Andrew Jackson, Southerner

Conclusion

200 Conclusion Jackson had lived longer than he and many others expected. The bullet embedded in his body from the 1806 duel with Dickinson, which was never extracted, frequently became infected. Added to this wound was the dysentery and malaria from which Jackson suffered during the War of 1812 and thereafter. Well-intentioned medical treatment only worsened his condition. He frequently underwent bloodletting, via cupping or venesection , and ingested sugar of lead and calomel. Both medications were recommended courses of treatment in that era, but their side effects slowly poisoned him. Jackson’s health was so bad that nearly every letter that he wrote in his retirement years included some mention of his debilities.1 Junior optimistically reported his father’s health as “a little better,” although “still very feeble,” in the spring of 1845. Yet by late May, Jackson was essentially infirm. On Friday, June 6, Old Hickory’s death march began. A severe discharge of diarrhea left him weakened. He was strong enough, however, to discuss farm affairs with Junior. Jackson also commented on “the certainty” that the Texas government would accept annexation to the United States. That night he wrote President Polk about alleged corruption within the Treasury. On Saturday his constitution declined considerably, leaving him unable to attend church on Sunday. Following the morning service the minister, members of the Jackson family, several slaves, and Jackson’s doctor, John Esselman, gathered in the dying patriarch’s room. After taking communion, Jackson told his grandchildren and other young relatives that “they must all be obedient children.” After speaking briefly to Junior, Jackson pronounced, “I want to meet you all in heaven, both black and white . . . be good children & we will all meet in heaven.” “He then dozed away calmly & resignedly expired. at 6 Oclock in the evening 8th of June 1845,” Junior reported. Elizabeth Donelson, Andrew Donelson’s second wife, noted that Junior “seemed bewildered” by his father’s death, while Sarah went into “spasms” after his passing.2 Conclusion | 201 Elizabeth recorded other details of Jackson’s deathbed scene for her husband, who remained in Texas. After telling everyone that they would meet in heaven, she recalled, the Old Hero “addressed himself particularly to his servants and exhorted them to their duty and to look to Christ as their only Savior, and that as much was expected of them according to their opportunities as from the whites.” “Oh my husband I wished you were there,” Elizabeth lamented.3 In 1880 Jackson’s slave Hannah also recounted her memories of Jackson ’s final hours. When the doctor instructed Junior “to order the servants out” of his father’s room, they refused. “The darkees would not be driven out,” she observed. “They looked on him as if they had as much right to him as Massa Andrew.” Thus, Hannah and George were in the room when Jackson spoke his final words, which she recalled as being “I want all to prepare to meet me in Heaven; I have a right to the Tree of Life. My conversation is for you all. Christ has no respect to color. I am in God and Gods in me. He dwelleth in me and I dwell in him.” After Jackson drew his last breath, Hannah and the other slaves took care of Sarah after she fainted. A grief-stricken Hannah wailed, “Our master, our father is gone.”4 On Tuesday, June 10, Nashville “had all the appearance of a Sabbath” as prominent citizens and friends made their way to the Hermitage for Jackson’s funeral. The Old Hero’s body “was laid out in the parlor with the face uncovered” for visitors to pay their last respects. Many of Jackson ’s former soldiers wept as they took a last look at the man who had led them into battle. At 11:00 a.m. the minister preached a sermon from the Book of Revelation 7:13–14. The passage speaks of a future day when the heavenly saints will have their robes washed “white in the blood of the lamb.” Doubtless, some people who had prayed for the salvation of Jackson ’s soul were pleased to hear that he had become “an humble follower of the lamb” in 1838. Then pallbearers carried Jackson’s coffin to the Hermitage garden, where he was placed in the ground next to Rachel. An eyewitness pronounced himself “struck . . . very forcibly” by the “sorrow universal ” expressed by Jackson’s slaves. The general “has always been...