American History Tellers - Encore: The Age of Jackson | Washington Burns | 1

Episode Date: June 8, 2022

In 1814, British troops burned down the White House. That fire would be extinguished, and the Executive Mansion would be rebuilt. But another fire smoldered on – a fire that would eventually consume the United States. This is Antebellum America: the decades leading up to the Civil War.This was America’s adolescence. The young nation was growing at tremendous speed, forcing its leaders to address fundamental questions about their country’s identity and values. Could the individual states put aside their differences to remain united? And could this new country live up to its lofty ideals, especially when it came to issues like slavery or the treatment of Native Americans?One leader shaped this era more than any other: America’s reluctant seventh president, Andrew Jackson.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersPlease support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. This summer, American History Tellers will present a special seven-part series on one of the most pivotal and violent events in our nation's history, the Civil War. But first, we're bringing you an encore presentation of a series about the war's origins. In The Age of Jackson, we trace the decades leading up to the Civil War by telling the story of America's beloved and controversial seventh president, Andrew Jackson. Jackson was a pro-slavery Southerner who nevertheless believed in the importance of a strong union.

But in this six-part series, you'll hear rumblings of the forces that ultimately tore the Union apart. Imagine it's August 24th, 1814. You're a clerk at the State Department. Rumors of an impending British invasion are rampant, and the residents of Washington City are in a panic. People are fleeing the city in droves, hysterical over the prospect of a British attack on the Capitol. You stand side by side with a fellow clerk on the front steps of the State Department, waiting for orders from the Secretary of State. Do you think the Brits are coming? I don't know. And that's the truth. You don't know. No one does. Four days ago, British troops landed at the port town of Benedict, Maryland and started advancing north. That very same day, your boss, Secretary of State James Monroe, and a small envoy of scouts left Washington to spy on the British forces and determine their ultimate destination. It's here or Baltimore. Where else would they be marching?

You don't have an answer. All you have are your orders. Hold your position at the State Department and await further instructions. And so, standing on the front steps, overlooking the melee of panicked citizens in the streets, you wait. The British and the Americans have been at war for almost two years now. The War of 1812 between the United States and Britain began as part of a much wider conflict in Europe, the Napoleonic Wars, that pitted Great Britain against France. But in April 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte, the self-styled Emperor of the French, had been defeated and forced into exile.

With the French out of the way, the British were free to concentrate their efforts against their former colony, the United States. Standing on the steps of the State Department, something in the street catches your eye. A lone rider at full gallop barrels through the crowd. A dispatch from Secretary Monroe, sir. The enemy are in full march for Washington. Your heart sinks, but there's no time for despair.

The British are coming to Washington. With no troops to defend her, the Capitol will surely fall. But your orders aren't to defend the city. Secretary Monroe has charged you with an altogether different task. Take the best care of the official books and papers of the office. All the documents are invaluable, but time is running out, and this is triage. So you start with the most important documents, the records of the Continental Congress, George Washington's papers, and the United States Constitution. You order the men to load up the wagons as you step

back inside the State Department for one final look. That's when you see it, hanging there on the wall of the State Department in a dark wooden frame. How could you have forgotten this? You reach into your pocket, pull out a small knife, and cut the document right out of its frame. You wrap the precious parcel in linen and load it in the back of one of the carts. Where to, sir? Edgar Patterson's Mill, just across the river. And with that, your duty is done. The carts leave Washington City, bound for the Virginia side of the Potomac River, carrying with them the earliest recorded history of the United States. Later that night, you sit down and pour yourself a much-deserved glass of brandy when it hits you.

You've made a terrible mistake. The Patterson Mill is close to a foundry contracted by the American government to make arms, cannon, and shells. The Brits will no doubt sack the mill and confiscate the munitions, which means you've just sent your charge right into the path of the British Army. You mount your horse and gallop off into the night. You round up the wagons one by one, over 20 of them in all, and redirect the documents to their new destination, a safe house in Leesburg, Virginia, well out of harm's way. Exhausted, and with the documents securely stowed away, you check into an inn to rest for the night.

