatives is truly alarming as well
as novel—that one coordinate branch of our government
should attempt to take up the subject while it was
constitutionally before the other, and under discussion;
with the avowal to coerce it into a compliance with the
Executive will—is an attempt to destroy the constitutional
checks of our government, and to reduce it to despotism
by making “the Senate a mere machine to register the
edicts of the President,” as has been well observed.
When all these proceedings are laid before the people;
when they see the whole ground, there will be
such a burst of indignation, that must be felt
by all the supporters of such measures….
I have reflected calmly upon this Panama mission,
and the proceedings in Congress that it has to lead to,
and I can see no good that can result from it, but much evil.
If information is wanted from Panama, why not obtain it
in the usual mode by an agent from our government.
Why become a member of that confederated national
congress before we are informed of its policy & its plans.
This worse than folly.
The moment we engage in confederations or alliances
with any nation, we may from that time
date the downfall of our republic.
When I view the splendor & magnificence of the
government embraced in the recommendation
of the late message with the powers enumerated,
which may be rightfully exercised by Congress to lead
to this magnificence together with the declaration that
it would be criminal for the agents of our government
to be palsied by the will of their constituents, I shudder
for the consequence—if not checked by the voice of the
people, it must end in consolidation & then in despotism.
Yet I have great confidence in the intelligence
and virtue of the great body of the American people;
they never will abandon the constitutional ship;
their voice will be raised & must be heard.
Instead of building lighthouses of the skies,
establishing national universities and making explorations
round the globe; their language will be pay the national
debt—prepare for national independence & defense—
then apportion the surplus revenue among the several
states for the education of the poor—leaving the
superintendence of education to the states respectively.
This will be the safe course
to perpetuate our happy government.13
On 20 March 1826 Jackson from his Hermitage
wrote in a letter to Samuel Houston:
I see the Panama question is still debating
under the mantle of Secrecy before the Senate.
The people are becoming solicitous for this mantle
to be removed that they may see the whole ground.
If without a treaty or statute authorizing the President
to appoint ministers to represent us at such a
congress at Panama, I would like to see where
the power is derived from to authorize the
appointment of ministers to represent us there.
I think it is a dangerous business and one
which will lead us into difficulties that may
end in war unprofitable war.
Still I hope for the best.14
Former Senator Andrew Jackson wrote from his Hermitage
on April 8 in a letter to James Buchanan:
I received by due course of mail your friendly letter
of the 8th ult. transmitting a resolution passed by the
convention at Harrisburg in which it is declared
“that their confidence in me is unimpaired.”
This resolution adds another to the many obligations
which I owe to the republicans of Pennsylvania, and which
shall be cherished as long as the feelings of gratitude and
the sentiments of patriotism have a place in my heart.
What greater consolation could be offered to my declining
years than the reflection that my Public conduct,
notwithstanding the difficulties through which it has led me,
can still be honored with testimonials so distinguished
as this from the enlightened and patriotic Pennsylvanians;
I desire no greater….
We have received the result of the Panama question
in the Senate—from the whole view of the subject
I have been compelled to believe that it is a hasty
unadvised measure, calculated to involve us in difficulties,
perhaps war, without receiving in return any real benefit.
The Maxim that it is easier to avoid difficulties than to
remove them when they have reached us, is too old
not to be true: but perhaps this and many other good
sayings are becoming inapplicable in the present
stage of our public measures which seem to be
so far removed from our revolution that even
the language of Washington must be transposed
in order to be reconciled to the councils of Wisdom!
I hope I may be wrong.
It is my sincere wish that this Panama movement
may advance the happiness and glory of the country;
but if it be not a commitment of our neutrality with Spain,
and indirectly with other powers (as for example Brazil),
I have misconstrued very much the Justice of the
anathemas which have been pronounced upon the
assembly at Verona as well as the true sense
of the principles which form international law.
Let the primary interests of Europe be what they may,
or let our situation vary as far as you please from that
which we occupied when the immortal Washington retired
from the councils of his country; I cannot see for my part
how it follows that the primary interests of the United States
will be safer in the hands of others than in her own;
or in other words, that it can ever become necessary
to form entangling alliances, or any connection with the
Governments of South America which may infringe upon
that principle of equality among nations which is the basis
of their independence, as well as all their international rules.
The doctrine of Washington is as applicable to the present
as to the then primary interests of Europe, so far as
our own peace and happiness are concerned, and I have
no hesitation in saying so far as the true interests of
South America are concerned, maugre the discovery by
Mr. Adams that if Washington was now with us,
he would unite with him in sending this mission to Panama.
No one feels more for the cause of the South Americans
than I do, and if the proper time had arrived, I trust
that none would more willingly march to their defense.
But there is a wide difference between relieving them
from a combination of leagued powers, and aiding them
in forming a confederation which can do no good as far as
I am apprised of its objects; and which we all know,
let its objects be the best, will contain evil tendencies.15
On 4 June 1826 Vice President John C. Calhoun from Washington
wrote this letter to Andrew Jackson about power and liberty:
I avail myself of the present safe conveyance to
renew our correspondence after so long a suspension.
Major Eaton will give you all of the particulars
of the long and interesting session of Congress,
which has just terminated.
There has been much excitement, but for my part,
I am neither surprised nor displeased at the depth
of feeling displayed by the members on several occasions,
as I believe, that it has been caused by a thorough
and honest conviction, that the liberties of the country
are in danger, and not by the sentiment of faction,
nor disappointment as had been attributed.
In my opinion liberty never was in greater danger;
and such, I believe, to be the impression of the
coolest and most considerate of our citizens.
An issue has been fairly made, as it seems to me,
between power and liberty; and it must be determined
in the next three years, whether the real governing
principle in our political system be the power and
patronage of the Executive, or the voice of the people.
For it can scarcely be doubted, that a scheme has been
formed to perpetuate power in the present hands,
in spite of the free and unbiased sentiment of the country;
or to express it more correctly, those now in power act
on a scheme resting on the supposition, that such is the
force of Executive influence, that they, who wield it,
can mold the public voice at pleasure by an
artful management of the patronage of office.
It must be obvious if it should prove to be the fact, that
a radical change has already been effected in our system.
If power can be acquired against the voice of the majority,
and when so acquired, can be maintained and perpetuated
by the influence which it gives, our government may indeed
retain the forms of freedom, but its spirit will be gone.
