What I see as the third of the major strains of American national identity—behind Massachusetts-Puritan and Virginia-Cavalier: Kentucky-Frontier. No, Andrew Jackson’s victory at the Battle of New Orleans wasn’t due to a band of mythical sharpshooters—the "Hunters of Kentucky"—but within a decade, that legend became an inseparable part of Jackson's image. & it became unwise to dispute it in an American bar. & so by 1829 for Jacksonians Jackson’s inauguration was the moment when America was rescued from both external and internal enemies, & it was only by trusting & following his policy twists-&-turns & taking his shifting set of enemies as their own that they could be & remain truly free. This was & is the Kentucky-Frontier strain of American nationalism, and it is powerful & mythical to this day, & its mythical nature does not reduce its power…
The battle of New Orleans—the closing episode of the war of 1812—was not won for General Andrew Jackson by The Hunters of Kentucky.
The Hunters of Kentucky were not people born on a mountain top, accustomed to drop squirrels with their rifles at 200 yards, able to then cook them up into a tasty stew.
The Hunters of Kentucky were not people who, because frontier bounty and frontier hardships had made them what they were, could, without military discipline and training, easily wipe the floor with the scarlet-red ordered ranks of the British divisions with which the Duke of Wellington had beaten Napoleon’s best generals in Spain.
But within less than a decade after the war, it became a very important part of the identity of those Americans who counted—who spoke loudly in the public square, who influenced the votes of others, and who voted—that it had been so.
Thus Andrew Jackson of Tennessee became a symbol. And then by the alchemy of human psychology he became the embodied exemplar. The exemplar of what? The examplar of a man who could be trusted to preserve America from enemies foreign. Who were these enemies? In Jackson’s case, it was overwhelmingly the British Empire. The British Empire was strong enough, and had it conquered New Orleans at the end of the War of 1812 might have found it easy enough, to turn America back into an effective colony:
It would seize Americas goods, at will.
It would impress American soldiers on the seas into its navy, at will.
It would use the great water highways of the Mississippi and the Great Lakes to arm Amerindians to burn out settlers and thus keep America penned in the east, well away from the Mississippi Valley proper.
It would use its industrial power to take control of the commanding heights of the American economy via offering élites special good deals on imports.
It would use its financial power to take control of the American government by bribery.
This, those people who saw themselves as “the hunters of Kentucky” or who wanted to identify in some way with “the hunters of Kentucky”, had been stopped by the hunters of Kentucky when Andrew Jackson had called and mobilized them to come down the Mississippi to New Orleans.
The ideas behind Jackson-the-symbol were, as summarized by J. William Ward:
The victory at New Orleans was a victory of the American farmer… ‘fresh from his plough’… [for his] normal life vis-à-vis nature… overcome[s] the conquerors of the conquerors of Europe….
[The] spontaneous… strength of the American farmer… allows him to forego the regimen… [of] European troops….
God is on our side; not only the God of Battles but God and Nature… by [virtue of] the bountiful means placed at America's disposal….
We are favored by God… with one stipulation—we must prove ourselves worthy… by… [grasping] the opportunity he so bountifully provides….
[So also] will, the process of self-determination, brought victory to our side….
National pride… resting upon three main concepts… ‘Nature’, ‘Providence’, and ‘Will’… the structural underpinnings of the ideology… for which Andrew Jackson is one symbol…
In brief, Nature has made Americans into the free self-reliant “hunters of Kentucky”, whom God has chosen for His special blessing if we show the Will. But I would go further than J. William Ward here: I see an essential part of “Jacksonism” as Will consisting not only of the “hunters of Kentucky” taking action to float down the Mississippi to New Orleans on the flatboats, but also of Andrew Jackson’s calling them to help him in his mission to protect America. The free people need a leader to coördinate and direct them as to how to take action to achieve and maintain their freedom.
Jackson then parlayed his image as exemplar into the image of a person who also could also be trusted to preserve America from enemies domestic. Who were these enemies domestic? in this case, they were an iron triangle of:
corrupt Philadelphia financiers, especially those who controlled the Second Bank of the United States.
the land speculators the financiers financed.
the politicians who gave the speculators unfair heads-ups as to future land sales.
and who also themselves took tax money earmarked for internal improvements and national defense and diverted it into their own pockets.
And it worked. When Jackson was inaugurated President of the United States on March 4, 1829, Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster was more than bemused at the extraordinary number of “persons have come five hundred miles to see General Jackson, and they really seem to think that the country is rescued from some dreadful danger.”
Jackson’s statue stands to this day in the center of Lafayette Square, just across Pennsylvania Avenue from America’s White House.
Ye gentlemen and ladies fair, who grace this famous city, Just listen, if you’ve time to spare, while I rehearse a ditty; And for the opportunity conceive yourselves quite lucky, For 'tis not often that you see a hunter from Kentucky.
Oh, Kentucky! the hunters of Kentucky. Oh, Kentucky! the hunters of Kentucky.
We are a hardy free-born race, each man to fear a stranger, Whate’er the game we join in chase, despising toil and danger; And if a daring foe annoys, whate’er his strength and forces, We’ll show him that Kentucky boys are alligator horses.
Oh, Kentucky, &c.
I s’pose you’ve read it in the prints, how Packenham attempted To make old Hickory Jackson wince, but soon his schemes repented; For we with rifles ready cocked, thought such occasion lucky, And soon around the general flocked the hunters of Kentucky.
Oh, Kentucky, &c.
You’ve heard, I s’pose, how New Orleans is famed for wealth and beauty There’s girls of every hue, it seems, from snowy white to sooty. So Packenham he made his brags, if he in fight was lucky, He’d have their girls and cotton bags in spite of old Kentucky.
Oh, Kentucky, &c.
But Jackson he was wide awake, and wasn’t scared at trifles, For well he knew what aim we take with our Kentucky rifles; So he led us down to Cyprus swamp, the ground was low and mucky, There stood John Bull in martial pomp, and here was old Kentucky.
Oh, Kentucky, &c.
A bank was raised to hide our breast, not that we thought of dying, But then we always like to rest unless the game is flying; Behind it stood our little force, none wished it to be greater, For every man was half a horse and half an alligator.
Oh, Kentucky, &c.
They did not let our patience tire, before they showed their faces; We did not choose to waist our fire, So snugly kept our places; But when so near to see them wink, we thought it time to stop 'em, And ‘twould have done you good I think to see Kentuckians drop ’em.
Oh, Kentucky, &c.
They found at last 'twas vain to fight, where lead was all their booty, And so they wisely took to flight, and left us all our beauty, And now if danger e’er annoys, remember what our trade is, Just send for us Kentucky boys, and we’ll protect your ladies.
If reading this gets you Value Above Replacement, then become a free subscriber to this newsletter. And forward it! And if your VAR from this newsletter is in the three digits or more each year, please become a paid subscriber! I am trying to make you readers—and myself—smarter. Please tell me if I succeed, or how I fail...
Good one! Loved the inclusion of the song.
Any mention of Jackson, brings to the peabrain the Trail Of Tears.