You fall into a deep sleep before your head even hits the pillow. You don't hear the sounds of British troops marching outside your window in the night. You don't hear the growing silence as those troops move further and further away towards their fateful destination. And through the window, looking very much like the dark wooden frame from which you cut the Declaration of Independence, you don't see the flames creeping up over the tree line as Washington begins to burn. about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. Listen to The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery comes a new series about a lawyer who broke all the rules. Need to launder some money? Broker a deal with a drug cartel? Take out a witness? Paul can do it.

I'm your host, Brandon Jinks Jenkins. Follow Criminal Attorney on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. I'm Lindsey Graham. On our show, we'll take you to the events, the times, and the people that shaped America and Americans, our values, our struggles, and our dreams. We'll put you in the shoes of everyday citizens as history was being made. We'll put you in the shoes of everyday citizens as history was being made. We'll also show you how these events affected the country, our people, and affects you today. This series takes us from the smoking remains of the White House right up until the

eve of the Civil War. That period of 50 years, from the turn of the century until 1850, is often called the antebellum, literally before the war. This is the adolescence of the United States. The country grew at a tremendous pace, and fundamental questions arose. Could the states put their individual differences aside and remain united? Could this new country live up to its lofty ideals, especially when it came to issues like slavery or the treatment of Native Americans. Much of this time period has another name, eponymous of a man whose life and presidency played a pivotal role in shaping the country. This was the

age of Jackson. Andrew Jackson, America's seventh president, was born on March 15, 1767, in a community of Scotch-Irish immigrants on the border between North and South Carolina. His father died before he was born, and he was brought up by his mother. He was eight years old at the start of the Revolutionary War and was encouraged by his mother to join the local militia. He did, and worked alongside his brother Robert as couriers. In 1781, the brothers were captured by the British and held prisoner. When young Andrew refused an order to clean one of the officer's boots, the soldiers slashed the boy's hands and face with his sword,

leaving him with two new features, scars and a lifelong hatred of the British. Jackson would later tell his wife, I owe to Britain a debt of retaliatory vengeance. Should our forces meet, I trust I shall pay the debt. His vendetta was seeded deep and early, and Jackson was no stranger to death. He survived the war, but most of his immediate family did not. His brother Robert contracted smallpox while in captivity and died soon after they were released. Another brother died of heat stroke during a battle early on in the war, and his mother, who volunteered to nurse American captives aboard British prison ships, died of cholera.

After the war, Jackson trained under several lawyers in North Carolina, learning enough to pass the bar exam in 1787, despite never having attended a university. He became a public prosecutor, and a year later he headed to what was then called the Western District of North Carolina, to the small border town of Nashville. There, he met Rachel Donaldson Roberts, the daughter of the widow whose house he was staying in, and the two fell in love. There was a problem, though. Roberts was only technically separated from her first husband. She and Jackson married in 1791, but later discovered that her earlier divorce had not been properly completed. By the law, they'd been living in

bigamy. This would later come back to haunt them both. But prior to those troubles, Rachel and Andrew picked out a spot for a plantation about 10 miles from Nashville. Because he was thinking about retiring, he originally wanted to call his home Rural Retreat, but in the end he settled on a different name, The Hermitage. Within a few years, he had a log cabin, a cotton still, a cotton press, and slaves. He had joined the class of wealthy white plantation owners who made their money on the backs of forced labor. Over the course of his life, historians estimate that Jackson owned around 300 African enslaved persons. They worked on his plantation picking, sorting, and packing

cotton, and Jackson valued that work. In 1804, he posted a notice in the Tennessee Gazette with the headline, Stop the Runaway, offering a $50 reward for any person that will take him and deliver him to me, or secure him in jail so that I can get him. If taken out of state, the above reward and all reasonable expenses paid, and $10 extra for every 100 lashes any person will give him to the amount of $300. The issue of slavery would come to dominate the political debates at the time. Jackson would remain a public supporter of slavery throughout his entire political career. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1795

that led to the West District of Carolina becoming the state of Tennessee. He was then elected Tennessee's first congressman and then a senator. Later, he was elected to serve as judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court. In 1802, he ran against former Governor John Sevier to be major general in charge of the state militia and won in a tie broken by the current governor. He was a cunning and hungry politician, but soon proved to be even more. It's dawn, the morning of May 30th, 1806. You and an old friend are standing on the banks of the Red River near Logan, Kentucky. Across from you, a good distance away, there's another man standing at the ready, his companion dutifully by his side. The man fiddles with the hammer of his pistol. He practices taking aim.

