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Andrew Jackson, Southerner
Many Americans view Andrew Jackson as a frontiersman who fought duels, killed Indians, and stole another man's wife. Historians have traditionally presented Jackson as a man who struggled to overcome the obstacles of his backwoods upbringing and helped create a more democratic United States. In his compelling new biography of Jackson, Mark R. Cheathem argues for a reassessment of these long-held views, suggesting that in fact "Old Hickory" lived as an elite southern gentleman.
Jackson grew up along the border between North Carolina and South Carolina, a district tied to Charleston, where the city's gentry engaged in the transatlantic marketplace. Jackson then moved to North Carolina, where he joined various political and kinship networks that provided him with entr�e into society. In fact, Cheathem contends, Jackson had already started to assume the characteristics of a southern gentleman by the time he arrived in Middle Tennessee in 1788.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson further ensconced himself in an exclusive social order by marrying the daughter of one of the city's cofounders, engaging in land speculation, and leading the state militia. Cheathem notes that through these ventures Jackson grew to own multiple plantations and cultivated them with the labor of almost two hundred slaves. His status also enabled him to build a military career focused on eradicating the nation's enemies, including Indians residing on land desired by white southerners. Jackson's military success eventually propelled him onto the national political stage in the 1820s, where he won two terms as president. Jackson's years as chief executive demonstrated the complexity of the expectations of elite white southern men, as he earned the approval of many white southerners by continuing to pursue Manifest Destiny and opposing the spread of abolitionism, yet earned their ire because of his efforts to fight nullification and the Second Bank of the United States.
By emphasizing Jackson's southern identity -- characterized by violence, honor, kinship, slavery, and Manifest Destiny -- Cheathem's narrative offers a bold new perspective on one of the nineteenth century's most renowned and controversial presidents.
Jackson grew up along the border between North Carolina and South Carolina, a district tied to Charleston, where the city's gentry engaged in the transatlantic marketplace. Jackson then moved to North Carolina, where he joined various political and kinship networks that provided him with entr�e into society. In fact, Cheathem contends, Jackson had already started to assume the characteristics of a southern gentleman by the time he arrived in Middle Tennessee in 1788.
After moving to Nashville, Jackson further ensconced himself in an exclusive social order by marrying the daughter of one of the city's cofounders, engaging in land speculation, and leading the state militia. Cheathem notes that through these ventures Jackson grew to own multiple plantations and cultivated them with the labor of almost two hundred slaves. His status also enabled him to build a military career focused on eradicating the nation's enemies, including Indians residing on land desired by white southerners. Jackson's military success eventually propelled him onto the national political stage in the 1820s, where he won two terms as president. Jackson's years as chief executive demonstrated the complexity of the expectations of elite white southern men, as he earned the approval of many white southerners by continuing to pursue Manifest Destiny and opposing the spread of abolitionism, yet earned their ire because of his efforts to fight nullification and the Second Bank of the United States.
By emphasizing Jackson's southern identity -- characterized by violence, honor, kinship, slavery, and Manifest Destiny -- Cheathem's narrative offers a bold new perspective on one of the nineteenth century's most renowned and controversial presidents.
328 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
Mark R. Cheathem
9 books23 followersI am a historian of 19th-c. U.S. presidential history.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 27, 2016
I remember as a child, General Jackson was a hero of mine because he won the battle of New Orleans. Over the years I had read many books about Jackson including Jon Meacham’s “American Lion” and began to view him as a far more complex person than my childhood images.
Cheatham’s new book “Andrew Jackson, Southerner” evaluates Jackson from a different viewpoint. After all any new book on Jackson would require the author to say something new. Jackson had been portrayed as a rugged frontier Indian fighter. Cheatham suggests that even before he moved from South Carolina to Nashville Tennessee he had become southern gentility. Cheatham condensed the earlier years of Jackson and spent more time on details on his life as a planter, slave broker and politician. He covers his treatment of the Native Americans as both a general and a president. As a general he killed them and as a president he took their land and relocated them to reservations in the Oklahoma territory.
The book is well written and meticulously researched. Cheatham culled the information to emphasize the point he was making. Jackson was more or less typical for his time and place. I keep reminding myself not to judge the past by our current values and viewpoint. Overall this is a worthwhile book to read and a look at a President from a different viewpoint from prior history books.
Trevor Thompson does a good job narratoring the book.
Cheatham’s new book “Andrew Jackson, Southerner” evaluates Jackson from a different viewpoint. After all any new book on Jackson would require the author to say something new. Jackson had been portrayed as a rugged frontier Indian fighter. Cheatham suggests that even before he moved from South Carolina to Nashville Tennessee he had become southern gentility. Cheatham condensed the earlier years of Jackson and spent more time on details on his life as a planter, slave broker and politician. He covers his treatment of the Native Americans as both a general and a president. As a general he killed them and as a president he took their land and relocated them to reservations in the Oklahoma territory.
