The Andrew Jackson by William Garrott Brown - Book Report/Review Example

Unit Topic:  Book Review: Andrew Jackson The book Andrew Jackson was written by William Garrott Brown and gives a biography of Andrew Jackson. The book contains six main chapters; the first chapter gives a brief history of Jackson’s early life in his hometown Waxhaws. The author begins the book by giving a description of Andrew Jackson by describing him as determined and aggressive. He goes on to describe him as a tough man who showed his confrontational character to people when annoyed. However, the author describes him as a friendly person when in good mood, and especially in the presence of women. In the book, Andrew Jackson is described as a man of his words who when he was president gave orders that had to be followed without being questioned. Brown however argues that even though many viewed him as a dictator, his friends believed that he put the interests of the American people as his first priority. However, his enemies criticised his commanding character and viewed it as a form of dictatorship that resulted in slavery of those who served him. The author describes Andrew as an Irish Scottish boy who hailed from a poor family background. Andrew’s parents moved to the United States in 1765 and they settled in a Scotch-Irish settlement called Waxhaws. According to Brown, Andrew was brought up in Waxhaws, an area that was characterised by habits such as horseracing and smoking tobacco and it happened that Andrew adopted the habits of the residents. The author indicates that Andrew and his family were subjected to a lot of suffering and his mother and brothers died leaving him alone. The author however says that Andrew hated debts and admired women. Andrew was a hardworking boy with leadership skills. After finishing school, he was appointed to be the public prosecutor of the Tennessee district where life was harder than his hometown. The town was made of very tough inhabitants who hated foreigners and were always ready to fight their enemies. Therefore, his job as the public prosecutor was to ensure law and order is maintained in the district. Andrew served the people with a lot of courage and wisdom and was admired by many people in the district. His good work earned him a lot of respect from the community and he was popular among the community. The author also talks about his controversial marriage to his wife Rachel and describes the painful moments and negative criticisms that he went through to officially marry his wife. In addition, the author asserts that this criticism about his wife motivated him to fight for the rights of women and always admired them. Brown however argues that despite the painful moments, they still lived together happily until they died. The second chapter talks about Jackson’s entry into politics where he served in congress as a representative of Tennessee, his role in the drafting of the constitution and the insignificant posts he held at the House of Representatives and in the Senate. In chapter two, the author also writes that Jackson held a post of a judge although it was short-lived because as the author indicates, he resigned following a quarrel with John Sevier a former governor. He continues doing business and farming. In the same, chapter the author mentions that Jackson loved sporting especially horseracing. In 1796, Jackson took his seat as a member of the convention that was called to frame a constitution for the State of Tennessee. He thus entered on a brief career of public service, in the course of which he held three important offices. In the autumn of 1796 he was chosen to be Tennessee's first representative in Congress. A year later he was appointed United States Senator and held the office until he resigned in April, 1798. From 1798 until 1804, he was a justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. In chapter three, the author talks about the successful attack of Pensacola. In this chapter, the author argues his earlier claims that Jackson was always ready to do what was right at all costs even if it was illegal. For instance he argues that the attack on Pensacola was not permitted but since he felt it was the right thing to do, he disobeyed his superiors and continued with the march. Chapter four of the book talks about Jackson’s life in New Orleans where he served in the military. The chapter describes how Jackson successfully led his people to fight against the British invaders in New Orleans. In chapter five, the author begins by telling us how Jackson played a role in trying to forcefully capture Florida and this marked the end of his career in the military. In February, 1821, after so many years of negotiation, Florida was bought by the United States and Jackson was appointed governor and commissioner in Florida by President Monroe. In the final chapter, the author gives a history of Jackson’s life after he was elected president of United States. According to the author the appointment of Jackson to states house marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new era. The author argues that Jackson’s administration was viewed as a democratic system that allowed Americans to freely present their views to their government. Jackson’s system of governance was a complete opposite of his successors. The author argues that Jackson believed that it was not mandatory to consult the cabinet before deciding on major issues of governance. He instead consulted his close friends who were referred to as the ‘kitchen cabinet’. In addition, Jackson unlike former presidents believed that the money received from the sale of public lands should be distributed among the States. The author further argues that Jackson had indeed great respect for the rights of the States under the Constitution, and warned Congress not to go beyond the powers which were clearly given to the general government. In subtle, the book talks about Andrew Jackson’s biography that runs from 1767-1845. It gives Andrew Jackson’s history as a young boy who hailed from a humble background to become the seventh president of the United States. The book talks about the various roles and duties that he carried out in his life including the various positions he held in the government and military, such as being the military governor of Florida in 1821, commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 and the president of United States from 1829-1837. The book describes Andrew Jackson as a polarizing figure who dominated American politics in the 1820s and 1830s, his political ambition combined with widening political participation, shaping the modern Democratic Party not forgetting his admiration and respect for women having been inspired by the critics of his wife Rachael. Generally, the book is well written and thought provoking. It describes Andrew Jackson from the time he was young and shows that despite coming from a humble background with no quality education and training he still did not loose focus on achieving his dreams. The book touches on all the areas that were significant in his life including sporting, family, and his political life. In addition, the author does not show bias by either showing his positive side and hiding his negative side, or exposing his negative side and hiding his positive side. He describes him as a person who was loved and hated, who promoted democracy and practiced dictatorship, the president who always took responsibility; for the man who respected and admired women and was gentile and kind to children, made many mistakes, did much injustice to men and defended the weak. Work cited William Garrot Brown. Andrew Jackson. New York: The Riverside Press, Cambridge, 1900. Print. Read More