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Congressional
Gold Medal
Recipient Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
b. Waxhaw Settlement,
Lancaster, South Carolina, 15 March 1767
d. The Hermitage, Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, 8 June 1845
Monday, 27 February 1815
Resolutions, expressive of the thanks of
Congress to Major General Jackson, and the troops under his command,
for their gallantry and good conduct in the defence of New Orleans.
Resolved by the Senate
and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in
Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they are
hereby given to Major General Jackson, and, through him, to the
officers and soldiers of the regular army, of the militia, and of the
volunteers, under his command, the greater proportion of which troops
consisted of militia and volunteers, suddenly collected together, for
their uniform gallantry and good conduct conspicuously displayed
against the enemy, from the time of his landing before New Orleans
until his final expulsion therefrom; and particularly for the valour,
skill and good conduct on the eighth of January last, in repulsing,
with great slaughter, a numerous British army, of chosen veteran
troops, when attempting, by a bold and daring attack, to carry by
storm the works hastily thrown up for the protection of New Orleans;
and thereby obtaining a most signal victory over the enemy, with a
disparity of loss, on his part, unexampled in military annals.
Resolved, That the
President of the United States be requested to cause to be struck, a
gold medal, with devices emblematical of this splendid achievement,
and presented to Major General Jackson, as a testimony of the high
sense entertained by Congress of his judicious and distinguished
conduct on that memorable occasion.
Resolved, That the
President of the United States be requested to cause the foregoing
resolutions to be communicated to Major General Jackson in such terms
as he may deem best calculated to give effect to the objects thereof.
3 Stat. 249
Famous Quotes From Andrew
Jackson
"
One man with courage makes a
majority." (1832)
"There are no necessary evils in
government." ( July 10, 1832)
"The right of resisting oppression is a
natural right." (December 14, 1832)
"If he [the President] speaks to
Congress, it must be in the language of truth." (October 27,
1834)
Andrew Jackson
More nearly than any of his
predecessors, Andrew Jackson was elected by popular vote; as President
he sought to act as the direct representative of the common man.
Born in a backwoods settlement in the
Carolinas in 1767, he received sporadic education. But in his late teens
he read law for about two years, and he became an outstanding young
lawyer in Tennessee. Fiercely jealous of his honor, he engaged in
brawls, and in a duel killed a man who cast an unjustified slur on his
wife Rachel.
Jackson prospered sufficiently to buy
slaves and to build a mansion, the Hermitage, near Nashville. He was the
first man elected from Tennessee to the House of Representatives, and he
served briefly in the Senate. A major general in the War of 1812,
Jackson became a national hero when he defeated the British at New
Orleans.
In 1824 some state political factions
rallied around Jackson; by 1828 enough had joined "Old
Hickory" to win numerous state elections and control of the Federal
administration in Washington.
In his first Annual Message to
Congress, Jackson recommended eliminating the Electoral College. He also
tried to democratize Federal officeholding. Already state machines were
being built on patronage, and a New York Senator openly proclaimed
"that to the victors belong the spoils. . . . "
Jackson took a milder view. Decrying
officeholders who seemed to enjoy life tenure, he believed Government
duties could be "so plain and simple" that offices should
rotate among deserving applicants.
As national politics polarized around
Jackson and his opposition, two parties grew out of the old Republican
Party--the Democratic Republicans, or Democrats, adhering to Jackson;
and the National Republicans, or Whigs, opposing him.
Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and other
Whig leaders proclaimed themselves defenders of popular liberties
against the usurpation of Jackson. Hostile cartoonists portrayed him as
King Andrew I.
Behind their accusations lay the fact
that Jackson, unlike previous Presidents, did not defer to Congress in
policy-making but used his power of the veto and his party leadership to
assume command.
The greatest party battle centered
around the Second Bank of the United States, a private corporation but
virtually a Government-sponsored monopoly. When Jackson appeared hostile
toward it, the Bank threw its power against him.
Clay and Webster, who had acted as
attorneys for the Bank, led the fight for its recharter in Congress.
"The bank," Jackson told Martin Van Buren, "is trying to
kill me, but I will kill it!" Jackson, in vetoing the
recharter bill, charged the Bank with undue economic privilege.
His views won approval from the
American electorate; in 1832 he polled more than 56 percent of the
popular vote and almost five times as many electoral votes as Clay.
Jackson met head-on the challenge of
John C. Calhoun, leader of forces trying to rid themselves of a high
protective tariff.
When South Carolina undertook to
nullify the tariff, Jackson ordered armed forces to Charleston and
privately threatened to hang Calhoun. Violence seemed imminent until
Clay negotiated a compromise: tariffs were lowered and South Carolina
dropped nullification.
In January of 1832, while the
President was dining with friends at the White House, someone whispered
to him that the Senate had rejected the nomination of Martin Van Buren
as Minister to England. Jackson jumped to his feet and exclaimed,
"By the Eternal! I'll smash them!" So he did. His favorite,
Van Buren, became Vice President, and succeeded to the Presidency when
"Old Hickory" retired to the Hermitage, where he died in June
1845.
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