The book is well written and meticulously researched. Cheatham culled the information to emphasize the point he was making. Jackson was more or less typical for his time and place. I keep reminding myself not to judge the past by our current values and viewpoint. Overall this is a worthwhile book to read and a look at a President from a different viewpoint from prior history books.
Trevor Thompson does a good job narratoring the book.
May 13, 2021
Was Andrew Jackson a Westerner or a Southerner? A wild frontiersman or a genteel Southern gentleman? It may not be something you've even thought about before, but Mark Cheathem has thought about it a great deal, and reading this thought-provoking book could make you consider the question as well.
As indicated by the book's title, Cheathem's argument is that Jackson was much more the model of an early nineteenth-century American Southerner than he's typically considered. Jackson was born and raised in the Carolinas but is most closely associated with his adopted home state of Tennessee. Because of this, and because of Jackson's fiery character and behavior, "most scholars describe Old Hickory as a westerner," Cheathem writes, even though Jackson "possessed all of the characteristics attributed to his western identity - his independence, violent temper, and hatred of Indians - before he arrived on the Tennessee frontier."
Jackson's most obvious Southern characteristic is his status as a plantation owner and slaveholder. But Cheathem also argues that Jackson's hunger for land, his propensity to defend his honor with duels, and his close kinship ties with family, friends and members of his professional network exemplify his Southern identity.
While I appreciated the argument and enjoyed the read, I must admit I didn't always agree with it. Jackson's support for expanded democracy and more political power to the common man seemed more along the lines of what you'd expect from a self-made man who made a name for himself out West, as opposed to an elite republican member of the old Southern gentry. What was essentially a common-law marriage with a woman who would not formally become Jackson's wife until later, is often described as relatively common "frontier behavior," where marriages were not always sanctified and no one really batted an eye - it's hard to picture a would-be Southern aristocrat modeling this behavior. And Jackson's infamous brawl with the Benton brothers outside a tavern in Nashville is a scene straight out of the Wild West.
Not to mention that Henry Clay shared many of Jackson's characteristics - a slaveholding plantation owner who was fond of dueling, who was also born in the South but made a name for himself out West - and there seems little debate over whether he was a true Westerner as opposed to a transplanted Southerner.
So is it important, in the end, to define Jackson as one or the other - a Westerner or a Southerner? I was raised in the North but have spent most of my adult life in the South, and I don't spend a lot of time pondering my Northernness or Southernness. I assume I'm an amalgam of two regional identities, just as Jackson was - after all, the frontier where Jackson resided was largely settled by Southerners, so it's no surprise that Jackson seemed to display characteristics of both regions.
At the very end of the book, though, Cheathem rounds out his thesis by stating that Jackson was not shaped by the frontier so much as he helped to shape it, by bringing his Southern identity to this blank slate of a region and helping to define it - which, really, was the most thought-provoking part of the book. When you consider that, at our nation's founding, "the South" was basically only Virginia, the Carolinas and the small part of Georgia that was actually populated, Southerners like Jackson who helped to settle the frontier, and expand its borders by expelling Indians, ultimately grew "the South" into something much more consequential.
Given all the scholarship of, and books written about, Andrew Jackson, it's hard to say something new about him - particularly in a book that clocks in at only about 200 pages. But in this case, Cheathem succeeds in telling a familiar story in a unique and engaging way that, even if you disagree with some of his conclusions, will still give you something to think about.
As indicated by the book's title, Cheathem's argument is that Jackson was much more the model of an early nineteenth-century American Southerner than he's typically considered. Jackson was born and raised in the Carolinas but is most closely associated with his adopted home state of Tennessee. Because of this, and because of Jackson's fiery character and behavior, "most scholars describe Old Hickory as a westerner," Cheathem writes, even though Jackson "possessed all of the characteristics attributed to his western identity - his independence, violent temper, and hatred of Indians - before he arrived on the Tennessee frontier."
Jackson's most obvious Southern characteristic is his status as a plantation owner and slaveholder. But Cheathem also argues that Jackson's hunger for land, his propensity to defend his honor with duels, and his close kinship ties with family, friends and members of his professional network exemplify his Southern identity.