Nor will it be long before the form will follow the spirit.
Let the Presidency be transmitted by the exercise of a
corrupt patronage from hand to hand, and we shall soon
consider the form of electing by the people a mere farce;
nor will it then be difficult to reconcile the people to the
transmission of the Executive power by hereditary
principle in some imperial family.
I, however, hope for better things.
I confide in the intelligence and virtue of the people,
which have safely carried us through so many difficulties.
Already I see much to hope.
The scheme appears to be well understood by many,
and the public indignation will swell just in proportion
as it comes to be fully developed.
It will be no small addition to your future renown,
that in this great struggle your name is found, as it
always has been on the side of liberty and your country.
Occupying the grounds that you do, there can be no triumph
over you, which will not also be a triumph over liberty.
That you may live to witness a successful termination
of the struggle, and that you may be the instrument
under Providence of confounding political machinations and
of turning the attempts against the liberty of the country into
the means of perpetuating our freedom is my sincere wish.
As to myself, I am content, let what may happen,
provided the cause triumphs.
I know that much of the Storm will fall on me;
but so far from complaining, I deem it my glory
to be selected as the object of attack in such a cause.
If I had no higher object than personal advancement,
my course would be easy.
I would have nothing to do,
but to float with the current of events.
I feel, however, that such a course would be unworthy of
the confidence, which the American people reposed in me,
and of the duty which every citizen owes his country.16
On 26 July 1826 Andrew Jackson wrote in this letter to Richard Keith Call:
I am glad to learn that the difficulty
between you & White is adjusted.
You cannot have forgotten the advice I give to
all my young friends, that is—to say, as they pass
through life have apparent confidence in all,
real confidence in none, until from actual experience
it is found that the individual is worthy of it.
From this rule I have never departed, but still in
one or two instances only, have I misplaced confidence.
Rest assured I am not easily taken in of late by politicians.
I well know many of them stir with the currents,
run with the hare, and cry with the hounds.
When I have found men mere politicians,
bending to the popular breeze and changing with it,
for self popularity, I have ever shunned them,
believing that such are unworthy of my confidence—
but still treat them with hospitality and politeness.
I have been led here to make arrangements for paying the
last respect due to the memory & manes of the sage of
Monticello, the Father of Liberty, the patron of science,
and the author of our declaration of Independence, who had
the boldness by that instrument to declare to the despots
of Europe in 1776, that we of right ought to be free, that
all well-organized governments are founded on the will of
the people—established for their happiness and prosperity.
This virtuous Patriot, Thomas Jefferson is no more.
He died on the 4th of July 10 minutes before one P.M.
On yesterday when we met to make arrangements
for this melancholy occasion, the mail brought us the
sad intelligence that another of the signers of the declaration
of Independence was no more, that John Adams had
departed this life also on the 4th of July at 6 o’clock P.M.
Was well in the morning, heard the celebration,
sickened at noon and died at 6 o’clock P.M. of the 4th inst.
What a wonderful coincidence that the author and two
signers of the declaration of Independence, two of the
Ex-Presidents, should on the same day expire, a half a
Century after that, that gave birth to a nation of freemen,
and that Thomas Jefferson should have died the very
hour of the day that the declaration of Independence
was presented and read in the Congress of 1776.
Is this an omen that Divinity approbated the whole
course of Mr. Jefferson and sent an angel down to take
him from the earthly Tabernacle on this national Jubilee
at the same moment he had presented it to Congress.
And is the death of Mr. Adams a confirmation of the
approbation of Divinity also, or is it an omen that his
political example as President and adopted by his son, shall
destroy this holy fabric created by the virtuous Jefferson.17
Andrew Jackson from his Hermitage responded to
Calhoun’s letter on 26 July 1826, and in his letter he concluded:
I trust that my name will always be found
on the side of the people, and as their confidence
in your talents and virtue has placed you in
the second office of the government, that we
shall march hand in hand in their cause.
With an eye single to the preservation of our
happy form of government, the missiles of
slander will fall harmless at your feet.
The approbation of the virtuous yeomanry
of the country will constitute a shield which
the administration cannot destroy—it will live when
the abuse of its [—— ——] shall be forgotten.18
On July 29 Jackson wrote this letter to John Dabney Terrell:
The policy of concentrating our Southern tribes of
Indians to a point west of the Mississippi, and thereby
strengthening our Southern border with the white
population which will occupy the land, is one of much
importance, and in the execution of which will be
required some attention to the Indian character.
In reference to the proposed negotiations as a
part of this policy, I think it will be useless to
attempt to prepare the minds of the Chickasaws
for the surrender of a part of their lands.
From my knowledge of their character
I have no doubt that an entire exchange will
be effected with less difficulty than a partial one.
And with them, as with all Indians,
the best plan will be to come out with candor.
Tell them, situated where they now are, that
they will always be exposed to encroachment from
the white people who will be constantly harassing their
father the President for the privilege of occupation and
possession etc.; and here the case of Georgia and the
Creeks and Cherokees will furnish a striking example.
Say to them, their Father, the President, will lay off a
country of equal extent, transport them to it, and give
besides a premium of money which will enable them to buy
stock etc.; that he will establish landmarks for them never
to be moved, and give them a fee simple title to the land.
You must be prepared to give assurance of permanency
of title, and dwell upon the idea that they will
never be asked to surrender an acre more.
It might not then be useless to bring to their view the hope
of a union between the Choctaws, Creeks and Chickasaws,
as a speedy means of making them a great, powerful and
happy people, and when their children shall be educated,
of enabling them to become a member of the
United States, as Alabama & Mississippi are.
With these hints I shall only add that you should be careful
to promise nothing to them, but what you will religiously
perform, or they will say to you, you lie too much.
Nothing will defeat a negotiation with Indians so soon
as the discovery of an attempt to deceive them.19
On 20 August 1826 Andrew Jackson from his Hermitage
wrote in a letter to John Coffee:
This will be handed to you by Mr. Eastin to whom
I refer you for the news of this section of country,
& for the information of the health of our friends.
General Hinds spent a short time with me &
promised to call & see you, I suppose from what
he said, he will accept of the appointment as Commissioner
to treat with the Indian, I have given him my opinion,
you must get the whole Territory or none—
that If the Indians can be got to cede or exchange the whole
of their country, I would not hesitate as to the price
provided it can be had, for one third the value of the
ceded country—allowing the other two thirds to indemnify
the Government for the acre, for acre in exchange, and all
expenses in surveying & selling the land; if this should not
meet the views of the President & Senate, let them reject it.
