Digital Collections
Andrew Jackson Papers
The Andrew Jackson Papers at the Library of Congress contain more than 26,000 items dating from 1767 to 1874. Included are memoranda, journals, speeches, military records, land deeds, and miscellaneous printed matter, as well as correspondence reflecting Jackson’s personal life and career as a politician, military officer, president, slave holder and property owner.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
The complete Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 20,000 documents. The collection is organized into three "General Correspondence" series which include incoming and outgoing correspondence and enclosures, drafts of speeches, and notes and printed material. Most of the 20,000 items are from the 1850s through Lincoln's presidential years, 1860-65.
Search the collection on each of the following exact phrases to find numerous references to Andrew Jackson in letters and other documents: Andrew Jackson, President Jackson, Pres. Jackson, General Jackson, Gen. Jackson, Old Hickory.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
- A letter from Andrew Jackson to Andrew I. Crawford, Wednesday, May 01, 1833, on nullification and slavery, with transcription.
- Abraham Lincoln, Thursday, July 27, 1848 (speech on Taylor and veto, criticizing the political use of Jackson's reputation).
- A letter from Winfield Scott to James Buchanan, Saturday, December 15, 1860, citing Jackson's actions during the Nullification Crisis of 1833.
- A letter from Francis P. Blair Sr. to Abraham Lincoln, Monday, January 14, 1861 (compromise with South, citing Jackson's example).
- A letter from Abraham Lincoln to Erastus Corning and Others, [June] 1863 (Copy No. 1 of Lincoln's reply to resolutions concerning military arrests and suspension of habeas corpus, citing Jackson's example)
African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection, 1818-1907
The Daniel A. P. Murray Pamphlet Collection presents a panoramic and eclectic review of African-American history and culture, spanning almost one hundred years from the early nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries, with the bulk of the material published between 1875 and 1900. Search the full text on the each of the exact phrases Andrew Jackson, President Jackson, and General Jackson (do not put quotation marks around the words) to find multiple instances of Jackson’s impact on the experience and memories of African Americans. Highlights include:
The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana
Alfred Whital Stern (1881-1960) of Chicago presented his outstanding collection of Lincolniana to the Library of Congress in 1953. Begun by Mr. Stern in the 1920s, the collection documents the life of Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) both through writings by and about Lincoln as well as a large body of publications concerning the issues of the times including slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, and related topics.
Search on the subject Andrew Jackson to find references to Jackson and his political legacy in Lincoln’s day, including the broadside “Democracy 1832. 1864.”
America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets
For most of the nineteenth century, before the advent of phonograph and radio technologies, Americans learned the latest songs from printed song sheets. Not to be confused with sheet music, song sheets are single printed sheets, usually six by eight inches, with lyrics but no music. These were new songs being sung in music halls or new lyrics to familiar songs, like "Yankee Doodle" or "The Last Rose of Summer." Song sheets are an early example of a mass medium and today they offer a unique perspective on the political, social, and economic life of the time, including the powerful and enduring imprint Andrew Jackson made in the American popular imagination.
Search the collection on each of the following exact phrases (do not put quotation marks around the words) to find several dozen items referring to Andrew Jackson: Andrew Jackson, President Jackson, General Jackson, Old Hickory, Hickory Jackson. Searching on the individual terms Jackson or Hickory will yield additional examples.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes the sheets for the following songs:
American Notes: Travels in America, 1750 to 1920
This collection comprises 253 published narratives by Americans and foreign visitors recounting their travels in the colonies and the United States and their observations and opinions about American peoples, places, and society from about 1750 to 1920. Also included is the thirty-two-volume set of manuscript sources entitled Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, published between 1904 and 1907 after diligent compilation by the distinguished historian and secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society Reuben Gold Thwaites. Search on the exact phrases Andrew Jackson, President Jackson, General Jackson, Gen. Jackson, or Old Hickory to find numerous references to Jackson and his importance to nineteenth-century Americans, including:
An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals, ca. 1490-1920
This is a collection of more than two hundred social-dance manuals, as well as a significant number of antidance manuals, histories, treatises on etiquette, and items from other conceptual categories. Many of the manuals also provide historical information on theatrical dance. In addition to references to "Jackson's Hornpipe," generally believed to have been named in honor of the president, this collection includes The American dancing master, and ball-room prompter: containing about five hundred dances including all the latest and most fashionable ... (1862), which gives instructions for a dance called "Jackson at New Orleans."