While I appreciated the argument and enjoyed the read, I must admit I didn't always agree with it. Jackson's support for expanded democracy and more political power to the common man seemed more along the lines of what you'd expect from a self-made man who made a name for himself out West, as opposed to an elite republican member of the old Southern gentry. What was essentially a common-law marriage with a woman who would not formally become Jackson's wife until later, is often described as relatively common "frontier behavior," where marriages were not always sanctified and no one really batted an eye - it's hard to picture a would-be Southern aristocrat modeling this behavior. And Jackson's infamous brawl with the Benton brothers outside a tavern in Nashville is a scene straight out of the Wild West.
Not to mention that Henry Clay shared many of Jackson's characteristics - a slaveholding plantation owner who was fond of dueling, who was also born in the South but made a name for himself out West - and there seems little debate over whether he was a true Westerner as opposed to a transplanted Southerner.
So is it important, in the end, to define Jackson as one or the other - a Westerner or a Southerner? I was raised in the North but have spent most of my adult life in the South, and I don't spend a lot of time pondering my Northernness or Southernness. I assume I'm an amalgam of two regional identities, just as Jackson was - after all, the frontier where Jackson resided was largely settled by Southerners, so it's no surprise that Jackson seemed to display characteristics of both regions.
At the very end of the book, though, Cheathem rounds out his thesis by stating that Jackson was not shaped by the frontier so much as he helped to shape it, by bringing his Southern identity to this blank slate of a region and helping to define it - which, really, was the most thought-provoking part of the book. When you consider that, at our nation's founding, "the South" was basically only Virginia, the Carolinas and the small part of Georgia that was actually populated, Southerners like Jackson who helped to settle the frontier, and expand its borders by expelling Indians, ultimately grew "the South" into something much more consequential.
Given all the scholarship of, and books written about, Andrew Jackson, it's hard to say something new about him - particularly in a book that clocks in at only about 200 pages. But in this case, Cheathem succeeds in telling a familiar story in a unique and engaging way that, even if you disagree with some of his conclusions, will still give you something to think about.
January 6, 2021
Was Andrew Jackson a Westerner, pushing back the frontier, or was he a Southerner enculturated with its code of honor, relying on its “peculiar institution”? ”Andrew Jackson, Southerner” is author Mark R. Cheathem’s brief in support of Jackson’s place in the Southern milieu.
This tome is semi-biographical. It does chronicle facts of Jackson’s life but is selective in presenting those that support the Southern theory. Facts that might be contained in more strictly biographical works are either omitted or are used to support the author’s case rather than to tell the story of the subject’s life. Jackson’s hot temper and resort to duels are shown as a part of the Southern Code of Honor. Jackson’s pursuit of land and slaves was a road to Southern respectability. Support for Indian removal and destruction of the Bank of the United States are shown as regional cleavages in the body politic.
I found the distinction between the defenders of the Southern landowning aristocracy against blacks and low whites personified by John C. Calhoun and the spokesmen for all whites against blacks and Indians in the person of Jackson to delve deeper into antebellum sectionalism. Andrew Johnson seems to be a continuation of Jackson’s attitude on racial and class divides.
The issues examined in this work did not die with Jackson. Jackson as defender of all whites was resurrected in fellow Tennessean Andrew Johnson who was a white supremacist opponent of the landed aristocracy. The public image of westerner versus southerner would be a defining identification for Lyndon Johnson.
I read this book i preparation for a book club. It generated an edifying discussion about a number of topics including the definition of a southerner in Jackson’s time and his attitudes toward slavery and Indians. We compared his defense of Rachel Jackson and Peggy Eaton to Don Quixote and Dulcinea. His quotations from “Don Quixote” and “Hamlet” reveal a cultural level rare for a frontier society.
I recommend this work for readers already familiar with the basics of Jackson’s biography who are seeking a deeper understanding of his role in his place and time.
This tome is semi-biographical. It does chronicle facts of Jackson’s life but is selective in presenting those that support the Southern theory. Facts that might be contained in more strictly biographical works are either omitted or are used to support the author’s case rather than to tell the story of the subject’s life. Jackson’s hot temper and resort to duels are shown as a part of the Southern Code of Honor. Jackson’s pursuit of land and slaves was a road to Southern respectability. Support for Indian removal and destruction of the Bank of the United States are shown as regional cleavages in the body politic.
I found the distinction between the defenders of the Southern landowning aristocracy against blacks and low whites personified by John C. Calhoun and the spokesmen for all whites against blacks and Indians in the person of Jackson to delve deeper into antebellum sectionalism. Andrew Johnson seems to be a continuation of Jackson’s attitude on racial and class divides.
The issues examined in this work did not die with Jackson. Jackson as defender of all whites was resurrected in fellow Tennessean Andrew Johnson who was a white supremacist opponent of the landed aristocracy. The public image of westerner versus southerner would be a defining identification for Lyndon Johnson.
