Election of 1828

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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English by the
Voice of America.

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The presidential election campaign
of eighteen-twenty-eight was bitter and vicious. The old Republican
Party of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe had split
into two opposing groups. One group was led by President John Quincy
Adams and Secretary of State Henry Clay. It called itself the
National Republican Party. The other group was led by General Andrew
Jackson. It called itself the Democratic Party.

VOICE TWO:

Each party had its own newspapers. In Washington, the "Daily
National Journal" supported President Adams. The "United States
Telegraph" supported General Jackson. The Telegraph published
charges against the administration made by congressional Democrats.
The Journal, in turn, published a pamphlet that had been used
against Jackson earlier. Among other things, the pamphlet charged
that Jackson had fought a man, chased him away like a dog, and then
took his wife. The charge was not true. This is the story. It is
important, because it had a great effect on Andrew Jackson for the
rest of his life.

VOICE ONE:

Jackson met the young woman, Rachel, at her mother's home near
Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, Rachel and her husband, Lewis
Robards, were living there. They were having marriage problems.
Robards argued with his wife about Jackson. He said she and Jackson
seemed too close. Jackson was advised to leave, and he agreed to go.
Before he left, he met with Robards. Robards reportedly wanted to
fight Jackson with his fists. Jackson refused to fist-fight. But, he
said he would face Robards in a duel, if Robards wished to fight
like a gentleman. Robards rejected the invitation, and nothing more
happened between the two men. Jackson left.

VOICE TWO:

Robards and Rachel settled their differences. She went back to
their home in Kentucky, but did not stay long. They had another
dispute, and she left. Court records say she left with a man --
Andrew Jackson. Rachel's family had heard how unhappy she was with
Robards, and had asked Jackson to bring her back to Tennessee.
Robards followed them. Rachel told him she wanted a divorce. Robards
threatened her. He said he would carry her away by force if she did
not go back to Kentucky. Rachel decided to flee. She would go with
some traders to Natchez, in the Mississippi territory. It would be a
dangerous trip down the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers.

VOICE ONE:

Jackson was troubled. He felt
badly, because he had been the cause of Rachel's unhappiness. By
now, Rachel meant much to Jackson. He had fallen in love with her.
When the traders asked him to go to Natchez, he agreed. The group
left early in seventeen-ninety-one. A few weeks earlier, Lewis
Robards had begun preparations for a divorce. He did not complete
the necessary action, however. Yet he led Rachel's family to believe
that he had. . . That the two of them were no longer married.
Jackson returned to Nashville after several months. He asked for
permission to marry Rachel, now that she was free of Robards.
Rachel's mother gave her permission.

VOICE TWO:

Andrew Jackson and Rachel were married in August,
seventeen-ninety-one. Both were twenty-four years old. They remained
in Tennessee. The next two years were busy ones for Jackson. As a
young lawyer, he worked hard and traveled far. In December,
seventeen-ninety-three, he discovered court papers showing that
Lewis Robards had only recently divorced Rachel. This meant that at
the time Jackson and Rachel were married, she was still legally
married to Robards. Jackson was shocked. As soon as possible, he and
Rachel were married again -- legally this time.

VOICE ONE:

Almost ten years passed. Jackson was a judge and took part in
Tennessee politics. One day, Jackson met the state's governor
outside the court house in Knoxville. The governor was telling a
large crowd about his great services to the state. Jackson felt it
necessary to say that he, too, had done some public services.
"Services," shouted the governor. "I know of no great service you
have done the country except taking a trip to Natchez with another
man's wife!" Jackson's eyes grew as cold as ice. The governor pulled
his sword. "Great God!" cried Jackson. "Do you speak her sacred
name." He jumped at the governor with a stick. The two men were
separated. A few years later, Jackson killed a man in a duel, after
the other man made a joke -- while drunk -- about Jackson's
marriage.

VOICE TWO:

As a candidate for president, Jackson could not take to the
dueling field to defend his wife's honor. He wanted to. But he knew
it would prevent him from being elected. Jackson asked a special
committee of citizens to investigate his marriage and make a public
report. The committee found that Jackson and Rachel got married only
after they believed her first husband had divorced her. As soon as
the mistake was discovered, they were married again, legally. The
report said they were not at fault.

VOICE ONE:

The pro-Jackson newspaper in Washington published the committee's
report. But anti-Jackson newspapers did not. They insulted him and
his wife. General Jackson struggled to control his anger. "How hard
it is," he said, "to keep myself away from these villains. I have
made many sacrifices for my country. But being unable to punish
those who lie about my wife is a sacrifice too great to bear."
Anti-Jackson newspapers continued to print vicious lies about him.
And the pro-Jackson newspapers began to print vicious lies about
Pesident Adams and his wife.

VOICE TWO:

All during the bitter campaign, neither candidate said anything
about one very important issue: slavery. Adams did not want to lose
what little support he had in the south and west by denouncing
slavery. Jackson did not want to lose the support of some
Republicans in the north by openly defending it. Adams's silence did
not mean that he approved of slavery. Southerners were sure that he
opposed it. And Jackson did not have to tell the south what he
thought about slavery. He was a slave owner, and had bought and sold
slaves all his life.

VOICE ONE:

There was another important difference between the two men and
their political parties. President Adams and the Republicans
represented the interests of those who owned property. Many of the
president's supporters felt that wealthy, property-owning citizens
should control the government. They feared popular rule, or
government elected by all the people. Jackson and the Democrats
represented the interests of common men. They did not feel that the
rich had more right to govern than the poor. They believed in the
democratic right of all men to share equally in the government.

VOICE TWO:

The election was held in different states on different days
between October thirty-first and November fifth,
eighteen-twenty-eight. In two states -- South Carolina and Delaware
-- the legislature chose the presidential electors. In all the other
states, the electors were chosen by the voters. When the electoral
votes were counted, Jackson received one-hundred seventy-eight.
Adams received only eighty-three. It was a great victory for
Jackson.

VOICE ONE:

His wife, however, was troubled. She was a simple, kind woman who
loved her husband. "For Mr. Jackson's sake," she wrote, "I am glad.
For my own part, I never wished it." She knew, of course, of the
charges made during the campaign about their marriage. Her courage
supported her. But when the excitement of the election had ended,
she lost her energy. And her health became worse. Someone proposed
that Rachel Jackson stay in Tennessee until her health became
better. Then she could join her husband at the White House in
Washington. Rachel did not want to go to Washington. But she felt
that her place was with her husband. That will be our story next
week.

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VOICE TWO:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THE
MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Sarah Long and Steve Ember.
Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. THE MAKING OF A NATION
can be heard Thursdays.