The Chickasaw & Choctaw country are of great
importance to us in the defense of the lower country,
a white population instead of the Indian,
would strengthen our arm of defense much.20
Jackson from his Hermitage on September 4
wrote this letter to Ebenezer Harlow Cummins:
I have received your letter of the 10th ult.;
it reached me today.
I am aware of the great exertions that were made
in 1824 by falsehood and calumny to prejudice me
in the estimation of the public; & now that they can
call to their aid the connivance of pamphlets and
newspapers circulated by the panders of power,
it is to be expected that I shall be assailed
in every section of the Union.
But truth is mighty & shall prevail.
Intrigue & management incapable of blindfolding the
virtuous yeomanry of my country, will fail of their ends;
nor can they impose any other task on me than
that of defending myself against their imputations
whenever the authors choose to unmask themselves
a task which I am always ready to perform.
It was thus when a committee of Congress undertook
to defame me, that I stepped forward and exposed
their falsehoods, lest the sanction of a report from so
conspicuous a body might go down to posterity for truth.
The case you allude to might as well be ascribed to
the President of the United States as commander in chief
of the land & naval force, as to me; but you ask for a
statement of the facts; I send them in a concise form.
In the year 1814 Col. Pipkin at the head of his Drafted Militia
was charged with the defense of Fort Jackson in the heart
of the Creek nation & within my Military District.
While thus in command, part of his Regiment mutinied;
at the head of this mutiny was a Mr. Harris,
preacher, but as my memory now serves me,
of the Baptist profession.
He broke open the commissary stores knocked out
the heads of the flower barrels, taking what he wanted,
and destroying what he pleased—proceeded then to
the Bake house and set it on fire and marched off
in open defiance of the Col., leaving the garrison
without provisions and so weakened by desertion,
that it might have fallen a sacrifice to the Indians.
I was then at Mobile, informed of this mutiny and
outrage by express; I ordered the mutineers & deserters
to be pursued, apprehended & brought back for trial.
The Ringleaders, Harris at their head, after some time
were apprehended & brought to Mobile in irons, after
I had left there for New Orleans & had charged General
Winchester with the command of that Section of Country.
They were tried by a court-martial & condemned to die;
five were shot, and the balance pardoned.
The others who had deserted, before they reached home,
became alarmed at their situation, returned before Harris
& his party were arrested, joined me, & were forgiven—
were with me when I marched to Pensacola in 1814,
followed me thence to New Orleans where they
regained their former good character by their valorous
& soldierly conduct and were honorably discharged.
These proceedings are on file in the Department of War,
where those who wish for truth can be informed
by applying to the record of the proceedings.
It is for the public to Judge whether this professed
ambassador of Christ did not well deserve death
for the crimes of Robbery & arson, & this outrageous
mutiny which jeopardized not only the remainder
of the garrison from its exposed situation,
but the safety of our country—and whether this wolf
in sheep’s clothing was not fit subject for example.
Harris when condemned to die, wrote to me on this subject,
acknowledged the Justice of his condemnation, & stated
he had no hope of a pardon here; but that he had of
forgiveness hereafter which I trust he obtained through the
mediation of our blessed Savior, and a sincere repentance
for his crimes that brought on him this condemnation.
Let it be recollected that this mutiny occurred at a period
when every nerve of our country was strained to protect it
from the invasion of an overwhelming British force, whose
agents were then engaged in stirring up the Creeks to the
indiscriminate murder of our defenseless border citizens.
These are the facts of this case for your information.21
Jackson from his Hermitage on 5 September 1826
wrote this letter to Richard Keith Call:
I have been visited by Col. White your Delegate from
Florida—in the course of his stay, I introduced the subject
of your & his quarrel—he spoke of it with regret, & in such
a manner as induced me to believe, that there must be
misconceptions and busybodies at the bottom of it.
I know not the state of your feelings, or how far this quarrel
has gone between you, but as a friend I have barely to say
to you, that from the propriety of his declarations to me on
this subject; should you conceive your situation such as to
make it necessary that you should make a call upon him—
let that call be such as will leave open a door for
explanation; this I think is due to yourself; it is due to him;
it is due to a magnanimous course; and I am sure you
would not suspect me of recommending to you any other.
The Col. has said to me if called upon, if he cannot
satisfactorily explain, he will make honorable atonement—
then surely he ought to be given an opportunity
to explain before the door to the restoration
of honorable friendship be closed.
I have no doubt from what he states, that many things
have been stated to you, of injurious expressions &
conduct of his respecting you, which he declares is entirely
groundless & false—hence then the propriety in you,
in opening a door for fair & honorable explanation between
you, before any harsh measures should be adopted.
You have both families that cannot well do
without you, hence the propriety of not wantonly
risking your lives, if the dispute can be honorably
adjusted without that risk or sacrifice.
But you know what has been my course.
If an injury is inflicted, if on a fair & honorable course
& investigation satisfactory explanations are not made,
and the injury repaired—then it is due to oneself;
it is due to his family that Justice should be done,
& slander & injury repelled at all hazards & consequences.
In this dispute then, let not the door be closed against
Col. White to honorable explanation, & I have but little doubt
your & his dispute will be honorably & amicably adjusted,
which must be pleasing to all your real friends.
I wrote you on yesterday in answer to your letter
of the 26th of July, and this letter is written at the request
of several of your real friends, General Houston, Mr. Curry
& Col. Bell who has a great desire that the misunderstanding
between you and Col. White should be accommodated
on honorable terms without bloodshed.
I write by the same mail to Col. Butler,
that carries this to you—I wish you to see him.
Col. White goes to Pensacola, and from thence will
pass to Tallahassee and to St. Augustine to the city.
General Houston is now engaged in unpleasant business
with some of his enemies at Nashville, but I trust will come
out with flying colors; he has taken a course if he pursues,
will put down his enemies in a few days; the results
will be known when I will communicate it to you.22
On 23 October 1826 Jackson from his Hermitage
wrote this letter to Samuel Houston:
You are aware that I never paid any attention
to the slanders or falsehoods propagated against
me by the hired minions of the Government.
