Old Hickory:Andrew Jackson and the American People: Andrew Jackson and the American People

by Albert Marrin

Overview

From a childhood steeped in poverty, violence, and patriotic pride, Andrew Jackson rose to the heights of celebrity and power. The first popularly elected president, he won admiration by fighting corruption, championing the common man, shaping the power of the executive office, and preserving the fragile union of the young United States.
Yet Jackson's ruthless pursuit of what he believed to be "progress" left indelible stains on the nation's conscience: broken treaties and the Trail of Tears are among Old Hickory's darker legacies.
Vivid detail and unflinching analysis characterize Albert Marrin's fascinating rendering of the adventurous life, painful complexity, and continuing controversy that define the Age of Jackson.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101126851
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	12/16/2004
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	10 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Albert Marrin is a much-decorated historian and writer whose most recent book, Terror of the Spanish Main, was called "addictive reading" in The Horn Book. He lives in Riverdale, New York.

Table of Contents

	Prologue: Up from the Pebbles	3
I	A Raw Lad	11
II	Making His Own Way	34
III	"Immortal Jackson"	66
IV	On the Brink of Fate	104
V	The Great Race	136
VI	That Most American of Americans	159
VII	The Supreme Law: Preserving the Union	186
VIII	The Children of the Soil	214
IX	An Old, Old Man	236
	Notes	246
	Additional Reading	253
	Index	257

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Marrin gives readers an Andrew Jackson who is both a product and a shaper of his times….And by deliberately showing Jackson’s contradictions…Marrin lets readers judge the worth of Jackson the man as well as Jackson the general and president.”—The Horn Book

"More than a biography, this fine study of our seventh president is also a history and analysis of the times in which he lived...Marrin discusses the changes to society brought about by the Industrial Revolution, the railroads, and the rise of the market economy. Written in an engaging style and with a wealth of detail, the book is enhanced by numerous black-and-white illustrations, including reproductions of political cartoons, portraits, and documents. The lists of sources and of additional reading are extensive." -School Library Journal, starred review

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7 Up-More than a biography, this fine study of our seventh president is also a history and analysis of the times in which he lived. Born in a log cabin to a strong-willed, Scotch-Irish widow, Jackson lacked formal education but was intelligent and could size up people and events, a useful trait for his work as a soldier, lawyer, judge, legislator, and president. Defeated by John Quincy Adams in the 1824 election even though he had won the popular vote, Jackson was elected president four years later, following a dirty campaign that smeared both him and his wife. He was a strong-willed leader whose opinions would be most unpopular today. Marrin discusses the changes to society brought about by the Industrial Revolution, the railroads, and the rise of the market economy. Written in an engaging style and with a wealth of detail, the book is enhanced by numerous black-and-white illustrations, including reproductions of political cartoons, portraits, and documents. The lists of sources and of additional reading are extensive.-Jane G. Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Andrew Jackson's belief in union kept secessionists at bay for a generation, but his actions toward Native Americans were "an evil which must forever stain his memory." Jackson was the least educated of American presidents, a hell-raising, gambling man from Tennessee who became a successful lawyer, a heroic general and the first popularly elected president of the US. His era became the Age of Jackson, and his ideas on slavery, Native Americans, and the power of the presidency defined the times. The lively narrative is unusually frank in its portrayal of Jackson's destructive beliefs and actions. Maps and black-and-white photographs of archival materials add relief to the dense narrative that begins in Scotland in 1297 in the days of William Wallace. The extensive bibliography of the author's sources contains no guide to sources for young readers. (notes, additional reading, index) (Nonfiction. 12+)

Kirkus Reviews