A review of the book, Andrew Jackson and the Search for Vindication by James Curtis
From his early childhood to his days in presidency, Andrew Jackson's fueled a revolution in politics and the search for vindication of the American people. In this psychoanalytical biography of Andrew Jackson, James C. Curtis explores Jackson's tenacious personality and lifelong quest for power, which was deeply rooted in his troubled past.
Beginning in the backwoods of the Carolina's, young Andrew Jackson was born to a couple from Northern Ireland that migrated here during a time of social and economic turmoil. Arriving in the late 1760's, Jackson explored the prospective rolling countryside with the uncontrolled freedom that encouraged his wild behavior. By the age of fourteen, Jackson had lost his brothers and both parents, leaving a young troubled boy to fend for himself in the turbulent south. Evidently, Jackson's rebellious attitude brought him nowhere in school. The local schoolmaster barley taught him to read or write, but he expressed himself directly. Even into his presidency his advisors had to revise his public writings due to his horrid grammar and spelling. Throughout the beginning of the book, Curtis extensively relates Andrew's early encounters to his future motivations in personal and political thought.
Andrew's break came at the age of seventeen when he landed a job with a lawyer to practice law. Soon Andrew had a legitimate chance in frontier diplomacy. In 1784 he was involved in the Spanish Conspiracy. In this conflict the colonists were looking for a bold, reactionary person to represent them. Andrew took to this and forcefully went after the Indians. Obviously, his rashness toward the Indians was rooted in his own struggles with authority as a child. " They were doubly evil, reminding him of a past he was trying to forget and threatening a future he was trying to achieve. The Indian was a fit target for wrath."(23) Curtis' style emphasizes that Jackson was relating the unconstrained conditions of the frontier to his own unconstrained
Beginning in the backwoods of the Carolina's, young Andrew Jackson was born to a couple from Northern Ireland that migrated here during a time of social and economic turmoil. Arriving in the late 1760's, Jackson explored the prospective rolling countryside with the uncontrolled freedom that encouraged his wild behavior. By the age of fourteen, Jackson had lost his brothers and both parents, leaving a young troubled boy to fend for himself in the turbulent south. Evidently, Jackson's rebellious attitude brought him nowhere in school. The local schoolmaster barley taught him to read or write, but he expressed himself directly. Even into his presidency his advisors had to revise his public writings due to his horrid grammar and spelling. Throughout the beginning of the book, Curtis extensively relates Andrew's early encounters to his future motivations in personal and political thought.
Andrew's break came at the age of seventeen when he landed a job with a lawyer to practice law. Soon Andrew had a legitimate chance in frontier diplomacy. In 1784 he was involved in the Spanish Conspiracy. In this conflict the colonists were looking for a bold, reactionary person to represent them. Andrew took to this and forcefully went after the Indians. Obviously, his rashness toward the Indians was rooted in his own struggles with authority as a child. " They were doubly evil, reminding him of a past he was trying to forget and threatening a future he was trying to achieve. The Indian was a fit target for wrath."(23) Curtis' style emphasizes that Jackson was relating the unconstrained conditions of the frontier to his own unconstrained