Feb 13, 2024
Our yearly take on the controversy-filled legacies of former presidents brings us to the infamous ‘Old Hickory’, Andrew Jackson. Curatorial research associate Dylan Rawles visits Zoe and Easton to unravel an often overlooked aspect of Jackson's legacy; Populism, along with its rise in the United States. Jackson prided himself as the “People’s president”, which made him the “voice of the people” who stood against the “untrustworthy higher-ups.” This mentality would grow and expand far beyond his death, taking on many elaborate shapes and identities. Populism’s role in U.S. politics both past and present, factors that enable such movements to take shape, the voices left out of the conversation, and the nearly impossible task of nailing down just who “the people” are and what they want- we explore it all today. As always, thank you for stopping by!
36 Questions for Civic Love: https://www.nphm.org/civiclove
Our sources:
UC Santa Barbara. “Veto Message [of the Reauthorization of the Bank of the United States].” The American Presidency Project. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/veto-message-the-re-authorization-bank-the-united-states.
Remini, Robert V. Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Freedom, 1822-1832. New York: Harper & Row, 1981.
Watson, Harry L. “Andrew Jackson’s Populism.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 3 (FALL 2017).
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/2654029
Wilentz, Sean. The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005.
Further Reading/Viewing:
Image of one of the “coffin hand bills” and a description from the Library of congress