His eyes are cold, his gaze piercing. You know him from your time in Tennessee. A frontiersman and a soldier, he has a reputation for being a brute. You'd be lying if you said you weren't worried. Who's to fire the first shot? I am. That's a relief. Don't worry.

Let's make it 27, shall we? He means 27 dead men. Your friend Charles Dickinson is a crack shot, maybe the best marksman in the state of Tennessee, and a dueler of wide renown, having laid low 26 men prior. But still, there's something about his opponent that gives you pause. They say he's mad, Charles. He must be. Letting you shoot first is hardly a strategy. Well, I'll never look a gift horse in the mouth. Let's get on. You're a doctor, but hope not to use your professional skills today. In a typical duel, before the firing begins, the seconds will try to parlay for peace to avoid bloodshed. But it's clear there's no space for negotiations. Charles has insulted this man's wife, raking up mud from the past by accusing her of bigamy.

This is a matter of honor. The two men stand back to back, pace forward to find their marks, turn, and face each other. It's time for you to play your part. You take a deep breath, close your eyes, and call out, Fire!

When you open your eyes, the man is not on his back. He isn't writhing in pain. He stands there, motionless, unfazed. You look to Charles, his expression incredulous. My God, have I missed? But Charles did not miss. Smoke billows from a hole in his opponent's coat, right over the heart. But the man didn't stumble or fall. He didn't wince or cry out in pain. Smoke billows from a hole in his opponent's coat, right over the heart.

But the man didn't stumble or fall. He didn't wince or cry out in pain. He holds his ground. He cocks his pistol and takes aim. You wish Charles would run. You wish he would reload his pistol and defend himself. But you know he won't. He can't. The rules of dueling forbid it.

Honor demands Charles stay on his mark. The man is deliberate. He closes one eye and takes careful aim. They are only 24 feet apart. The gun doesn't fire. Charles breathes a sigh of relief, and so do you. It's over. You say a quick prayer of thanks.

Your friend is lucky to be alive. But the other man is shot in the chest. He'll need medical attention. You're just about to take a step in his direction to tend to his wound when he re-cocks his pistol. Before you can utter a word in protest... The doctor in this story is Dr. Hanson Catlett, the appointed second to Charles Dickinson,

who would succumb to his wounds only a few hours later. The victorious challenger was, of course, Andrew Jackson. Dickinson's shot nearly killed Jackson, the ball lodging just inches from his heart. His doctor marveled, I don't see how you stayed on your feet after that wound. Jackson replied, I would have stood up long enough to kill him if he had put a bullet in my brain. Some would call this brutality a fair fight,

but many others believe the duel was over the moment Jackson's gun misfired, and that Dickinson's death was a murder. Either way, it was Jackson who was still alive, vindicated and ruthless. Are you in trouble with the law? Need a lawyer who will fight like hell to keep you out of jail? We defend and we fight just like you'd want your own children defended. Whether you're facing a drug charge, caught up on a murder rap, accused

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Are we excited for this moment? Ah! I cannot believe it. Woo! Buy it now. Stream free on Freeview and Prime Video. By the start of the 1800s, the United States was sliding towards war. Across the Atlantic, the major European countries were locked in a power struggle that pitted the French and their allies against the British and theirs. Both sides waged a trade war through naval blockades, and American ships were often caught in the middle.

The British blockade and war effort required a huge navy. It had ballooned to over 100,000 sailors, ten times its peacetime level. To man their ships, Britain relied on pressed men, sailors forcibly placed into service. This impressment was only allowed of British sailors on British ships, but during wartime, rules weren't always observed. Soon, British sailors on American ships were pressed into service, and then American sailors on American ships. In the United States, the forced boardings of American ships, confiscation United States, the forced boardings of American ships, confiscation of American goods,

and impressment of American sailors incited strong resentment towards the British. It came to a head off the coast of Virginia in the summer of 1807. A British ship, the HMS Leopard, fired upon the USS Chesapeake, killing three and injuring several more. The British boarded the crippled and surrendered Chesapeake to search for deserters. Four former British sailors, three of them Americans pressed into British service, were discovered and taken prisoner. The fourth, the only British subject, was tried, convicted of desertion, and hanged.

