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172 XVIII “Firebrands of Anarchy and Bloodshed” Adhering to Jackson’s wishes, in 1835 the Democrats nominated Martin Van Buren to be Old Hickory’s successor in the White House. Jackson worked assiduously to convince Americans, particularly southerners, that the New Yorker was a safe choice. Issues that threatened southern interests , however, made the task difficult. While Jackson saw Van Buren elected, those issues, especially abolitionism and Texas annexation, continued to pose problems for the South and the nation. The United States witnessed significant violence during Jackson’s presidency . Between 1828 and 1835 seventy-three disturbances broke out, with the majority coming in the summer and fall of 1835. Americans rioted for a number of reasons during these years, with tension over slavery and anger at banks the leading precipitators of the public chaos.1 In August 1835 racial tension caused a violent outbreak in the nation ’s capital. The “Snow Riot,” as the Washington mobbing was termed, proceeded from a confluence of events that emphasized the growing importance of slavery as a volatile issue for the nation and Jackson’s administration . An alleged attack on Anna Maria Thornton, widow of William Thornton, the Capitol’s architect, provided the initial spark. In the early morning of 5 August 1835 one of Thornton’s slaves, John Arthur Bowen, entered her bedroom, ax in hand, “with the intention we suppose of murder,” she reported. District authorities charged Bowen with attempted murder. Rumor held that abolitionists had encouraged the attack. Shortly after Bowen was jailed, a Georgetown man reported that local physician Dr. Reuben Crandall possessed a number of abolitionist pamphlets. District residents rather quickly made a connection between Bowen and Crandall and took to the streets looking for black victims on which to vent their frustration. For nearly a week rioters threatened to lynch Crandall, but they eventually settled for burning African American schools and homes and the restaurant of a free “Firebrands of Anarchy and Bloodshed” | 173 black man, Beverly Snow, whose name became attached to the riot.2 Jackson was vacationing at the Rip Raps when the Snow Riot began, and he returned to the nation’s capital immediately. During a walk around the city the following year, Jackson pointed out to his companion, Nicholas P. Trist, some houses in the Kalorama neighborhood that had been burned by the rioters. Trist recalled that the mob had been looking for Augustus, “a remarkably fine looking mulatto” who served Jackson in the White House. A “deputation” visited the president and demanded that he remove Augustus from his position, but Jackson refused. His servants were “amenable to me alone, and to no one else,” he insisted.3 While Jackson claimed authority over the slaves in his household, the court system meted out justice to Bowen. A jury convicted the slave of attempted murder in December 1835 and sentenced him to be hanged on 26 February 1836. Mrs. Thornton attempted to intercede for Bowen, claiming that he had been intoxicated at the time of his failed attack, but Bowen’s own words called her testimony into question. He allegedly told the arresting officers that “‘he had a right to be free, and until they [slaves] were free, there would be so much confusion and bloodshed as would astonish the whole earth.’” In her petition for a presidential pardon Thornton argued that Bowen, while susceptible to alcohol, had been a loyal family slave. She acknowledged that he spent time with “free negroes . . . most actively engaged in propagating notions of general abolition, and disseminating inflammatory pamphlets from the north on the subject,” but she blamed “the recent alarms and agitations” regarding slave insurrections and “the firebrands of anarchy and bloodshed” for his conviction.4 After this personal plea to Jackson, Thornton organized a coordinated campaign to save Bowen. She enlisted influential men in the city to sign a memorial to the president, including Van Buren, Andrew Donelson, and Jackson’s personal physician, Dr. Henry Huntt. The president considered Thornton’s request, and under advisement from Attorney General Benjamin Franklin Butler, he granted Bowen two reprieves, in February and early June. Jackson finally issued a pardon on June 27, effective on July 4. Exactly why Jackson finally made this decision is unclear. He may have been convinced by the legal arguments, the influence of friends, or the pleas of the widow Thornton. One intriguing explanation is that he knew that John Eaton, serving as territorial governor of Florida, wanted [3...

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