I read this book i preparation for a book club. It generated an edifying discussion about a number of topics including the definition of a southerner in Jackson’s time and his attitudes toward slavery and Indians. We compared his defense of Rachel Jackson and Peggy Eaton to Don Quixote and Dulcinea. His quotations from “Don Quixote” and “Hamlet” reveal a cultural level rare for a frontier society.
I recommend this work for readers already familiar with the basics of Jackson’s biography who are seeking a deeper understanding of his role in his place and time.
April 16, 2015
In order to understand Andrew Jackson, you must understand how he grew up and lived. You must understand him as a southerner. This is the premise that Mark R. Cheathem takes in his book Andrew Jackson, Southerner.
At first glance, this small volume of approximately 315 pages does not look like a comprehensive tome on Jackson, but readers will be surprised. Although not filled with the plethora of minute detail contained in a biography twice its size, Cheathem deftly takes readers through the life of Andrew Jackson. He covers all major events, some minor events, and views all through the lens of southern culture. Why did Andrew Jackson engage in so many duels? Why did he extend his kinship network and adopt so many wayward and family youths into his family? Why did he dispossess the southern Native Americans of their homelands? Jackson's southern identity informs all of these decisions.
Cheathem's is a well-written, enjoyable read.
At first glance, this small volume of approximately 315 pages does not look like a comprehensive tome on Jackson, but readers will be surprised. Although not filled with the plethora of minute detail contained in a biography twice its size, Cheathem deftly takes readers through the life of Andrew Jackson. He covers all major events, some minor events, and views all through the lens of southern culture. Why did Andrew Jackson engage in so many duels? Why did he extend his kinship network and adopt so many wayward and family youths into his family? Why did he dispossess the southern Native Americans of their homelands? Jackson's southern identity informs all of these decisions.
Cheathem's is a well-written, enjoyable read.
April 3, 2020
Probably a 3.5, but a good effort. Very detailed book with great research. Little more like reading a research paper than a good flowing biography, but great information nonetheless. Definitely see Jackson in a different light than the past narrative that made him seem more of a Lincolnesque backwoodsman.
December 20, 2021
A biography of Andrew Jackson, centered around the question of "should we view him as a Frontier Westerner, or as a member of the Southern Gentility?". Which is an interesting approach, but the book itself was nothing of what I wanted.
I picked this up because I'm on a brief Tennessee history kick, and was most interested to read about the Trail of Tears and/or Jackson as a slave owner, both of which got extrememly short shrift. Okay, there's a chapter devoted to the political maneuvering around the passage of the Indian Removal Act, but the actual Trail gets literally one sentence. Instead there are just chapters and chapters of Jackson's political allies and enemies and relatives, three groups which frequently overlap, with individuals shifting from one to another. Maybe if I had known more about Jackson going in, this would have been more interesting, but Cheathem rarely stops to explain context, or personalities, or political views, so to me it was a bit like reading a phone book. I'd call the writing style academic, except that there's not a lot of analysis either; oh, sure, there's the 'West vs South' thing, but stretching out a single question for two hundred pages doesn't let me finish the book with a sense of having learned much.
I wish I had picked one of the many other Jackson biographies out there to read, because I definitely do not care enough about the dude to read a second one, and this was a waste of time for anyone not extremely devoted to Jackson minutiae.
I picked this up because I'm on a brief Tennessee history kick, and was most interested to read about the Trail of Tears and/or Jackson as a slave owner, both of which got extrememly short shrift. Okay, there's a chapter devoted to the political maneuvering around the passage of the Indian Removal Act, but the actual Trail gets literally one sentence. Instead there are just chapters and chapters of Jackson's political allies and enemies and relatives, three groups which frequently overlap, with individuals shifting from one to another. Maybe if I had known more about Jackson going in, this would have been more interesting, but Cheathem rarely stops to explain context, or personalities, or political views, so to me it was a bit like reading a phone book. I'd call the writing style academic, except that there's not a lot of analysis either; oh, sure, there's the 'West vs South' thing, but stretching out a single question for two hundred pages doesn't let me finish the book with a sense of having learned much.
I wish I had picked one of the many other Jackson biographies out there to read, because I definitely do not care enough about the dude to read a second one, and this was a waste of time for anyone not extremely devoted to Jackson minutiae.
November 12, 2020
Entertaining and insightful approach to Ol' Hickory's story.
June 10, 2015
Ok not great
Interesting. By today's standards Jackson was a bad man. This work says it was due to his Southernness. Which may be either an excuse or an insult to southern culture.
Interesting. By today's standards Jackson was a bad man. This work says it was due to his Southernness. Which may be either an excuse or an insult to southern culture.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews