Andrew Jackson, later seventh president of the United States, was involved in a series of altercations in his personal and professional life. Jackson killed a man, was shot in a duel (in 1806), was shot in a tavern brawl (in 1813), and was charged, in separate incidents, with assault and battery (convicted), and assault with intent to kill (acquitted).
Contents
- Fights, duels, beatdowns, and attempts at same
- Threats
- Other quarrels, evidently non-violent
- See also
- References
- Further reading
According to historian J. M. Opal, "[Jackson's] willingness to kill, assault, or threaten people was a constant theme in his adult life and a central component of the reputation he cultivated." [1] : 70 One writer who investigated Jackson's brief residence circa 1788–89 in what is now East Tennessee reported, "He was recognized from the first as a man who 'would fight at the drop of a hat, and drop the hat himself.'" [2] Per biographer Robert V. Remini, Jackson had a "vicious temper that frequently exploded into ugly language and acts," [3] : 7 and such a temper tantrum, "so furious and startlingly sudden, intimidated his victims by its abruptness and its noisiness." [3] : 162 One historian wrote of his pre-war years, "By his mingled tact and daring he soon became a power in the sparsely settled community. His temper was nothing less than volcanic. His oaths were varied, numerous, and highly effective. Yet after he reached middle life both were less frequently in evidence, and except upon extraordinary occasions were more moderate than in youth." [4] A Methodist chaplain—who correctly intuited Jackson's inability to live in egalitarian humility, or to admit to any fault whatsoever—wrote in his journal of the Natchez Expedition, "I find the Gen. cannot bare much opposition. He is a good General but a very incorrect divine." [5]
It has been hyperbolically claimed that Jackson "participated in more than 100 duels over his lifetime" but that is not correct. [6] That said, in 1828 a man named Dr. James L. Armstrong, who had been a surgeon in Jackson's militia in the War of 1812, [7] claimed that he had started making a list of altercations involving Jackson and the final list "accumulated to nearly ONE HUNDRED FIGHTS or violent and abusive quarrels," although Armstrong's index, published under the title General Jackson's "juvenile indiscretions" between the ages of 23 and 60, listed but 14 instances. [8] Shortly after the publication of this document, a Kentucky newspaper claimed that four men, including Archibald Yell, stopped by to "assassinate" Dr. Armstrong in Bedford County for writing anti-Jackson columns, chasing him down and clubbing him. A comment from another correspondent was appended to the report which stated, "This is Jacksonism in its true colors such as the Hero in early times has often acted himself!" [9] Similarly, during the 1824 presidential election, Jesse Benton, brother of U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton (and very much an interested party in questions of Jacksonian violence, as he was the one who shot Jackson in 1813), published a pamphlet that stated, "...it is a notorious fact, that he was scarce ever known to leave a [horse racing] round without having participated in an affray or riot, or at least a quarrel." [10]
Jackson's apparent propensity for physical violence was very much an issue for the anti-Jacksonians in the 1824 and 1828 presidential elections. One Delaware voter wrote his local newspaper to this effect: [11]
They do not deny, that Andrew Jackson has often been engaged in the most disgraceful broils and riots in the streets and taverns of Nashville, shooting with pistols and stabbing with dirks on all hands of him. But they tell you that we have no right to investigate his private character, and that his quarrels, duels, adulteries and murders, furnish no arguments against his fitness for an office, where patience, ability and virtuous principles are indispensable requisites to the continuance of the good Government and liberties of our country. [11]
News reports about Jackson's history of violence seem to have at least caught the attention of the voting public. Thomas E. Waggaman of Washington, D.C. wrote Felix Robertson in November 1828 that he had received a letter from a "corresponding committee in Harrisburg Pa. requesting me to give them a history of the Genl's 'trading in negroes cutting off ears' and other acts of violence ascribed to him by the tools of corruption." [12] Jackson was a interstate slave trader active for 20–25 years (c. 1789–c. 1812); [13] whether or not he ever cut off anyone's ears is unrecorded by history, although he repeatedly threatened it. In the United States this practice, called ear cropping, was one of a number of livestock-management practices—including branding, castration, chaining, and whipping—that were used against the enslaved. [14] Ear cropping, toe removal, and castration were amongst the most extreme measures used to enforce subservience. [15] [16] The intent behind cropping ears, specifically, was permanent, visible mutilation, and thus implied ongoing shaming and contempt of the person so mutilated. [17]
Despite Jackson's leadership of militia in the War of 1812, the Creek War, and the Seminole War, historians have found that "there is no explicit account of his actually firing at an enemy in standard battle." [18] Nonetheless, his military violence (not currently included on this list) "was considerable." [19] : 30
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