What came to be called the Chesapeake Leopard Affair outraged the American public. President Thomas Jefferson observed, Never since the Battle of Lexington have I seen this country in such a state of exasperation as at present. Jefferson responded with the Embargo Act of 1807, an attempt at economic reprisal that mostly just backfired and disgruntled American tradesmen. Finding Jefferson's retaliatory trade statutes too feeble a response, especially now that the British were also aiding and arming Native Americans in the Northwest, the war hawks of Congress, like Kentucky Representative Henry Clay, argued for the invasion and conquest of British Canada.

Anti-British sentiment was at a boiling point. Finally, in June of 1812, after a speech by President James Madison to Congress recounting American grievances against Great Britain, the House and Senate rushed to a vote for war. Madison signed the Declaration 17 days later. At the time, Jackson had his eyes turned south, towards the riches of Florida, and had been for some time advocating its invasion to wrest it from Spain. But with the declaration of war against Britain,

Jackson leapt at the opportunity to offer the services of his Tennessee militia and seek revenge for the trauma of his youth. Within a year, he was marching south with about 2,000 men, intending to help defend New Orleans from British and Native American attack. He got as far as Natchez, then part of the Mississippi Territory, when he was told to disband his troops and relinquish his supplies to the troops already in New Orleans. He gave up his supplies, but refused to abandon his volunteers to find their own way home. Instead, he pledged his own money to finance the supplies needed for the trip back to Tennessee.

The return journey was brutal. The men turned sick and hungry, many reaching the verge of death. Jackson gave up his horse for the sick and marched with the troops, side by side, every back-breaking mile. His fortitude earned the respect of his men and also his most famous nickname, Old Hickory. Native Americans, though, would call him a different name. As settlers pushed ever further into the country, Native Americans had increasingly found themselves forced off their lands. At the turn of the century, two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, encouraged tribes to unite in resistance. A single twig breaks, Tecumseh said, but the bundle of twigs is strong. Among those who took up arms on Tecumseh's side were the Red Sticks, a group of traditionalists from the northern part of the Creek Confederacy. They were opposed by the Lower

Creek Indians, who had a closer relationship with American settlers and sought no war with the United States. But the tension between the Upper and Lower Creeks eventually led to a civil war. In the summer of 1813, a group of Red Sticks attacked. In one battle, 550 settlers, slaves, and allied Native Americans crammed into a tiny plantation fort for protection but could not escape the Red Sticks. Roughly 250 people died, and 100 or so more were taken captive in what became known as the Fort Mims Massacre. The attack caused widespread panic among white settlers, but the bulk of the U.S. Army was tied up fighting the British, so it fell to Jackson and the Tennessee militia to defeat the Red Sticks.

In November 1813, Jackson ordered an attack. The militia secretly encircled a creek village and lured out the Red Stick warriors who believed they had the superior numbers. The trap was sprung. The Red Sticks were surrounded and slaughtered. One of the militiamen, Davy Crockett, said the Tennessee men shot them down like dogs. 186 Red Stick warriors were killed, as well as many women and children. Years later, Lieutenant Richard Keith Call described the village after the attack.

It was to me a horrible and revolting scene. The battle had ended in the village, the warriors fighting in their board houses, which gave little protection against the rifle bullets or musket ball. They fought in the midst of their wives and children, who frequently shared their bloody fate. More than a thousand Red Sticks would die in the fighting between 1813 and 1814, and many more were driven from their homes. These American military successes were noticed and led to Jackson's appointment as a U.S. Army Major General in charge of Tennessee, Louisiana, the Mississippi Territory, and the Creek Nation. He was also in charge of negotiations for peace when the Red Sticks finally surrendered.

His terms were harsh. To the dismay of the Native Americans who had fought alongside him, Jackson did not distinguish between upper and lower Creek factions and forced them all to give up 23 million acres of land to the United States government, almost half of the entire Creek nation. The defeated Creek, in the face of Jackson's unyielding and unforgiving terms, gave him a new nickname, Sharp Knife. By the summer of 1814, after two years of fighting, American and British diplomats were looking for a way to end the war. They met in Ghent, a city in what is today Belgium and a neutral location.

