Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil, and The Presidency

"I was born for a storm, and a calm does not suit me"

~ Andrew Jackson

By the time of his death, Andrew Jackson was one of the most popular Presidents of the United States. Only George Washington and Thomas Jefferson ranked higher then Jackson. He was admired by Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman.

Yet, he remains one of the most controversial Presidents that our country has had. During his lifetime he was both admired and despised. His friends were fiercely loyal and his enemies carried a strong hatred towards him.

His marriage to his wife Rachel was surrounded by controversy that would haunt the couple for the rest of their lives. When Jackson moved to Nashville Tennessee, he met a young woman named Rachel Donelson Robards. Rachel was married to a Lewis Robards of Kentucky and stuck in a loveless married. Jackson courted her, and with the blessing of Rachel's parents the two traveled to Natchez Mississippi, where they eloped.

When the two returned to Tennessee, Robards learned of the wedding, and filed for divorce in Kentucky. When the divorce was finalized, Jackson and Rachel were then re-married in a quiet ceremony in Tennessee.

Jackson's critics and enemies would accuse Rachel of committing adultery against her husband. This was a serious accusation during the 18th Century, one that basically condemned Rachel to being labeled a harlot. During Jackson's time, American women were legally the property of their husbands and it would have been impossible for Rachel to divorce Lewis on her own. The rumors and whispers about Rachel and Jackson would follow the couple for years. Jackson would fight several duels defending the honor of his Rachel.

Enjoy the Snow Day

Be safe and have fun tomorrow.

Make sure you have tonight's Lewis and Clark homework completed for Thursday.

Lewis and Clark

Thomas Jefferson asked fellow Virginian Merriwether Lewis to lead an exhibition to the Louisiana Territory. Lewis then asked his friend and fellow soldier William Clark to help lead the exhibition.

Their mission was both scientific and political. Jefferson wanted the group chart a water route to the Pacific Ocean. This would allow American merchants to trade with nations in Asia and increase American commerce. Jefferson also ordered the group to catalogue and chronicle the plant and animal life that they encountered on their journey. The men kept journals of the trip detailing the different species they had seen along the way as well as the climate of the land they journeyed through. These journals would become helpful for future American farmers that moved into the lands that Lewis and Clark explored.

On the political side of the trip, the men had a very important job. They represented the United States of America whenever they encountered Native American tribes. They were ambassadors for the U.S. As representatives of the U.S., they were ordered by the President to try and establish peaceful relationships with the tribes that they met. Jefferson also wanted the group to gather as much information on the tribes as possible. These facts would allow Americans to further their understandings of the different native groups in the American West.

Jefferson wrote various letters to Captain Lewis before he left for his journey. Tonight you are analyzing two of those letters, one written in June of 1803, and the other was written in January of 1804. He instructed the men on the following: how to behave towards the tribes, what to tell the tribes, and what to ask them.

Tonight for H.W.

1. define the following terms: endeavor, conciliatory, simultaneously, lament, and immense.

2. Read the letters Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis

3. Fill in the chart of Jefferson's instructions.

The Louisiana Purchase

Read pages 340-345 in the textbook.

Then Identify the following:

Napoleon, The Louisiana Purchase, William Clark, and Meriwether Lewis.

Then answer questions 1 and 2.

Enjoy the weekend

Textbook Reading on Slavery

Read pages 439-443. As you are reading answer the following questions.

1. Who were the “drivers” on a plantation?
2. What type of jobs could a slave have besides working out in the fields ? What were the pros and cons?
3. How could a slave with a skilled job earn freedom?
4. Give two examples of how the slave owners exerted control over the slaves.
5. What were slave codes?
6. What were folktales? Why were the important?
7. How did white ministers attempt to use religion as another means of controlling slaves?
8. How did the slaves use religion to inspire hope?
9. What are spirituals?
10. Who were Gabriel Prosser and Denmark Vessey?
11. Who was Nat Turner?
12. Some historians believe that Nat Turner knew that he would not be able to successfully escape the people who were out to punish him. If he remained in Virginia, he would be captured and placed on trial. If he managed to escape, there was a chance that he would be lynched by a white Southerner as retribution for the rebellion. A trial would ensure that he would have the opportunity to make a final statement. Do you agree with this theory? Why or Why not?

13. What was a result of Nat Turner’s Rebellion?
14. What were ways that slaves challenged the slave system?

Marronage

For homework tonight, read and markup the handout on marronage in the American South. When you are finished please answer the following questions.

1. What were Maroon Sociaties?

2. Where were they located?

3. List the options that an escaped slave had.

Petite Marronage

1. How would a slave know when to return to the plantation?

2. How could another plantation owner help a slave avoid being whipped?

3. How were short run-aways similar to strikes?

4. What was the common reason for a slave to leave the plantation for a short period of time?

Grand Marronage

1. Where did some slaves manage to escape? Why those locations?

2. Who were most often hired as slave hunters? What weapons did they use? Why?

3. What do escape attempts show about the odds of the success of a slave insurrection (rebellion)?

4. What Southern state became a hide away for runaway slaves? Why?

Welcome Back

Today in class we examined some of the 1833 Slave Codes of Alabama. These were a series of laws passed by the state legislature that governed the actions between whites, free blacks, and slaves of Alabama.

Tonight for h.w. read the Slave Code handout and choose three codes that you understand then do the following

1. Place the code in your own words

2. Explain what method of control the Slave Code used: Maintaining Strict Discipline, Requiring slaves to have complete submission, instilling total fear and dependence, or convincing slaves that they are inferior to whites.