PREVIEW: Andrew Jackson: The Hero by Wendell Garrett

andrew jacks on the hero A Sele^ion of Documents

A N D R EW J AC KS O N THE HERO A Sele^ion of Documents wendell garrett

th o rn w i llo w p r e s s 2 011

ďŹ rst edition copyright Š 2011 wendell garrett

The texts of the documents printed here are all taken from the messages and papers of the presidents, 1789– 1897 James D. Richardson, ed.

10 volumes, Washington, D.C., 1900 Volumes 2 and 3 wendell garrett New York City

c o nt e nts Andrew Jackson: The Hero First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1829 The Majority Is To Govern, December 8, 1829 The Maysville Veto, May 27, 1830 The Second Bank Veto, July 10, 1832 The Removal of the Public Deposits, September 18, 1833 Protest to the Senate of the United States, April 15, 1834 Message on the Specie Circular, December 5, 1836

13 77 95 115 131 143 159 175

andrew jacks on: the hero

AN D R EW J ACKS ON : TH E H E RO

O

ve r th e pa st y ears an d rew j acks on has been portrayed

as the heir of Thomas Jefferson and the forerunner of

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and as the friend of labor, the common man, and the debtor. He has been credited with reformist impulses which in fa^ he never understood and for which he had little sympathy.

It has been demonstrated that Jackson’s support came in large measure from entrepreneurs and small farmers and, to a much less degree, from labor, and he himself had no understanding of the special problems confronting the new industrial labor or any sense of identity with the workingman. His assault on the Second Bank of the United States, indubitably an adroit political move, was hardly in the interest of debt-ridden farmers, but found its chief support from new business groups and rival bankers. The destru^ion of the Bank, o…en applauded as a deathblow to financial monopoly, had questionable results. It ended federal regulation of bank credit, but shi…ed the money center of the country from Chestnut Street to Wall Street.

In short, while few strong Presidents boast so little constru^ive legislation to their credit, Jackson had a sound instin^ for public opinion, and was a consummate politician. His most permanent influence was his conception of the President’s office and his enlargement of executive authority. The political issues between the major parties in the Age of Jackson cannot be neatly polarized. The major parts differed on many matters, but not on fundamentals. This should come as no surprise to those who are aware that European and American political parties in the first half of the nineteenth century pursued divergent paths. In Europe

15

16

17

18