American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I
The collection consists of fifty-nine sound recordings of speeches by American leaders from 1918-1920. The speeches focus on issues and events surrounding the First World War and the subsequent presidential election of 1920. In a speech on the achievements of the Democratic Party, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Champ Clark invokes Jackson's legacy.
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938
This collection contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). They include two narratives with materials relevant to Andrew Jackson:
Search the full text on the exact phrase General Jackson (do not put quotation marks around the words) to find three other references to Andrew Jackson.
Capital and the Bay: Narratives of Washington and the Chesapeake Bay Region, 1600 to 1925
This collection comprises 139 books selected from the Library of Congress's General Collections and two books from its Rare Book and Special Collections Division. The collection includes first-person narratives, early histories, historical biographies, promotional brochures, and books of photographs that capture in words and pictures a distinctive region as it developed between the onset of European settlement and the first quarter of the twentieth century. Search the collection on the exact phrases Andrew Jackson, President Jackson, General Jackson, Gen. Jackson, or Old Hickory to find numerous references to Jackson, including:
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
This collection contains a large
selection of congressional material related to Andrew Jackson's
military career and his political career as a member of
the House of Representatives, U.S. senator, and president. Search
this collection by date and publication to find materials
related to Jackson.
- The American
State Papers contains the legislative and executive
documents of Congress during the period 1789 to 1838.
- The Annals
of Congress provides the text of congressional
debates from Jackson's service in the House of Representatives
(1796-97) and the U.S. Senate (1797-98 and 1823-25).
- The Register
of Debates provides the text of congressional debates
and presidential messages from Jackson's second term
in the U.S. Senate (1823-25) and his presidency (1829-37),
including his First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh,
and Eighth Annual
Messages to Congress. This publication also contains
Jackson's
veto message regarding the Bank of the United
States dated July 10, 1832.
- The Congressional
Globe provides the text of congressional debates
and presidential messages from Jackson's second term
as president (1833-37), including the Senate's
censure of Jackson on March 28, 1834, for the removal
of the government deposits from the Bank of the United
States. On January 16, 1837, the Senate
expunged the censure by a vote of 24 to 19.
- The United
States Statutes at Large contain the full text
of all the laws enacted and treaties ratified during
Jackson's presidency, including the Indian
Removal Act, Tariff
Act of 1832, Force
Act, and Compromise
Tariff of 1833.
- The special presentation Indian Land Cessions in the United States, 1784 to 1894 provides maps and commentary that can be browsed by date, place, or Indian nation, enabling researchers to trace the outcome of Jackson's campaigns as military leader and president to acquire Indian lands for the United States.
Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection
Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier is a multi-format ethnographic field collection of traditional fiddle tunes performed by Henry Reed of Glen Lyn, Virginia. Recorded by folklorist Alan Jabbour in 1966-67, when Reed was over eighty years old, the tunes represent the music and evoke the history and spirit of Virginia's Appalachian frontier. It includes a "British Field March" that Reed believed had accompanied the British retreat after Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans.
From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909
This collection presents 396 pamphlets from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, published from 1822 through 1909, by African-American authors and others who wrote about slavery, African colonization, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and related topics. Search the full text on the exact phrases Andrew Jackson, President Jackson, General Jackson, or Gen. Jackson (do not put quotation marks around the words) to find multiple references to Jackson, including:
U.S. Presidential Inaugurations: "I Do Solemnly Swear..." A Resource Guide
This collection contains approximately 400 items relating to inaugurations
from George Washington's first in 1789 to the present.
It includes materials from both Andrew Jackson's first
inauguration, in 1829, and his second
inauguration, in 1833.