But when members of the cabinet become the assailants,
the respectable stations which they occupy,
forbid the idea that their animadversion will be
attributed to the same corrupt source, and it then
becomes necessary for the individual who may be the
subject of it, to notice the cause, and as far as possible
prevent the injury designed to be produced by it.
This observation is prompted by some information
recently conveyed to me through a very respectable
channel, from which it appears that the Secretary
of the Navy has been instrumental to the circulation
of a fabrication calculated to give a wound to my
character; and as I have hazarded much to acquire
and maintain this character however humble it may be,
I am unwilling that it should now be assailed by
authority so high, without some inquiry into the cause.
The facts are these, as given by my informant,
who derives his information from my friend Doctor
John H. Wallace of Fredericksburg, Virginia: that at a
public dinner given to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy.
“Mr. Southard, while at table remarked to
Col. Gray of Fredericksburg, did you ever learn
that General Jackson on one occasion left the army
and was returning home without leave or orders,
when Mr. Monroe, then Secretary of War, sent him a
peremptory order, and compelled him to return; and that
owing to this circumstance New Orleans was saved?”
“No (replied Col. Gray) where can that fact be had?
It would be of importance to us if we could get hold of it.”
Mr. Southard said, “I do not know,
but such I am told is the fact.”
This I pronounce a positive falsehood: no circumstance
like it has ever occurred; so far from it, that from the
beginning to the end of the last war, when I had a camp,
I never slept one night out of it; and I therefore request
you to call upon Mr. Southard and demand of him in my
name in writing, from whom he obtained this information
so prejudicial to truth and to my character, as I am
determined to put a stop to this system of falsehood
contrived and circulated for effect, whenever I can
trace it to the Department of the Executive Government.
You will please communicate the answer of
Mr. Southard to me, so soon as you have the
interview with him, which I hope will be
as soon as you reach the city of Washington.
Make a copy of this and preserve it, presenting
the original to Mr. Southard; say to him from me,
that from the high & honorable station he fills
I expect a prompt and categorical answer from him.23
On November 21 Jackson wrote in a letter to Richard Keith Call:
Be assured, my Dear Call,
I know human nature pretty well.
My course ever has been to show confidence in all men,
repose it in none until I find from
experience they are worthy of it.
Hence I have seldom been deceived by misplaced
confidence, and when I found men mere politicians bending
to the popular breeze, and changing with it for the sake of
self-popularity, I have ever shunned them, believing that
such was unworthy of my confidence, but still I treat them
with politeness & hospitality when they call upon me.
From these my general rule, you may be sure
I am not often imposed upon by political men.
Before this reaches you, you will have heard of
Houston’s duel & Eaton’s re-election without opposition.
The faction in this State is buried, and harmony
pervades the whole, and the Executive influence
cannot revive it—we will have peace & harmony.
I shall expect the promised account of the adjustment
of your difference with Col. White—while I know you
too well and have great confidence in your friends
Butler & Ramage, to whom present me; still I have
a desire to hear how it has been adjusted knowing before
I receive the details that it has been honorably done.
You know your character is dear to me.24
On 7 February 1827 Jackson from his Hermitage wrote a 7-page letter
to Hugh L. White in which he discussed President James Monroe.
Then Jackson in six pages explained his own behavior
during 1814 and in early 1815 at New Orleans.
Here is the entire letter:
I have Just received your letter of
the 17th ult and hasten to answer it.
I had before its receipt seen and read
your address to the assembly who were
celebrating the 8th of January last in the city.
Feeling the obligation I was under for your kindness
in representing me at that festive board, I had
requested my friend Major Eaton to present you with
my grateful thanks for your kindness on that occasion.
I can assure you, I was not prepared to hear that anything
you had said, would have given offense to Mr. Monroe,
for however much he might have thought that my services
had been overrated by you, still he had often seen himself
eulogized for aid afforded in the defense of the lower
country which had never been given, without anything
said by me, and without giving me any heart burnings.
Mr. Monroe has often heard through the public presses
as much praise ascribed to me for the defense of the
lower country as had been spoken by you; and why was
he silent then and offended now, he ought to be silent,
for he does know that orders Issued by the Secretary
of War were withheld from me, altogether important for
the defense of the lower country, and that I was entirely
destitute of funds, but what I procured at my own
responsibility late in October 1814 that enabled me to march
on Pensacola and dislodge the British and Indians, and he
does know, that the proper means of defense was neglected
to have been furnished me; I was only prevented from
making a full expose of the destitute state of the means
of defense in which that section of country was left by the
government, and that it was only preserved by the kindness
of an overruling providence, and the vigilance and great
exertions made by those engaged in its defense.
But upon cool reflection and the advice of a sage,
I forbore, recollecting that it might detract from the
national character, that it was my pride and boast to exalt.
I cannot therefore believe, that Mr. Monroe will appear
before the public, unless indeed he has been under the rose,
aiding the coalition to destroy by force, and inducing the
Secretary of the Navy at public dinners, to pronounce that
he Mr. Monroe is entitled to all the credit of the defense
of New Orleans, and while I was arrested in my desertion
from the army by Mr. Monroe’s energetic order.
Should I find Mr. Monroe engaged in such a course,
which I hope I never shall, I will unrobe his hypocrisy
and strip him of much of his borrowed plumage.
Although I have had many warnings of his duplicity,
still I cannot believe that he has hitched himself
to the car of the coalition.
If he has, I will not only furnish you with the means for
your defense, but will lay all facts before the nation, who
will then Judge the administration by its acts and determine
how far the military skill, its orders, and means furnished
for defense of the lower country by the government,
merit applause or censure—for it is certainly true that
the lower country was left without the proper means of
defense although timely notice was had by our government
to have furnished them, if proper vigilance had been used.
Whether blame was to be ascribed to the Department
of War, or to its subordinates, is for them to settle among
themselves, I will detail a few facts, and you can Judge
how far you have done injustice to the then administration,
and how far Mr. Monroe has Just ground of complaint, and I
refer you to Mr. Edward Livingston who was an active agent
with me in the defense of New Orleans, who will Testify to
the total want of means furnished by the government.
Now to the facts.
In the month of June 1814 I transmitted to the Secretary
of War documents sent to me by express informing that
the British force was at Pensacola in full command of the
Town and was organizing and disciplining the hostile Indians
and furnishing them with supplies, and exciting them to war
on our frontier borders, and requesting the Secretary of War
to furnish me with the necessary orders on the fact
found as stated to be true, to march and expel them.
