Satan’s Comin’

Dan DiVietri

Election of 1828 Against Andrew Jackson

             Historians characterize the election of 1828 as the beginning of the modern party system, but in my video against Andrew Jackson I focused more on capturing the mudslinging that took place between candidates at this time.  Perhaps the enormous amount of negative campaigning is unsurprising when one considers the controversy and subsequent ill will arising out of the election of 1824 and the supposed “Corrupt Bargain.”  The rematch between Andrew Jackson and incumbent John Quincy Adams essentially began in 1825 with Jackson determined to run again due to his victory in the popular vote and belief that he was cheated.  Candidates and supporters began strategizing for the campaign and seeking the support of the people; however, the election was based more on personalities than qualifications and experience.  I try to capture this in my video.  Tensions continued to rise after John C. Calhoun, Adams’s vice-president, decided to switch tickets and run with the challenger this second time around.  Both sides refused to hold anything back.  With an impressive amount of material on this subject, I decided not to use any of my own words but rather try to capture what Adams’s supporters said against Jackson at this time.

For music I chose John Quincy Adams’s campaign song, “Little Know Ye Who’s Coming.”  The song itself masterfully captures the spirit of the era and was one of the first campaign songs in the United States, which essentially made my decision in including it.  The lyrics speak of the dangers that Americans allegedly would face if they chose not to reelect Adams.  It warns that fire, pistols, guns, knives, famine, tears, fears, and even Satan is coming, “If John Quincy not be coming,’” making for a great attack on Jackson. I found this in The Encyclopedia of the American Presidency.  The only volume they had was a modern production by Oscar Brand, so I took the song off Youtube and edited it down for timing purposes.[1]

I began my material with an excerpt of The Letters of Wyoming.  This was an 1824 Pro-Jackson publication written by his supporters with the title “Wyoming,” stressing the support Jackson had from the West.  However, I decided to include a quote by John Eaton (a Tennessee senator and friend of Jackson who became his Secretary of War) on the characteristics of the President in an effort to undermine Old Hickory.  The quote reads, “In the selection of the Chief Magistrate of this Union, it is not necessary that we should look exclusively to mental qualification … It is strength of character; a perseverance and steadiness of purpose … that makes the distinguished man.”  The quote is intended to bring in Jackson supporters, who I will try to make question the “strength of character” in their candidate for the remainder of the video.  I found the image on the Library of Congress Website.  The quote, I took from a PBS article on Jackson. [2]

The next image is an excerpt from the New York Enquirer.  I originally found the quote in Hats in the Ring, and then tried to find it in an online article.  I clipped the paper to focus in on the quote with hands pointing that “General Jackson’s mother was a COMMON PROSTITUTE.”  Not only was she a prostitute according to the quote, but she was also brought to America by British soldiers against whom there were still some hostilities.  This printed in many newspapers around the United States.  It captures the mudslinging that was happening, and in my campaign video I hoped it would make people, especially southern slaveholders, question voting for the son of a “MULATTO MAN.”  This quote really struck Jackson, who is quoted saying to his wife, “You I can defend; but now they have assailed even the memory of my mother.”[3]

The next quote I chose is from Charles Hammond, a political leader in Ohio and editor of the Cincinnati Gazette.  I found this quote on Wikipedia initially, and then searched in more formally to make sure it was valid.  I chose to put the quote over black rather than searching for a print to make it jump out more than a “PDF-looking” newspaper article.  Hammond was vehemently anti-Jackson and also wrote the Coffin Handbill, which I address later.  This quote though was meant to highlight Jackson’s relations with his wife, Rachel.  Rachel had divorced her husband, but it was not officially filed and approved before she and Jackson were married, which came much to her surprise.  She and the presidential-candidate had to remarry and this controversy became a crucial weapon to Adams supporters.  I chose to highlight “adultress” in this article, and for the remainder I use the color to foreshadow to the ultimate message of Satan coming.[4]

Next, I include an image of Jackson.  However, it is one that has him looking “distinctly Napoleon,” over which I include the words, “A mere military chieftain.” I found the image initially in our course packet, but then in a google image search.  It is also on the Library of Congress site provided in our library course guide.  The quote was popular from Adams supporters when referring to Jackson.  The phrase is in The Papers of Andrew Jackson that I found online. This all comes as the song chants, “Pistols, guns, knives is coming.”  It’s meant to jab at Jackson’s supposed military prowess and lack of experience in political and diplomatic matters.[5]

Following this, I decided to attack Jackson’s military reputation.  Though Jackson led the United States to a decisive victory in the Battle of New Orleans, he ordered the execution of six militia men who had allegedly deserted under his command.  This is captured on the famous “Coffin Handbills.”  We went over the distribution and public posting of these handbills in class, which were circulated widely around the United States.  I found this on the Library of Congress Website also with the quote in the text of the handbill.  I had the image focus in on the coffins and the title Some Account of some of the Bloody Deeds of General Jackson.  It questions both Jackson’s character and military reputation.  I did this to try to take down the rising popularity of the presidential candidate.  This was one of the main platforms he was running on, so cutting him down on his military accomplishments would surely aid Adams’s campaign.[6]

Because I had a fairly full video, I decided to include an article that would attack Jackson on a number of fronts.  This appeared in American Mercury on October 2, 1827 and I found it in the Early American Newspapers database.  The first highlighted quote gets at Jackson’s history of dueling.  It says that he killed a Mr. Dickerson “for a most trivial attack,” showing his cruelty, temper, and frontier nature.  The article also highlights the fact that Jackson “permitted his soldiers to kill helpless women and children during the Creek war.”  This proves that the general was not a military gentleman and a ruthless man.  The final longer quote ties the article back to the former Coffin Handbill and proclaims that this ordered execution was “In direct violation of every law and principle of humanity.  It also speaks of how these men had “faithfully and bravely served.”  Overall this makes Jackson look more like a monster than a future president.[7]

