Modern views bring disrepute to city of Jackson namesake

As most everyone in the area knows, the city of Jackson derives its name from the seventh president of the United States -- a man of action, certainly, but a controversial one.

Andrew Jackson, who was born to Scotts-Irish immigrants in 1767 in the borderlands between North and South Carolina, is celebrated for deeds such as defeating the British at the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812 and garnering 80 percent of the popular vote the second time he ran for the nation's highest office in 1828.

He's also credited with founding the Democratic Party after losing his first run for president in 1824.

Besides his widely recognized Old Hickory moniker, which came about from his toughness in battle, Jackson was known best as the people's president for his support of the common man and individual liberty. He was the first president from what at the time was considered the West and unabashedly took on elitist interests throughout his public-service career.

But Jackson also is known for some less flattering actions, such as killing a man in a duel, amassing about 150 slaves at his Nashville-area cotton plantation, The Hermitage, and signing the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

The Jackson Mural is displayed Friday on the side of the Cape Girardeau County History Center in uptown Jackson.Glenn Landberg

Carla Jordan, director of the Cape Girardeau County History Center, said the Indian legislation was a horrible blight on the nation's history.

The act, which went into effect after Jackson left office, compelled more than 15,000 native people to leave their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi River so white settlers could claim them.

The forced migration was a perilous journey to what now is Oklahoma and would become known as the Trail of Tears because of the deprivations, illnesses and deaths the indigenous people suffered along the way. Some of them traveled through what is now Trail of Tears State Park after crossing the river.

"The sad thing about it is 4,000 Cherokee people died on the Trail of Tears," Jordan said.

Now, because of that and other actions, the U.S. treasury has decided to bump Jackson off the front of the $20 bill in favor of abolitionist leader Harriet Tubman.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew had initially selected the $10 bill to feature a woman because it was the next bill to be redesigned. But that sparked objections from supporters of former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, who is enjoying renewed popular interest with the smash Broadway hit musical "Hamilton."

But as questionable as Jackson's convictions might appear by modern standards, Jordan said he should be viewed in the context of his times. His was an era of colonial expansion and nation-building, and much of what he did or did not do grew out of the attitudes prevalent in the late 18th- and early 19th-century frontier.

"It's very difficult to villainize people unless you zoom out and look at the big picture," she said.

Adam Criblez, an associate professor and director of the Center for Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University, said teaching about Jackson can be difficult because of students' contemporary views. Many can't understand why he would commit genocide against Native Americans, let alone why he would force African-Americans into lifelong servitude.

In the years before, during and after Jackson's presidency, white American males such as him believed strongly in their own ascendance, Criblez said. They believed equally as much in the inferiority of other races and cultures.

Although they sometimes acknowledged native peoples were there before they arrived on American soil, these men thought their ambition to populate the continent was sanctioned by God. They also thought they could make better use of the land than Native Americans had.

"To modern sensibilities, that sounds ridiculous ... but a lot of Americans thought it was their God-given right, their God-given duty, to bring forth this great civilization," Criblez said.

When Jackson lost his first run for president in 1824, the Democratic Party grew out of his anger over what led to the loss.

Although he won the popular vote, none of the candidates won enough electoral votes to take the presidency. That meant the outcome would be handed over to the House of Representatives, where Henry Clay, who had finished fourth, supported John Quincy Adams, Jackson's biggest rival.

Later, Adams appointed Clay as his Secretary of State, which enraged Jackson, who claimed it was a corrupt back-room deal.

When Jackson was nominated for the presidency again four years later, he and his Democratic supporters ran on that outrage and won.

"It's not that (Jackson) was universally loved," Criblez said. "There was no middle ground. People either loved him, or they hated him."

When the city of Jackson was founded in 1814, Jackson's star had risen during his exploits in the War of 1812.

"He already was a famous general," said Barb Lohr, former mayor of Jackson. "They thought he was courageous. They thought he was a man of the people."

A man named Ezekiel Able had received a large land grant in the area, 400 acres of which he gave to his daughter, Mary, and her new husband, William Ashley. The couple preferred to live elsewhere, however, and ended up selling the land that would become Jackson for $500 in February 1814.

The land between Hubble and Goose creeks would become a seat of justice for Cape Girardeau County, one of five districts in the Territory of Missouri.

A meeting was held in July to name the new township, and the most vocal group insisted it be called Jackson. The first lot was bought in Jackson in December of that year.

"Because of these dates, we are the first town in the United States named after Andrew Jackson," Lohr said.

ljones@semissourian.com

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