Pressing their side, the British demanded a creation of a state for Native Americans stretching from Ohio to Wisconsin. The objective was, in part, to create a barrier to further American expansion. Of course, the Americans would refuse, in their words, any system arresting their natural growth within their own territories for the sake of preserving a perpetual desert for savages. But the British continued with demands, including the removal of all American naval forces from the Great Lakes and guaranteed British access to the Mississippi River. They believed that they could drive a hard bargain, largely because they had four invasions of North America planned or underway during the negotiations.

One resulted in the burning of the capital, where we started this episode. But that expedition failed in its real goal to take Baltimore. A second British force invaded the district of Maine, capturing a few towns. A third and much larger force of 10,000 men invaded New York, but were routed at the Battle of Plattsburgh, sending them in retreat to Canada. By the end of the year, British negotiators had lost their leverage. A much more equitable deal was struck. Pre-war borders would be restored and both sides would return captured land. The British handed back territory near Lake Superior and Michigan and those taken recently in Maine. The Americans

would give up parts of Upper Canada in what is now Ontario. The treaty also promised to return to Native Americans all possessions, rights, and privileges which they may have enjoyed or been entitled to in 1811. Everything was as it was before the war started. It was almost as if the war wasn't fought at all, except that it was still being fought. News of the agreement at Ghent would not reach the United States for another month. Meanwhile, there was the fourth invasion planned by the British, intended to take New Orleans. In 1814, the former French city of New Orleans had only been in American hands for 11 years. Now, it looked to be in real danger of falling to the British. As a strategic port at the mouth of the Mississippi, its loss would be a major blow to the

Americans. But rumors of the invasion, its loss would be a major blow to the Americans. But rumors of the invasion reached Andrew Jackson weeks before the British fleet could arrive. He and his men rushed to its defense, but Jackson was anxious and ill. On the journey, he suffered an enervating attack of dysentery and the continued effects of lead poisoning from the bullets still lodged in his chest since his 1813 duel with Dickinson. He later confided to his wife that he ate nothing on the nine-day journey, and it showed. According to one witness, when Jackson arrived, his complexion was sallow and unhealthy, his hair iron-gray, and his body thin and emaciated, like that of one who had just recovered from a lingering sickness.

But whatever the state of his health, Jackson had little time to waste. The British fleet was impending, and New Orleans was not prepared for an attack. Jackson tried rallying the local populace, urging them to shore up their defenses, but from the moment he arrived, he faced challenges. First, there is the practical question of just being understood. Most of New Orleans was still speaking French at the time, and his militia was a motley crew. All his orders had to be translated into both French and Spanish for them to be understood fully. There was also the question of loyalty. Jackson was deeply suspicious of the city's residents.

There were rumors that the British were encouraging New Orleans Black residents to revolt, while many of the city's whites seemed to harbor allegiances to France and Spain, not the United States. Finally, there was another small matter, pirates. Their ships lurked just off the coast of Louisiana, and their loyalties were always suspect. But in adversity, Jackson saw opportunity. Jackson offered the pirates amnesty in exchange for their weapons and support.

And to quell possible revolt, he recruited Black residents and Creek tribal members to fight alongside his Tennessee regiment. His plan was to keep the factions close. He said, distrust them and you make them your enemies. Place confidence in them and you engage them by every dear and honorable tie. But in case his moves to shore up support through alliance and agreement did not fully quash insurrection, he took pains to impress upon the city that his reputation for ruthlessness was well earned. He had announcements

printed on large pieces of paper and distributed around the city. Those who are not for us are against us and will be dealt with accordingly. And then, on December 16, 1814, for the first time anywhere in American history, General Jackson suspended habeas corpus in the city. New Orleans was under martial law. Richard Bandler revolutionized the world of self-help all thanks to an approach he developed called neuro-linguistic programming. Even though NLP worked for some, its methods have been criticized for being dangerous in the wrong hands. Throw in Richard's dark past as a cocaine addict and murder suspect, and you can't help but wonder what his true intentions were. I'm Saatchi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee. And we're the hosts of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery

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hilariously thrilling podcast that will leave you wondering, how would you spend your last few minutes on Earth? You can binge Incoming exclusively and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Imagine it's January, 1815. Smoke can be seen rising from British campfires just nine miles from the city.

