Andrew Jackson is a complex man. The motivations of his
actions remain curious and present quite a challenge to study. In Fathers & Children: Andrew Jackson and
the Subjugation of the American Indian, Michael Rogin attempts to psychoanalyze
Jackson to understand better some of his actions, mostly in regards to his Indian
policies and opinions. Rogin notes, “Historians, however, have failed to place
Indians at the center of Jackson’s life. They have interpreted the Age of
Jackson from every perspective but Indian destruction, the one from which it actually
developed historically” (p. 4).
In Fathers & Children, Rogin shows that Jackson personified a coming change in America. He notes, “Jackson’s own family life—father dead at birth, mother in adolescence, traumatic early speech difficulty—prefigured in exaggerated form the problems of Jacksonian society. Returning to childhood, in Indian war, Indian treaties, and Indian removal, Jackson mastered its regressive appeal. He infused American politics with regenerated paternal authority” (p. 15). Rogin clearly argues, “Jackson first developed, in Indian relations, the major formulas of Jacksonian Democracy” (p. 166).
In Fathers & Children, Rogin shows that Jackson personified a coming change in America. He notes, “Jackson’s own family life—father dead at birth, mother in adolescence, traumatic early speech difficulty—prefigured in exaggerated form the problems of Jacksonian society. Returning to childhood, in Indian war, Indian treaties, and Indian removal, Jackson mastered its regressive appeal. He infused American politics with regenerated paternal authority” (p. 15). Rogin clearly argues, “Jackson first developed, in Indian relations, the major formulas of Jacksonian Democracy” (p. 166).
One of the definitive features of Rogin’s work deals
with Jackson’s Indian policies and removal. He details at great length how
Jackson made the Indians feel childlike, which caused them to want his help and
allowed him to have the power as a father figure to protect them from the white
people wanting to move into their land. Thus, Jackson placed himself in a
position to remove the Indians without feeling guilty for his actions. According
to Rogin, Jackson’s plan of removal gave the Indians little agency because Jackson
viewed the Indians as children. However, Rogin fails to mention the nativist uprisings
in the Indian culture. In Facing East
from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America, Daniel Richter
notes that, “Whatever may have been their attitudes toward the British,
nativists among both Creeks and Shawnees had no doubts about who their real
enemies were. Tenskwatawa insisted that Indians ‘were not to know the Americans
on any account, but to keep them at a distance.’ Red Sticks called for the
obliteration of ‘everything received from the Americans, [and] all the Chiefs
and their adherents…friendly to the customs and ways of the White people’” (p. 230).
Therefore, this picture shows that Indians did indeed exhibit some agency,
unlike Rogin’s portrayal of Jackson’s paternalistic perspective of the Indians being
like children.
The main weakness in Fathers & Children is Rogins use of psychoanalytical terms. I
studied some psychology in my undergraduate studies, and even I had difficulty
remembering some of the terms Rogin used. He should have described some of the
terms, such as the superego and id, to help a reader not informed in
psychological language better understand his arguments.
Moreover, Fathers & Children presents a negative description of Jackson. Although the man was certainly flawed, he has many admirable characteristics that are not necessarily adverse to his personality. For example, Rogin does describe his strength of character, but he presents it from a psychoanalytical point of view that makes Jackson seem reactive and harsh. Consequently, Rogin’s persistent attempt to psychoanalyze the motivations and actions of Jackson in dealing with the Indians did not settle well with me. It is very difficult to determine a person’s sole motivation in determining actions because people are complex. Albeit, Rogin had a plethora of facts and evidence for his research, it seemed as if he forced his information to fit his thesis.
Regardless of whether Jackson’s motives were psychoanalytical in removing the Indians from their land, he certainly did not live up to the Biblical principle found in Matthew 25:40, “‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” This is an excellent biblical truth for us today, and we should remember it especially as it applies to some important social and political issues in our day. Human trafficking and abortion are horrible atrocities committed every day in our country. As Christians, we need to defend these innocent victims.
Works Cited:
Richter, Daniel K. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early
America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
Rogin, Michael Paul. Fathers & Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the
American Indian. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2009.
Moreover, Fathers & Children presents a negative description of Jackson. Although the man was certainly flawed, he has many admirable characteristics that are not necessarily adverse to his personality. For example, Rogin does describe his strength of character, but he presents it from a psychoanalytical point of view that makes Jackson seem reactive and harsh. Consequently, Rogin’s persistent attempt to psychoanalyze the motivations and actions of Jackson in dealing with the Indians did not settle well with me. It is very difficult to determine a person’s sole motivation in determining actions because people are complex. Albeit, Rogin had a plethora of facts and evidence for his research, it seemed as if he forced his information to fit his thesis.
Regardless of whether Jackson’s motives were psychoanalytical in removing the Indians from their land, he certainly did not live up to the Biblical principle found in Matthew 25:40, “‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” This is an excellent biblical truth for us today, and we should remember it especially as it applies to some important social and political issues in our day. Human trafficking and abortion are horrible atrocities committed every day in our country. As Christians, we need to defend these innocent victims.
Works Cited:
Richter, Daniel K. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early
America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
Rogin, Michael Paul. Fathers & Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the
American Indian. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2009.
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