Andrew Jackson and Flat Earth?

[hgc]

I was flying today, and in the US Airways in-flight magazine was a fun little presidential multiple choice trivia quiz. There was one question to which I did not know the answer: Which president believed the Earth was flat? The answer was Andrew Jackson.

Never knew that. Sounds like an apocryphal tale. But also, if true, that'd be an important thing to know about a past (even if long past) President. So I went googling around a little bit, and the only references I found were of dubious scholarship -- flat claim, no evidence.

Anyone know about this? Can you point to a more authoritative source than what I found in my cursory search?

[Undesired Walrus]

This what you came across too? From "A funny thing happened on the way to the White House":

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T9iQPsfFGgMC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=andrew+jackson+flat+earth&source=web&ots=Tl3WoqCBTz&sig=tG-xAPzJrKe6kmfzo5uHxpClI98&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result

[hgc]

This what you came across too? From "A funny thing happened on the way to the White House":

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T9iQPsfFGgMC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=andrew+jackson+flat+earth&source=web&ots=Tl3WoqCBTz&sig=tG-xAPzJrKe6kmfzo5uHxpClI98&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result


No, hadn't seen that one. Sounds like a something that might easily have been said about him in a political campaign though, whether it be true or not.

[BenBurch]

Andrew Jackson was not a very educated man, remember.

[hgc]

Andrew Jackson was not a very educated man, remember.


But he was a natural phonetic speller. One source claimed that he spelled Europe "Urop."

[BenBurch]

But he was a natural phonetic speller. One source claimed that he spelled Europe "Urop."

Not a bad attempt, really. English does not have rational spelling rules.

[MG1962]

Andrew Jackson was not a very educated man, remember.

Yeah he was in the war before he was about 14 or 15. And I suppose we can forgive him for his lack of education. He was a good to passable soldier, a very good lawyer, and obviously a great politican.

[Cainkane1]

He also didn't believe in human rights. He forced peaceful Indians to abandon their homes and move to another part of the country. From what I have read about him he could barely read or write.

[dudalb]

He also didn't believe in human rights. He forced peaceful Indians to abandon their homes and move to another part of the country. From what I have read about him he could barely read or write.


I think we can put you in the Anti Jackson camp.

BUt the barely read or write is crap. He was a sucessful lawyer, and a lot of his speeches and letters are quite literate.
Yes, his policy toward the Indians was shameful, but he was not much different then most whites of his time in that. To judge somebody through the prisms of the 21st Century is pretty unfair.

[dudalb]

Not a bad attempt, really. English does not have rational spelling rules.


Jackson did not have much formal education, but then neither did Abraham Lincoln. Both became attorneys by reading law with a local attorney...which was standard for the time.

[tomwaits]

He also beat his would-be assassinator with his cane, according to legend. That's got to be worth something.

[dudalb]

He also beat his would-be assassinator with his cane, according to legend. That's got to be worth something.


You are probably talking about the duel with Thomas Hart Benton. That was not quite an assisnation, since the quarrel was purely private and had nothing to do with Jackson Politics, but it was one hell of a fight. It reads like something out of a Sergio Leone western.
You can ..and I am...very critical of some of Jackson's policies but he was one hell of a colorful character and tough as hell.

[hgc]

You are probably talking about the duel with Thomas Hart Benton. That was not quite an assisnation, since the quarrel was purely private and had nothing to do with Jackson Politics, but it was one hell of a fight. It reads like something out of a Sergio Leone western.
You can ..and I am...very critical of some of Jackson's policies but he was one hell of a colorful character and tough as hell.


OK, that was funny. I was wondering how a painter from the next century dueled with Andrew Jackson. Then I did a little research and found out about the other Thomas Hart Benton, first ever 5-term U.S. Senator and great uncle to the really famous one. Also father-in-law of John C. Fremont and cousin-in-law of Henry Clay. Lots of family connections in the early days of the Republic, eh?

[tomwaits]

You are probably talking about the duel with Thomas Hart Benton. That was not quite an assisnation, since the quarrel was purely private and had nothing to do with Jackson Politics, but it was one hell of a fight. It reads like something out of a Sergio Leone western.
You can ..and I am...very critical of some of Jackson's policies but he was one hell of a colorful character and tough as hell.


Although he was quite the duelist (13 duels!), I'm actually referring to this event (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_jackson#Attack_and_assassination_attempt):

On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting President of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol Building. When Jackson was leaving the Capitol Building out of the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed and deranged house-painter from England, either burst from a crowd or stepped out from hiding behind a column and aimed a pistol at Jackson which misfired. Lawrence then pulled out a second pistol which also misfired. It has since been postulated that the moisture from the humid weather of the day contributed to the double misfiring. [41] Lawrence was then restrained, with legend saying that Jackson attacked Lawrence with his cane, prompting his aides to restrain him. Others present, including David Crockett, restrained and disarmed Lawrence.

The assassinator's motives were mental illness, as he felt that once he killed Jackson he could become the King of England.

It was immortalized in this great drawing:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c2/JacksonAssassinationAttempt.jpg

[ponderingturtle]

I think we can put you in the Anti Jackson camp.

BUt the barely read or write is crap. He was a sucessful lawyer, and a lot of his speeches and letters are quite literate.
Yes, his policy toward the Indians was shameful, but he was not much different then most whites of his time in that. To judge somebody through the prisms of the 21st Century is pretty unfair.

And who would have thought that a president should listen to the supreme court? That is not what any proper man thought in that day.