James Madison Papers, 1723 to 1859
The James Madison Papers from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consist of approximately 12,000 items captured in some 72,000 digital images. The Madison Papers contain more than twenty items to, from, or referring to Andrew Jackson.
James Monroe Papers
The James Monroe Papers at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress consist of approximately 5,200 items dating from 1758 to 1839. Consult the guide to using the James Monroe Papers in order to locate letters to and from Andrew Jackson.
Maps
The Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress holds more than 4.5 million items, of which Map Collections represents only a small fraction, those that have been converted to digital form. The division holds several manuscript maps associated with Andrew Jackson's military career, and some have been digitized as part of Map Collections:
Mapping the National Parks
The collection documents the history, cultural aspects and geological formations of areas that eventually became National Parks. The collection consists of approximately 200 maps dating from the 17th century to the present, reflecting early mapping of the areas that would become four National Parks, as well as the parks themselves. It includes an 1884 Map of the former territorial limits of the Cherokee "Nation of" Indians ; Map showing the territory originally assigned Cherokee "Nation of" Indians, documenting the Cherokees' homelands before Jackson as president forced the Cherokee into exile.
Martin Van Buren Papers, 1787 to 1910
The Martin Van Buren Papers contain more than 6,000 items dating from 1787 to circa 1910. The bulk of the material dates from the 1820s, when Van Buren (1782-1862) was a U.S. senator from New York, through his service as secretary of state and vice president in the Andrew Jackson administrations (1829-1837), to his own presidency (1837-1841) and through the decade thereafter when he made unsuccessful bids to return to the presidency with the Democratic and Free Soil parties. Consult the Calendar of the Papers of Martin Van Buren and the finding aid to the Van Buren Papers to find letters to and from Andrew Jackson.
Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1820 to 1860
This collection consists of over 15,000 pieces of sheet music registered for copyright during the years 1820 to 1860. These works include:
Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820 to 1910
This collection portrays the states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin from the seventeenth to the early twentieth century through first-person accounts, biographies, promotional literature, local histories, ethnographic and antiquarian texts, colonial archival documents, and other works drawn from the Library of Congress's General Collections and Rare Books and Special Collections Division. The collection includes "Three score years and ten," life-long memories of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and other parts of the West, by Charlotte Ouisconsin Van Cleve, which has a chapter of reminiscences about Rachel and Andrew Jackson from the author’s childhood. Search on the exact phrases Andrew Jackson, General Jackson, President Jackson, and Old Hickory to find numerous other references to Jackson.
Posters: WPA Posters
This collection consists of 908 boldly colored and graphically diverse original posters produced from 1936 to 1943 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. It includes a poster for the Federal Theatre Project world premiere of the play "Rachel's Man": A Dramatization of the Life of America's Most Colorful Soldier-Statesman, Andrew Jackson.
Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
The Printed Ephemera collection at the Library of Congress is a rich repository of Americana. In total, the collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. Search the collection on the exact phrases Andrew Jackson, President Jackson, General Jackson, Gen. Jackson, or Old Hickory to find scores of materials by and about Jackson, including:
- Andrew Jackson's inaugural address, on being sworn into office, as President of the United States, March 4th, 1829 ... Washington. Printed at the office of the United States Telegraph [1829].
- Campaign of 1884. Tract No. 8. If General Jackson was alive he would be a Republican. He was opposed to free trade, and so would be against the Democratic party and platform of 1884 ... Vote for Blaine & Logan. [n. p. 1884].
- Catholics, attend! Who are they who wish to deprive you of your religious liberties in this country? I answer, they are those who are the friends of Gen. Jackson … Vote for the ticket headed James Fairlie, our early friend [Signed] An Irish Catholic.
- General orders. Head quarters 2nd division. Nashville, May 24, 1814. Brave Tennesseans, of the 2nd Division ... Andrew Jackson, Major-General Com'd'g 2d Division, T. M. [Nashville, 1814.].
- Glorious news from New Orleans! Splendid victory over the British forces Essex, Register Office. Feb. 9 [1815].
- Inauguration of the equestrian statute of Andrew Jackson ... [Washington, 1852].