Up to this point I have tried to portray Jackson as unfit for President.  Now, I will come out and explicitly say this message in the video with Thomas Jefferson as my first means for doing so.  As a former president himself, Jefferson knows what it takes to be successful in this position and his quote shows that he doubts Jackson had the characteristics.  I chose a picture that would make Jefferson appear strong and diplomatic, but also somewhat immortalized with the border around him.  It was found on the Library of Congress website.  Jefferson is a valuable man to have speaking against Jackson because he was the father of the Democratic-Republican Party.  This quote was found in Niles Weekly Register, a national newsletter aligned mostly with the Democratic-Republican Party.  It was one of the most widely circulated prints at this time and captures politics of the nation.[8]

Next, I use another image of Andrew Jackson also from the Library of Congress.  I chose the presidential candidate in black and white appearing with what I would characterize as tired eyes.  He does not look ready to lead a nation.  The quote from Hats in the Ring panning over Jackson shows that even he did not believe himself fit for president.  I figured in showing this, how could the country believe he was a candidate worthy of their vote?  It again captures the belief that Jackson could be a military leader, saying he could “command a body of men in a rough way,” but ultimately could not lead the United States.[9]

The next image was a political cartoon from the time around the election, which was found again using a google search.  It has Jackson hanging John Quincy Adams.  Jackson is portrayed as barbaric here and dressed in military clothing, while Adams looks diplomatic.  I also interpreted it as a sign of Jackson’s role in ruining Adams’s first term by refusing to acknowledge him as the winner of the 1824 election.  I focus the camera in on Jackson, and here again the picture aligns with the song saying “Satan’s coming.  If John Quincy not be coming.”  The last part is in white to show Adam’s non-relation to many of the negative characteristics and quotes employed in the video.  I end with an image of Adams, showing he was the last chance for the country to avoid the terrors of the song that would accompany Jackson.  He looks distinguished, focused, and ready for another term.[10]

I tried to capture the issues of the time, which unfortunately were not mainly related much to events going on in America.  With the focus on smearing the opposition’s personality, I began with a quote from Jackson’s supporters and spent the rest of the video disproving their praise.  I focus on his drastically miscalculated military incidents and portray him as undiplomatic.  Finally, I claim Jackson as unfit to lead according to both himself and the father of his party.  This combined with the lyrics from Adams’s campaign song show the people that they must vote for Adams over the satanic Jackson.


[1] Little Know Ye Who’s Coming. Trusty Sidekick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnhBWckoTps

[2] The Letters of Wyoming, to the people of the United States, on the presidential election (1824). http://www.archive.org/details/lettersofwyoming00wyom; Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil, & The Presidency. http://www.pbs.org/kcet/andrewjackson/alife/candidate.html

[3] Personal Attacks Levied Against Andrew Jackson. http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/571892; Robert, V. Remini. Andrew Jackson. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/andrewjackson.htm;  Evan, Cornog. Hats in the Rign: An Illustrated History of American Presidential Campaigns (New York 2000).

[4] “Coffin Handbills.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffin_Handbills

[5] http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Andrew+Jackson&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&biw=1189&bih=623&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsob&tbnid=e_8JAzSdoZjm-M:&imgrefurl=http://www.amazingben.com/arf0144.html&docid=FXuiloqmvwSDTM&imgurl=http://www.amazingben.com/andrewjackson1.jpg&w=300&h=377&ei=NnhjT4SXK6Ls0gGorL2sCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=530&vpy=245&dur=444&hovh=252&hovw=200&tx=116&ty=77&sig=118192294703320267239&page=2&tbnh=137&tbnw=118&start=26&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:26; The Papers of Andrew Jackson: 1825-1828.

[6] http://www.loc.gov/search/?q=Coffin%20Handbill&st=grid&fa=digitized:true;

[7] http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=L56C4DUJMTMzMTYwMjA2NS43Njc3NTI6MToxNDoxMzcuMTY1LjI3LjEzNw&p_action=doc&s_lastnonissuequeryname=3&d_viewref=search&p_queryname=3&p_docnum=14&p_docref=v2:109C4593CC064AF8@EANX-109F0106B5823630@2388632-109F0106D1FB9788@0-109F01088566FEE0

[8] http://www.loc.gov/search/?q=Thomas+Jefferson&fa=digitized%3Atrue%7Coriginal_format%3Astill+image&sp=2&st=grid&sb=Date; William, Ogden Niles.  Niles’ Weekly Register (Baltimore 1828).

[9] http://www.loc.gov/search/?q=Andrew%20Jackson&st=grid&fa=digitized:true; Cornog. Hats in the Ring.

[10] http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Andrew+Jackson+Political+cartoon&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1189&bih=623&tbm=isch&tbnid=PTRTnTMgER5NlM:&imgrefurl=http://www.superstock.co.uk/stock-photos-images/4048-514&docid=QgLrObi58RThlM&imgurl=http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/4048/PreviewComp/SuperStock_4048-514.jpg&w=335&h=350&ei=C39jT7SGEMjl0gH32-mhCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=424&vpy=136&dur=143&hovh=229&hovw=220&tx=113&ty=110&sig=118192294703320267239&page=1&tbnh=143&tbnw=137&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0; http://www.loc.gov/search/?q=John%20Quincy%20Adams&st=grid&fa=digitized:true