Analysis of Remini's Book The Jacksonian - Essay Example

?Response to the Textbook What is the historical context in which this book is written? Remini's The Jacksonian Era focuses on North America during Jackson's ascent to power and eventual presidency, and the various political events of this time – events which shaped what was to become the United States. It was the final decades of the colonials' westward expansion; a time when the last of the Founding Fathers had either died or retired from office and new presidential candidates could promise comparatively little (Remini, 8); and the struggle for leadership of the country. Worldwide, this time was a fairly peaceful one, taking into account various national movements and smaller wars; however, in 1848 there were mass revolutions of the lower classes in Europe. This key event had global implications which were played out over the next few decades, and vastly changed the nature of history after the Jacksonian era. What historical evidence was used by the author, Robert Remini, to write this book, and was the historical evidence accurate? The historical evidence on which this book is based is a large collection of secondary source material. Remini used a large number of texts in researching for this book – forty-three, to be precise – but it is difficult to ignore the fact that none of these appear to be primary sources. History is a field where interpretation of sources is key, and it is slightly worrying that the author would have only focused his interpretation on other interpretations rather than on any original source material. Any personal flaws and biases have been magnified in Remini's analysis of purely secondary sources. That said, the wide range of sources is somewhat reassuring, and without reading all forty-three books, it can only be hoped that his biases allowed him to take an accurate and fairly un-prejudiced view. How did slavery and Indian removal affect the United States during the Jacksonian era? Before Jackson's ascent to the presidency, slavery in the United States had started to come to its end. In 1822 a small group of black slaves revolted, causing the deaths and banishment of at least 72 slaves. Throughout the Jacksonian era, slave-owners “dreaded” (Remini, 59) the eventual uprising of their slaves, and an 1831 rebellion fuelled these flames. The Nat Turner Rebellion involved the murder of roughly sixty white people, but, Remini argues, had less of an influence on abolition than the example of other countries and states at the same time. The slow emancipation of the slaves caused much cultural discourse, some of it constructive, some of it less so – “race riots became a regular occurrence in Jacksonian America” (61), even reaching Washington D.C. in 1835. It was feared that the abolition of slavery would shatter the Union, and indeed there was almost civil war over a slavery-related issue in the early 1830s, with threats of secession coming from several states. Ultimately the slavery issue did cause civil war, creating a stronger and more equal United States. Although the book calls it 'Indian removal', a less racist and euphemistic term would be Native American banishment or deportation. Like slavery, the banishment of Native Americans from their homes was a way in which the white leaders of society prioritized their own desires above the needs of others, to the detriment of North American society. Jackson “demanded” (46) that Native Americans concede their land to him. In 1830, a Removal Act was passed, in which Native Americans were guaranteed land in the west, and transportation thereto, if they would give up their land in the east; the Cherokee tribe refused and took the matter to the Supreme Court, arguing that they were not subject to state laws. The ruling, that they were neither subject to state laws nor independent, set a dangerous precedent as Native Americans as “domestic dependents” (47). Again, like slavery, states and races were divided along fault-lines, with radicals on each side respectively supporting Native American protection or extermination. The removal had a horrific effect on the Native American people, and the depth of culture in the United States; however, in comparison to slavery, the issue was 'resolved' relatively peacefully. What do you think of President Andrew Jackson? Remini's work portrays Andrew Jackson as a hero from the title of the very first chapter onwards. This makes a good historian instantly cynical, because value judgments are rare in academia; the first chapter reinforces this cynicism, with elaborate descriptions of Jackson's youthful waywardness. However, Remini proves his point well (if, often, with attention to unnecessary detail), and his oft-repeated assertion that Jackson's “popularity” (15) was unmatched is borne out through evidence. On page 20, Remini details a vulgar political campaign against Jackson, which accused him of being the son of an interracial marriage between a “mulatto” man and a “common prostitute”, and paraded his marriage to a divorced woman as a sign of his immorality, and hence his incapability to serve as a good President. Modern readers are both shocked that these facts would have counted against him, and comforted that he was elected anyway. That said, Andrew Jackson is a difficult figure for the twenty-first century historian to admire, given his support of slavery and Native American removal. What is your reaction to the book? This book was published in 2008, although it reads as if it came from long before – in modern times it is generally considered acceptable to portray history as a set of factually-based interpretations, but Remini wastes space on an imagined historical narrative and other useless details, such as the appearance of some of the statesmen. His description of Andrew Jackson as “this long, thin shaft of steely determination” (Remini, 2) is not only unnecessary but silly. This contributes to a faultiness in the book's structure, which details important events with new characters before introducing those characters, such as the odd placement of the biography of Henry Clay (13). This makes the book difficult to follow. The chapters on slavery and Native American removal are disturbing rather than structurally unsound. Remini's description of the early slave rebellions are worrying: for example, the Nat Turner Rebellion of 1831 “knocked the southern planter into a state of permanent fear and terror” (59); that it “completed the radicalization of many southerners” is stated without qualification. His reference to the African-American slaves as “blacks” (60) is a dubious manner of reference in the twenty-first century. Remini seems to be on the side of his slave-owning hero Jackson, rather than sympathizing with the violation of human rights on racist grounds that was slavery. The book is enlightening on some aspects of the Jacksonian era, but it also is quite enlightening of the author's individual prejudices. Works Cited Remini, Robert V. The Jacksonian Era. Sussex: Paw Prints, 2008. Print. Read More