It appears, that the then Secretary of War General
Armstrong on the 18th of July 1814 issued a
discretionary order authorizing me, if the British were
in Pensacola etc. etc., to enter and expel them, as we
had a right to do on the broad principles of self defense.
This order never reached me until after peace was declared,
although I have been informed by a friend, to whom
General Parker, then adjutant General and Inspector
said that he had put this letter himself in the post office
and on the next day had seen it on the table
of Mr. Monroe then Secretary of State.
See Major Eaton on this subject.
After sending the Secretary of War the forgoing
documents, being on my way to receive the submission
of the Hostile Creeks at Fort Jackson agreeable to the
orders of the government, I dispatched my faithful spy
Captain John Gordon to Pensacola who returned and
reported to me at Fort Jackson on the 10th of August.
On that day I wrote to the Secretary of War, that from the
report of my confidential agent to Pensacola, that it was true
that the British were in complete possession of Pensacola,
their flag flying on the Spanish forts, and the Indians
armed and uniformed by them, and all in
readiness to make an attack upon us.
This was acknowledged to have been received
by Mr. Monroe, then Secretary of War, of date
7th of September, no order to expel the enemy,
who was concentrating all their force there to invade us,
or quarter masters stores, or funds to procure them,
to enable me to operate and destroy them before
their reinforcements daily expected Joined them.
On the 27th of August I received confidentially,
information on which I relied, of the sailing from Plymouth,
and the concentration of a very formidable force
by Great Britain to invade Mobile and New Orleans.
This required every exertion in my power and the
governments, to meet the approaching crisis,
and if possible strike the enemy at Pensacola and
destroy or expel him before reinforcements arrived.
I immediately dispatched by express to the Secretary
of War the information received, made requisitions on the
governors of Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana for all the
Troops I was then authorized to call for by the government
viz, from Tennessee 2500 infantry, Mississippi 500, and
Louisiana 1000, and wrote to Governor Shelby and appealed
to his patriotism for aid in this trying emergency—and on
my own responsibility, fifty thousand dollars to enable me
to commence operations and to expel the enemy from
Pensacola before the expected reinforcements arrived,
which was necessary to be done before I could leave
that section of my command and repair to New Orleans.
I had given the necessary orders to Col. McCrea and
Governor Claiborne to have New Orleans placed in the
best state of defense the means in their reach would permit.
General Coffee reached me on the 28th of October
preceded by Col. Butler and quartermaster Thomas Camp
with $25,000 procured from the Nashville Bank.
This enabled me to commence operations.
I marched for Pensacola and stormed it on the morning
of the 7th of November 1814 and on the 14 of November
made report of this operation to the Secretary of War.
Note, it was General Coffee’s corps, brought into the field
on my own responsibility and the aid of friends,
that enabled me by this movement to clear the
left flank of my district from the enemy and enabled
me to move with General Coffee’s Brigade on the
22nd of November for New Orleans ordering the
General to Baton Rouge there to remain for orders.
With this Brigade, the regulars about 500 strong,
faced the uniformed Battalions of ….
General Coffee by a forced march of one hundred
and twenty miles in two days reached me
in time to fight the enemy on his center.
I would like to be informed what great agency the General
government placed in the hands of Governor Blount,
one hundred thousand dollars in Treasury notes which
enabled him to move the last requisition from Tennessee,
who by a providential act, the rise of the water and the
great exertions of the officers who led them reached me
at a happy moment to repel the enemy, but would have
been entirely destitute of arms had it not been that
General Carroll falling in with a boat of arms, placed
under a guard, and compelled it on, gave his division
and General Coffee’s brigade a small supply.
Note—General Coffee’s men were armed,
but the weather wet and no tents, they became
very rusty and damp the springs of the locks broke.
I had written to the Secretary of War on the 5th and 8th
of September 1814 that the British with their allies were
preparing to attack and begging him for orders to expel
them—still silent—I wrote him again on the 17th of
September, informing him of the combined attack
by sea and land of Fort Bowyer by the British and Indian
force, and of their repulse and retreat to Pensacola,
and of my intention so soon as I had a force competent
that I would strike the enemy in his hold at Pensacola.
The Secretary of War had written me on 27th of August—
receipt of mine of August 23rd, 24, 25th and 27th August—
still no orders to attack the British in Pensacola.
I send you a copy of this letter, that you may be able
to contrast it with his letter of the 16th of December,
and his orders of the 7th to General Gaines and the General
report of the 4th of February 1815—hereafter noted.
You will discover, that I was daily bringing to the view of
the government the necessity of expelling the enemy from
Pensacola and thereby give security to this District,
before which, I could not proceed to New Orleans,
which in all my letters on that head I kept the Secretary
advised, that and that alone was my object and the
moment it could be effected, I would with the Volunteers
of General Coffee repair to cover and defend New Orleans.
Let it be remembered, that the requisition from
Tennessee were infantry, they were ordered to Mobile;
they were mostly from the defense of that section
until the British were beaten from our border,
or until the East Tennessee troops and those
afterwards ordered for its defense had arrived.
Had I left that section of the country before I had expelled
the enemy from Pensacola, our frontier borders would have
been deluged with blood, Fort Bowyer taken, Mobile and
our whole country overrun by the British and Indians and
a lodgment made on the Mississippi at the Chickasaw Bluff,
the supplies for the lower country, from the upper
entirely cut off, and the lower country—
Information the Governor had received that Louisiana was
to be attacked through Mobile, such was my information,
and such my anxiety to receive orders to that effect,
but seeing that the Salvation of my country depended
upon this movement, I was determined under every
responsibility to make it expel the enemy from Pensacola
before their reinforcement arrived and cut off all supplies.
This I did and preserved New Orleans and Mobile both.
I ask what aid did the Government give me in this
movement—let us see, I have said before that I had
received the first and only funds on the
22nd of October and on the 7th of November.
I entered and reduced Pensacola, and no military man
I am sure will say but this movement was the only
movement to preserve my country and to enable
me to repair to defend and cover New Orleans.
Mr. Monroe writes me on the 7th of December, that he has
received mine of the 23 and 31 of October, and hopes, that
his of 21st of October had reached me in time to prevent
me from marching on Pensacola, and if I had to deliver it,
saying I had only entered it to free it from British violation.