You and a neighbor have been working all day, digging a trench on the outskirts of New Orleans, an improvised mile-long barricade made out of barrels and sugar casks mortared together with mud. The early January sun set hours ago, and your exhaustion and the impossibility of working any further by lantern light stops your progress. You are tired. And filthy. And anxious. Do you think they'll try and take the city soon?

It can't be much longer. Their fleet has been off the coast for weeks now. You know what they call us, right? Who? The British. They call us dirty shirts. You really think a mile of mud and sticks is going to stop the British Navy? Your neighbor shakes his head. No. I don't reckon much on this earth can stop the British. Not even old hickory. At the mention of the name, you check the clock tower in the distance. It's almost nine. Jackson has ordered a strict curfew, and you've yet to pass the checkpoint

coming into the city. We better get moving. That tyrant will have us in the jailhouse a minute after nine. And so the two of you quicken your step. New Orleans is on edge. People are scared of the British invasion, sure, but you're worried about the Hawkeye general overseeing the defense of the city. His temper is legendary. He's known to lash out when given advice that displeases him, and he did not like hearing martial law might not be legal. He did it anyways, of course. You have concerns he's gone too far. On Christmas, the mayor of New Orleans told Jackson that so many people were being arrested that before two days, the guardhouse shall be full. And only a few days ago, one of Jackson's men stopped the members of the legislature from

entering their own meeting room. Some say it was a misunderstanding, but one thing seems clear to you. General Jackson believes he is above the law. The British attack on New Orleans, when it finally came on January 8th, was a disaster. The British heavily outnumbered the Americans and so charged straight into Jackson's barricade. The plan was to quickly overwhelm the American entrenchments and capture their artillery. But in a spectacular blunder, the British forgot their ladders. The earthworks were insurmountable. The fog that had cloaked their approach lifted and they were left completely exposed to American musket and artillery fire. The official report to General Jackson after the attack stated that, in the just

25 minutes of fighting, the British lost 2,600 men to wounds or capture. The Americans lost 13, seven killed and six wounded. The defeat of the British in New Orleans by Andrew Jackson was hailed as a major victory for the Americans. Plucky frontiersmen had fought off professional soldiers, making Jackson the hero of New Orleans. But was he the hero of New Orleanians? He refused to end martial law, claiming that the British could still be planning a surprise attack. He argued that a general has complete authority over what happens inside his camp, even if his camp contained the entire city of New Orleans. Under Jackson's command, dissent was suppressed, and his critics were arrested. A month after the

battle, when most people thought the war was well over, six militiamen were caught trying to leave New Orleans before their term of service had ended. Jackson had them executed. By March, some in New Orleans were getting impatient. It's high time the law should resume their empire, an anonymous writer demanded. The writer didn't stay anonymous. Jackson had him tracked down and arrested. Eventually, word reached the president. Acting Secretary of War Alexander James Dallas wrote to Jackson demanding answers. It would appear that the judicial power of the United States has been resisted, the liberty of the press has been suspended, and the consul and subjects of a friendly government have been exposed to great

inconvenience by an exercise of military force and command. Eventually, Jackson would relent and return the city of New Orleans to civilian control, even paying a thousand dollar fine for contempt of proper legal authority. But he was still in command of army forces in the South. Having beaten back his old foes, the Brits, and risen to national stardom, Andrew Jackson would turn his eyes again towards Florida. Florida had become a refuge for people escaping slavery. The Spanish government had announced that anyone who reached Florida would be allowed to remain free. As word spread, hundreds of slaves crossed the border from Georgia and South Carolina,

many finding refuge and welcome in Creek and Seminole communities. But Jackson had plans to close this sanctuary. During the War of 1812, Spain had allowed British troops to build a fort in Spanish West Florida. At the end of the war, the British left the fort and its munitions in the hands of escaped slaves, free blacks, and local Native Americans who launched cross-border raids into Georgia. The Negro Fort, as it was widely known, became a beacon of hope for many fleeing the bondages of slavery. But it was also a scourge for the plantation owners who feared its very existence might inspire revolt among the