- Jackson Ticket. Andrew Jackson. President John C. Calhoun, Vice President [24 candidates] [Virginia 1828], a ballot for Jackson’s election as president.
- Republicans of Old Greene, rally at the call of your country ... We repeat again, turnout and hear the principles of one of the purest Republicans of the age, defended, that of Gen. Jackson. Many voters. September 2d, 1840.
- To the farmers and mechanics of New-Hampshire. In a few days you may be called upon to decide, whether you will live under a monarchial government, or republican government ... [1828].
- To the public. In September, 1824, I published at this place, Nashville, some criminal charges against Gen. Jackson, the most of which I relied on proving by public records ... [Signed] Jesse Benton. City Hotel, Nashville, Oct. 30th, 1828.
- Veto message from the President of the United States, returning the bank bill, with his objections, &c. To the Senate ... Andrew Jackson. Washington, July 10, 1832. Herald Office.
Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921-1929
Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921-1929 assembles a wide array of Library of Congress source materials from the 1920s that document the widespread prosperity of the Coolidge years, the nation's transition to a mass consumer economy, and the role of government in this transition. The collection includes nearly 150 selections from twelve collections of personal papers and two collections of institutional papers from the Manuscript Division; 74 books, pamphlets, and legislative documents from the General Collections, along with selections from 34 consumer and trade journals; 185 photographs from the Prints and Photographs Division and the Manuscript Division; and 5 short films and 7 audio selections of Coolidge speeches from the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.
The collection includes Coolidge Speech: Address . . . Accepting the Statue of President Andrew Jackson at Washington, D.C., April 15, 1928. From Hand Copies: Speeches of President Calvin Coolidge, Preserved by Everett Sanders. In the Everett Sanders Papers, in which Coolidge pays tribute to Jackson.
Slaves and the Courts, 1740 to 1860
Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860 contains just over a hundred pamphlets and books (published between 1772 and 1889) concerning the difficult and troubling experiences of African and African-American slaves in the American colonies and the United States. The documents, most from the Law Library and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress, comprise an assortment of trials and cases, reports, arguments, accounts, examinations of cases and decisions, proceedings, journals, a letter, and other works of historical importance. Search the collection using the phrases Andrew Jackson or General Jackson to find several references to him, including History of the Oberlin-Wellington rescue / compiled by Jacob R. Shipherd ; with an introduction by Henry E. Peck and Ralph Plumb, which includes a chapter that invokes Jackson's doctrine of constitutional interpretation.
Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606 to 1827
The complete Thomas Jefferson Papers from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 27,000 documents, including fourteen items to or from Andrew Jackson. For additional references to Jackson and in particular his military career, search on the term Jackson (note that most of the additional hits received will not be relevant).
Among the collection’s Jackson-related materials are:
- Andrew Jackson, 1803, General Order on Spanish Encroachment.
- Thomas Jefferson to Andrew Jackson, December 3, 1806, on the prospect of war with Spain.
- Andrew Jackson to Thomas Jefferson, December 8, 1823, apologizing for not having visited him.
- Andrew Jackson to Martha Randolph, December 31, 1829, thanking Jefferson's daughter for sending him a cane that had belonged to her deceased father.
Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861 to 1865
Washington during the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865 presents three manuscript volumes, totaling 1,240 digital images, that document daily life in Washington, D. C., through the eyes of Horatio Nelson Taft (1806-1888), an examiner for the U. S. Patent Office. In his diary entry for January 8, 1863, Taft notes the anniversary of Jackson's victory at New Orleans and laments that "The Country has been calling for 'Jacksons' to Lead our armies but as yet none has appeared."
Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division's First 100 Years
In honor of the Manuscript Division's centennial, its staff has selected for online display approximately ninety representative documents spanning from the fifteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Included are four items related to Andrew Jackson. To find them, use the Name and Subject Index and click on the heading Jackson, Andrew (1767-1845). The results include a Letter, Andrew Jackson to Martin Van Buren discussing the nullification crisis, 13 January 1833. (Martin Van Buren Papers).
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