Read the letter referred to, and you will see he was
altogether for negotiation with Spain and the order
Issued by Secretary Armstrong still withheld from me.
I send you a copy of this letter
for your perusal and information.
I will barely remark, he is a military man from
the information I had given him could not suppose,
that I charged with the defense of the lower
Mississippi, if I knew anything of military matters,
would or could leave that section of country
while the British were organizing and concentrating
their force to invade Louisiana through Mobile?
A military man, retired from the point the enemy was
concentrating to invade, leave him unmolested in his
preparation, retired to another section of country
where the enemy had not appeared and leave the
enemy an open march to the banks of the Mississippi
where with the overwhelming force of the enemy
he could have cut off all supplies from the country,
and all below must have surrendered at discretion.
I did not pursue this course.
I had a careful eye over New Orleans intending to
anticipate him so soon as he unmasks this to be his view.
Therefore as soon as I had expelled the British from
Pensacola, I set out for and reached New Orleans on the
first day of December 1814, having separated from
General Coffee, ordering him to Baton Rouge,
myself taking a reconnaissance of the Gulf and lakes
to see whether an enemy could land and penetrate to
the rear and to the river above New Orleans, and to give
orders for stock of all kind to be removed from coast into
the interior to be put beyond the supply of the enemy.
My first object of inquiry on reaching New Orleans was
to see and examine into the state of the arsenal and to
my great surprise and mortification found it destitute of
every means of formidable defense—no field artillery in
readiness for the field but two Twelve pounders one
9 inch Howitzer two 6 lbs, and not one piece of Battering
Cannon on carriages, and none of any kind of coarse
caliber but what belonged to the Navy—no spades or
intrenching tools, no arms but what were already in the
hands of the militia fit for service, and no flints, and but
few musket cartridges, and fixed ammunition and but
25 artillerists in the arsenal, and these 25 the only artillerists
that we had to work our batteries before the enemy.
All these defenses were to be made and
procured somehow, and our cannon of large
cannon procured from the Navy, and mounted.
These belonged to the blockship on her stocks
at or near Madison and brought across the bay.
Thus situated, I was looking up the river for arms and
ordinance and ordinance stores, requisitions having been
made as early as September 1814, and acknowledged to
have been received, and that the requisition should be filled.
When the steamboat from Pittsburg arrived, and reported
no arms, ordinance or ordinance stores on the way,
that a proposition had been made by the Supercargo to
bring the arm and stores for 75/100 percent, and obligate
himself to deliver them to me at New Orleans in 18 days.
This offer was rejected by the Captain of Ordinance at
Pittsburgh and the arms freighted by a Mr. Maples, who
it appeared was a kind of merchant Peddler, at 50/100
percent with privilege to barter his goods on the way
for wheat, etc. etc. and it did appear before the
Court Martial before whom he was brought, that he
had stopped at Louisville, and had a cargo of wheat
ground into flour—and producing his articles entered
into with the Captain of Ordinance at Pittsburgh
Mr. Maples was acquitted, these proceeding sent to
the Dept. of War with a request from me that the
agent should be arrested and punished for this conduct.
This was not done—see my letter and proceedings
of court-martial in the war office at the city.
It is believed, I write from memory, that
Captain Woolly of ordinance, instead of being
punished was retained in the service at the
reduction of the army on the peace establishment.
Then situated without arms or flints and the enemy
on our borders, it was made known to me that the
Baratarians, on promise of pardon, on evidence of
good conduct, would submit, and furnish us
with all the arms and flints in their possession.
I readily gave my assent to this proposition and
through my volunteer aid Mr. Edward Livingston the
arrangement was effected, and I procured from them
7500 flints for pistols and boarding pieces, which was
solely the supply of flints for all my militia, and if it had not
been for this providential aid the country must have fallen.
I refer you to Mr. E. Livingston of the House of
Representatives for a detailed information on this and all
other circumstances relative to the defense of New Orleans.
I ask again, why has, or how can your address have
raised the ire of Mr. Monroe, when we find a country as
important as New Orleans is, and its importance adverted
to in his letter of 10th of December to me—
left so exposed and destitute of the means of Defense.
If these facts and circumstances do not Justify,
they ought to excuse your expression as it respects myself.
I ask where is there one solitary act done by
the Secretary of War to his agents to send on
arms and other munitions of War for the militia.
Where the punishment afflicted upon the subordinate for
disobedience of the orders of the Dept. for not forwarding
on supplies agreeable to requisitions and when Mr. Monroe
was informed, as he was, that militia from Tennessee
could be got, but there were not arms to put into their hand.
See copy of Major Lewis certificate enclosed.
I hold it a duty of all superiors in military operations,
not only to give orders, but to know that their orders
are carried into effect, and particularly when an
important section of our country was invaded
with such an overwhelming force.
It may be well asked if I did not create the
means of defense from whence did it come—
was it furnished by the War Dept., no— or by whom
besides me and my officers who were with me.
I not only created the most of the means of defense
of the lower country, but at my own responsibility the
means to get those brave men home again who had
so nobly aided me in its defense, I had to make
arrangements with the Banks on my own responsibility
for fifty thousand dollars to get the Troops home.
I drew bills on government, being so authorized,
my bills were protested and sent back—the first
and only bills of mine ever protested, these bills
were afterwards taken up by the Government.
I cannot close this long narrative without stating,
that from the time I left Mobile, I never received a
communication from the Government until the 18th
of February 1815 a Duplicate of Mr. Monroe’s letter
to me of the 10th of December 1814 from the tenor of
these letters the time of receipt being marked by express.
I enclose copies for your information as well as my answer
on the moment of its receipt on the 18th of February 1815.
I also enclose you a copy of the Secretary of War’s order
to General Gaines of 7th December 1814 and the
General’s report to me the 4th of February 1815.
I wish you to compare these carefully, particularly
that part of General Gaines’ report when he says he had
solicited indulgence to spend three weeks in Tennessee,
but meeting the newspaper as the mouth of Cumberland etc.
etc. etc. he hastened etc. etc. to me—and see whether you
can draw any other conclusion but both the order to General
Gaines, and Mr. Monroe’s dispatch to me of December 10th
1814 were Issued for the purpose of having in the war office
on file, believing for the want of the proper means of
Defense, New Orleans had fallen and myself with it.