slave class. The Savannah Journal published an article asking, how long shall this evil, requiring immediate remedy, be permitted to exist? Jackson felt the same. In a letter to one of his commanders, he wrote, I have no doubt that this fort has been established by some villains for the purpose of murder, rape, and plunder, and that it ought to be blown up regardless of the ground it stands on. If you have come to the same conclusion, destroy it and restore the stolen Negroes and property to their rightful owners. Even though the fort was in Spanish territory, Jackson wanted it destroyed. Supply ships, ostensibly en route to Fort Scott, had to take the Apalachicola River from the Gulf, through Spanish Florida, and past the Negro Fort.

Two gunships accompanied the convoy. Passing the fort, as Jackson had hoped, the Americans were fired upon, providing the U.S. forces sufficient cause to fire back. The ships fired only nine rounds. The ninth was a hot shot, a cannonball heated until it glowed a fierce red. By pure luck, this ninth shot landed in the fort's gunpowder stores. The resulting explosion was described as that of 100,000 cannons and was heard in Pensacola, a hundred miles away.

Almost all of the fort's 300 inhabitants died instantly. Colonel Duncan Clinch, who led a ground expedition to the fort, wrote, the explosion was awful and the scene was horrible beyond description. Our first care on arriving on the scene was to rescue and relieve the unfortunate beings who survived the explosion. The war yells of the Indians was to rescue and relieve the unfortunate beings who survived the explosion. The war yells of the Indians, the cries and lamentations of the wounded, compelled the soldier to pause in the midst of victory to drop a tear for the sufferings of his fellow beings, to acknowledge that the ruler of the universe must have used us as his instrument in chastening the bloodthirsty and murderous wretches that defended the fort. The attack on the Negro fort would not be Jackson's only campaign in Florida.

American settlers along the Florida borders frequently complained that the Spanish were allowing Native Americans to cross the border and attack them with impunity. In 1817, President James Monroe ordered Jackson to terminate the conflict. The wording of the order was vague, but for Jackson, it was all the approval he needed for a full-scale invasion. Four months later, Jackson marched into Florida with 4,000 men. He destroyed Native American villages and hamlets of former slaves. He captured and executed British subjects found living in Florida. And by May, he had taken Pensacola and installed a military governor.

Florida was in the hands of the Americans. There was an immediate outcry abroad and at home. The Spanish were outraged by the invasion, but were powerless to fight back. The British, too, condemned the executions of their citizens, but were not prepared to go to fight back. The British, too, condemned the executions of their citizens, but were not prepared to go to war again. Some in Congress also felt Jackson had gone too far.

There were whispers he would become an American Napoleon, a new tyrant on a horse. Resolutions were drafted that condemned Jackson's actions. But he was the hero of New Orleans and continued to enjoy enormous popular support. Even the Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun, wanted Jackson court-martialed. But others, like Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, sought to exploit Jackson's invasion to U.S. advantage. Adams was in negotiations with his Spanish.

He argued that, as Jackson had shown, they didn't have any control over what happened in Florida and could either sell it to the U.S. or the U.S. could just take it by force. When the United States did take possession of Florida from Spain through treaty in 1821, Jackson became its first military governor. But by that time, anyone could see he was aiming for higher office. Andrew Jackson wanted to be president. From Wondery, this is episode one of The Age of Jackson from American History Tellers. On the next episode, Jackson's newfound celebrity looks set to put him in the White House, but past personal scandals, as well as revelations about some of his actions as a military leader,

threaten to stop him. If you like American History Tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. American History Tellers is hosted, sound designed, and edited by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship. Additional production assistance by Derek Behrens. This episode is written by Christopher Schumay, produced by George Lavender.

Our senior producer is Andy Herman. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marshall Louis for Wondering. on the dark web to kill her. And she wasn't the only target. Because buried in the depths of the internet is The Kill List, a cache of chilling documents containing names, photos, addresses, and specific instructions for people's murders. This podcast is the true story of how I ended up in a race against time to warn those whose lives were in danger. And it turns out convincing a total stranger someone wants them dead is not easy. Follow Kill List on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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