Andrew Jackson – Donald Trump – Respect

Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?

Confucius

Men are respectable only as they respect.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s amazing what I don’t know!! I mentioned before that I am in a MOOC (massive open online course) from Yale. Our study concerns the American Revolution. One of our assigned readings (of which there are many – of significant length) related to the capture of British Major John Andre’ by three patriots – John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart and David Williams on September 23, 1780. By all accounts, the three were “yeomen” in the parlance of the day. I think today we would say that they were just common ordinary folks, “Joe-Six-Packs” – you know, guys like me!! Some of the various sources that I read report that the captors were members of the militia for their area – the Hudson Valley area of New York state. Virtually all parts of the country had local companies of militiamen which were called up from time to time to fight with the Continental Army. This whole story was news to me – my ignorance again on display. But as I read, the story had some eerily familiar threads with what is going on in today’s political climate. Let me explain.

Major Andre’ was a close associate of someone I was a lot more familiar with – Benedict Arnold. As you will probably recall Arnold was at one time in the Continental Army – a rising star – and then became America’s most famous traitor. One version of the story is that upon his capture by the three New Yorkers, Andre’ attempted to bribe them for his release to which the men replied that they would never betray their country for ANY amount of money. They directly brought him to the Continental Army which upon further searching found documents detailing British plans to take the American fort at West Point. That plan was thwarted and the three men were hailed as patriots and received the country’s first cash reward for heroism. Andre’ was jailed, ultimately tried and hanged before a crowd of thousands. What a feel-good story!! I think I feel a movie coming on.

But alas, things are never simple. And they weren’t always simple in the 1780’s either. By all accounts Major Andre’ was a “gentleman”, a world apart from our yeomen heroes. Many officers in the Continental Army were also “gentlemen”. Most of these gentlemen Continental Army officers had very little time for the militias and utilized them only when absolutely necessary. They viewed them as unkempt, untrained, undisciplined men who really consumed more of the Army’s resources than their value justified. Historians have built careers exploring this dynamic but it appears as is usually the case, the truth is in the middle – the militias DID play a major role in winning the war but the brunt of the real dirty work was done by the Continental Army. Again, amazing what I don’t know.

During his incarceration, Andre’ became acquainted with some of the Continental officers and a different narrative emerged. Andre’ alleged that the three men were actually “Cowboys”, a term applied to British Loyalist “free-booters” who ravaged and plundered all parties in areas where control was fluid – sometimes controlled by the colonists and sometimes by the British. Andre’s story was that the three yeomen tried to “shake him down”, seeking a bribe, and only decided to bring him to the Continental Army when they feared that Andre’s couldn’t or wouldn’t ultimately deliver the agreed-upon bribe. Some of the “gentlemen” in the Continental Army believed Andre’s side of the story more than the version told by the yeomen. But as noted above the yeoman were hailed as heroes, received their rewards and Andre’ was hanged.

Appreciation of our veteran heroes has unfortunately risen and fallen over the years. (Think about the heightened awareness we have now versus the disgraceful way our Vietnam vets were treated.) Surprisingly in the decades that followed the Revolutionary War, appreciation was a bit lacking. This improved somewhat during the period after the War of 1812. And it was during this period (1817) that John Paulding, one of our three heroes, asked Congress to increase the pension granted to him as part of his reward. Controversy ensued. One of the Continental Army gentlemen who had heard the alternate version of the story (then-Representative Benjamin Talmadge) came forward with the alternate story. Others questioned why these three fellows should be treated so much more generously than the many other Revolutionary War veterans that had received very little in the way of pensions. The Paulding request was denied. Revolutionary War vets finally got their modest pensions in 1818.

The yeomen of the day were incensed. They felt that the “elites” in Congress and in positions of authority throughout the country were out of touch with real people. They railed that these people who had never shouldered the real burden of the war would take the word of an enemy spy over the word of American heroes. And the old resentments between militias and the Continental Army came out as well. Common folks believed in their hearts that it was the MILITIAS that had won the war and now these rich and educated people were bringing that core belief into question.
Enter Andrew Jackson. Jackson was a war hero from the famous 1815 Battle of New Orleans. And they didn’t call him “Old Hickory” for nothing. He was built of sturdy stock. He was convinced that the wealthy elites were fostering corruption in the government. The common folk saw him as a man of the people who would stand up to the elites and wealthy industrialists. In his run for president in 1824 he received a plurality of votes but Congress, following the Constitutionally defined process, ultimately elected John Quincy Adams. This fueled resentment even more. Jackson felt that Henry Clay had struck a “deal with the devil” with several southern congressmen that cost him the office. But in election of 1828 there was no need for Congressional action, Jackson won handily.

Semi-interesting – but what is my point? I hear President Trump being compared to Andrew Jackson these days. I’m not sure that I can go there but I never really got it until I read this story. I’m not certain ANY of us really understand what happened in our last election, or for that matter really understand how Americans think. But I clearly believe that for many Trump supporters, the feelings of the yeomen in the early 1800’s were very present in a 2016 version. They felt devalued, disrespected and disenfranchised. There are probably lots of reasons for this, some of them economic. I doubt that many of them were totally comfortable with what Candidate Trump was saying and they may not be totally comfortable with everything that President Trump is doing. But they felt that the opinions of others – the elites – the educated – the rich, were being counted as more important than theirs. And some of  them were incensed. The focus of that anger was Hillary Clinton, right or wrong. All of us need to be careful as we define and explain our positions. It is so easy for me to feel that I have the only real valid view point. But this is a big country – and people see things from a lot of different perspectives. We always need to RESPECT others’ opinions even if we vigorously disagree. Respect is in pretty short supply these days on both sides of the aisle. Politicians in 2019 and in any year need to look at these two periods in our history and to learn.