I add Major Lewis Certificate, which leaves no room for
Mr. Monroe to get out of the dilemma of either himself
or his Subordinate neglecting their duty, one of whom
if Orleans had fallen ought to have suffered death for
this shear, and I might add criminal neglect, leaving such
a place as Orleans so destitute of the means of defense.
I just add a copy of Captain Woolly’s letter of the
18th of January 1815, and he says the supply
sent is without order or requisition.
Let it not be forgot that a requisition had been made
in September 1814 and receipt acknowledged.
This letter speaks Volumes that the Government
believed I was gone, and the supplies if sent would
fall into the hands of the enemy, but I beg you
to examine the supplies, I had required 32 lb and 24 ds,
he sent 6 prs and fixed ammunition for 4 ds.
One other fact, and I close, that my men for the want of
Shot-pouches or cartridge-boxes had to tie a string around
their middle and carry their cartridges in their bosoms.
I have stated a few facts; you can Judge how much
penance you owe to the administration of that day for the
injury Mr. Monroe complains of—should Mr. Monroe come
out, and really for his sake, I wish him to keep silent,
when I see the ground that he assumes; there are
still facts if necessary to sustain what you have said.
Still I hope he will have prudence to be silent.
It may be that he assumes the stand taken in terrors
to shield Mr. Southard from the delicate situation in
which he has placed himself by a public declaration
at Fredericksburg, Virginia; I hope and trust he
cannot be the author of Mr. Secretary Southard’s
declarations, which I have stated [are] positively untrue.
If he is, notwithstanding the regret I will ever feel to find
Mr. Monroe acting hypocritically, or giving out intimations
unfounded and untrue to effect my character under the
auspices of sincere and professed friendship,
he cannot, he must not expect me to be silent.
On the receipt of this I wish you to converse with
Mr. E. Livingston who can vouch for the want of every
means of proper defense when I came to New Orleans.25
On 5 May 1827 Jackson wrote this short letter to Major William B. Lewis:
When General Houston was here, he informed me
that you had received a letter from Doctor Wallace
on the subject of Mr. Secretary Southard’s declarations
at Mr. Willford’s Fredericksburg, Virginia.
I would like to know its contents before I forward
to the Doctor the correspondence between
myself and Mr. Southard on this subject.
I should have been down this week to have seen you,
but had no horse without stopping a plow,
my riding horse being absent on a journey.
Another reason I do not wish to be seen mingling
with the members of the Committee now.
I hear Major Eaton is on his way home;
this I am glad of; I wish to see him.26
Jackson from his Hermitage on September 4 wrote this letter to Amos Kendall:
Your letter of the 27th ult. enclosing me an invitation
from the committee of arrangement on a public dinner
to be given by my friends in the vicinity of Frankfort
on the 20th instant, was received yesterday;
& as requested, I hasten to answer it.
It is with regret I am compelled to inform you,
that from circumstances which at present surround me,
& over which I have no control, I am deprived
the pleasure of participating with you in this festival.
I regret this the more, as it is the anniversary of
Perry’s glorious victory on Lake Erie, & which led
to the subsequent triumph of our arms on the Thames,
principally achieved by the bravery of the Kentucky
Troops & their gallant & experienced commanders.
On this occasion, though absent, my heart will be with you.
I received your letter sent under cover to my young
friend Samuel J. Hays, for which I thank you.
It is received in the confidence in which
it was written & shall be so preserved.
It is a valuable key, & should Mr. Clay place himself
before a tribunal with power fully to investigate,
must lead to the development of new & additional matter.
I have seen Mr. Buchanan address, it is such
a production as surely, I had not a right to expect
from him; but we live in days of wonder.
Mr. B’s situation though was a delicate one.
It would be now only necessary for me to publish
Major Eaton’s statement & Mr. Kreamers,
contrast them with his, & it would appear
that his recollection had materially failed him.
Surely no one could believe that Mr. B would
go to my friends, make statements to them
to communicate to me, and when they had refused,
come to me himself, then make a different one;
and that I should understand the statement made to me,
as my friends did, that which was made to them.
And could it be, that Mr. B would approach me
so guarded & cautiously barely with a view
to make the inquiry, whether the rumor abroad
was correct, that I had said if elected,
I would appoint Mr. Adams secretary of state.
This was a question that might have been asked
by anyone without delicacy, and which
I would anywhere have promptly answered.
This however is a subject of much delicacy,
& is one upon which I will deliberate fully before I act.
Among all the scenes of intrigue, management, & slander,
with which I have been and am still surrounded, my great
consolation is, that I receive the protection & maintain the
confidence of the virtuous intelligent citizens of my country.
Accept assurances of my high respect.27
On 1 March 1828 the United States’ Telegraph Extra
began publishing in Washington and backed Jackson.
Andrew Jackson’s adopted son Lyncoya Jackson died of tuberculosis on 1 June 1828.
His Creek parents had been killed in the Battle of Tallushatchee on 3 November 1813.
Jackson adopted the orphan baby and raised him as a member of his family.
Jackson made sure that Lyncoya and his other adopted son
Andrew Jackson Junior were educated, and both became writers.
On 24 June 1828 Jackson from his Hermitage wrote this letter to John Branch:
Your letter of the 23rd ult. I have received and
hope this will find you at home amidst the sweet
embraces of your amiable family, relaxed from the
turmoil of political strife with which you have been
surrounded during a protracted session of six months.
I feel well assured that nothing could be more painful
to you, and every member of your body, whose
paramount object is the public good, than to witness
those scenes which are produced by the influence of
executive patronage, operating upon the unprincipled
aspirant for office, who would rather excite the angry
passions than harmonize for the common good, by a
strict adherence to the principles of virtue, honor & Justice.
But my Dear Sir, do not yet despair of the republic.
I trust there is sufficient virtue in a great majority of the
American people, to check the present system of corruption,
time in a great majority of the American people, to check
the present system of corruption, in endeavoring to effect
everything by intrigue, slander & management; and I shall
live to see the day, when virtue shall resume its former
umpire in the counsels of the nation; when the public good
will be the sole end & aim of the Legislature of the Union.
When our national character will no longer be stained
by charges against an itinerant cabinet travelling
through our country, circulating forgeries & calumnies
against individuals; appropriating money out of the
contingent fund for printing pamphlets containing the
most infamous slanders against female reputation;
and to close the scene, members of Congress prostituting
their franking privilege in circulating those slanders.
Virtue, I trust, will once more arise from her lethargy
& dispel those corruptions with all the train of ills;
when the happy genius of a Washington & a
Jefferson will again preside over our destiny.
When the Constitution will be so amended as to preserve
to the people their rightful sovereignty & restore in practice
the proper checks & balances; when the public debt will
be paid, and the executive department of our government
freed from the corrupting influence of a monied aristocracy;
When Congress will legislate with an eye single
to the public weal, and limit by special acts all
appropriations and compel every officer in the
government annually to account to Congress how
the funds entrusted to his care have been applied.
Then, and not until then, will our national
character be freed from the charges of
corruption which is now imputed to it.
Keep our officers free from temptation,
& they will be honest.
My health is good.28
On 4 July 1828 John Henry Eaton gave Jackson a copy of the third edition
of his biography, The Life of Major General Andrew Jackson, which
had been first published in 1817 and was revised for the elections in 1824 and 1828.
Other books and some articles in periodicals criticized Andrew Jackson for various things
such as his duels, early support for Aaron Burr, his slave trading, and his military career
On 5 August 1828 Jackson wrote this letter to William Berkeley Lewis:
Yours of yesterday was received, read,
& disposed of as requested.
The case of the negro boy is as follows:
Rawlings and Bradford had purchased a large quantity
of goods from Jackson & Hutchings in 1823 & 1824.
They had failed in their payments and in the year
1826 in closing the account, and being unable,
as Dr. Rawlings said, to do it in cash,
he proposed to give in part a negro boy.
The negro boy was received & that account
with Rawlings & Bradford closed.
This negro boy was kept at the Clover Bottom at our store.
Col. Anderson, as I was informed by him, Coffee &
Hutchings, for I was not present—had made a race
with Captain Ross for a considerable amount,
when they were about to put up the stakes which
was to be in cash or negroes as I understood.
Anderson was deficient in his stake; Captain John Caffery
having sent his negro boy to the store for some articles,
Anderson took & staked up the boy on the race.
Anderson lost it—Caffery’s boy not returning home
as expected, the Captain went after him,
found his boy & ordered him home.
Captain Ross urged Anderson to pay up the value
of the boy or produce another, and Anderson applied
for the boy Bought of Dr. Rawlings, & he was loaned to him;
he was to return the boy or pay a stipulated price for him—
some time afterward, the sore on the boy’s leg broke out,
& Captain Ross returned the boy to Anderson,
& he sold him, as I understood to Deaderick & Pettyway,
& Mr. Pettyway took him down the river & perhaps
sold him, but his leg growing worse Pettyway was
obliged to take him back, brought him up & delivered
him to Anderson, who took him to Doctor Ward instead
of tendering him to Dr. Rawlings, where the boy died.
You have a knowledge of the balance; Anderson was
largely indebted to me individually, and the night before
I descended the river with my Volunteers in January 1813,
we came to a settlement, when Anderson insisted that
Jackson & Hutchings should permit him to bring Suit in
their name against Rawlings on the warranty of this boy—
which I agreed he might do, if he would give in writing
that he would exonerate Jackson & Hutchings from all costs.
Anderson did so in your presence—
the suit being alone for his benefit.
I cannot lay my hand on this paper,
but you must recollect perfectly the circumstance.
Anderson Brought Suit, and as I was advised,
was lost on the ground that he ought to have
tendered the boy to Rawlings & not delivered him to Ward,
who swore that his death was not caused by the sore leg,
but from disease engendered in the lower country.
Anderson from his written obligation was to pay all costs,
& I had some difficulty with him about the costs & had
written a bill in chancery praying an injunction he plead
poverty but acknowledged the debt when demanded him the
same money, the amount not recollected, to pay the cost.
Take Pettyway statement in writing.29
In the fall elections the results of the popular voting
and the electoral votes were announced on December 3.
Jackson got 647,231 popular votes and 178 electoral votes.
President John Quincy Adams received 509,097 popular votes and 83 electoral votes.
The next day the Congress informed Andrew Jackson that he had been elected President.
The number of men voting in 1828 was more than three times
as many as those who had voted in 1824.
John C. Calhoun had been elected Vice President in 1824 and was re-elected in 1828.
He wrote his “South Carolina Exposition” to explain his state rights principles
which became a committee report in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
Andrew Jackson’s wife Rachel died suddenly of a heart attack on 22 December 1828.
Notes
1. Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Volume III 1829-1832
ed. John Spencer Bassett, p. 272-273.
2. Ibid., p. 273
3. The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume V, 1821-1824
ed. Harold D. Moser et al., p. 14.
4. Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Volume III 1829-1832, p. 275-276.
5. The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume VI, 1821-1824, p. 28.
6. Ibid., p. 276.
7. Ibid., p. 277-278.
8. The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume VI, 1821-1824, p. 36-38.
9. Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Volume III 1820-1828, p. 278-280.
10. Ibid., p. 280-281.
11. Ibid., p. 283.
12. Ibid., p. 294-296.
13. The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume VI, 1821-1824, p. 141-142, 142-143.
14. Ibid., p. 155.
15. Ibid., p. 162, 163.
16. Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Volume III 1820-1828, p. 304-305.
17. The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume VI, 1821-1824, p. 190-191.
18. Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Volume III 1820-1828, p. 308.
19. Ibid., p. 308-309.
20. The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume VI, 1821-1824, p. 198-199.
21. Life of Andrew Jackson by James Parton, Volume III, p. 12.
22. The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume VI, 1821-1824, p. 201-202.
23. Ibid., p. 205-206.
24. Ibid., p. 228-229.
25. Ibid., p. 234.
26. Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Volume III 1820-1828, p. 334-341.
27. The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume VI, 1821-1824, p. 388.
28. Ibid., p. 473-474.
29. Ibid., p. 486-487.
Andrew Jackson to 1812
Andrew Jackson & Wars 1813-15
Andrew Jackson & Indian Wars 1816-20
Andrew Jackson 1821-24
Andrew Jackson 1825-28
President Jackson in 1829
President Jackson & Indians 1829-36
President Jackson in 1830
President Jackson in 1831
Jackson’s Veto & Banks in 1832
President Jackson in 1833
President Jackson in 1834
President Jackson in 1835
President Jackson in 1836
Andrew Jackson 1837-45
Andrew Jackson Summary & Evaluation
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