The Historian's Perspective
Andrew Jackson to John P. Hickman,
December 26, 1837. Responds to Major Hickman's inquiry about his service
during the War of 1812. (GLC 04696)
Teaching Andrew Jackson
by Bruce Lesh and Philip Nicolosi
Andrew Jackson is one of the most enigmatic figures in American History.
An Indian fighter who adopted a Creek child and raised him as a son,
a staunch supporter of the American Constitution who openly defied the
United States Supreme Court, and a man devoted to order who openly defied
the orders of the President of the United States. Jackson’s reputation
and influence has led historians to label the period between 1820 and
1840 the Age of Jackson. Yet, just as the man, the meaning of this time
period is ripe with debate.
The essays contributed to this edition of History Now open
the window to the many issues that defined the Age of Jackson and to
the debates that still engage those interested in the past. Utilization
of these articles in the classroom can be facilitated by posing a focus
questions for students that will enable them to organize the historian’s
arguments and to develop an interpretation about the Age of Jackson.
By having students consider
To what extent does the Age of Andrew Jackson contribute to a more democratic
United States?, they can engage the past, not simply as a list
of facts, but as a discipline focused on the use of facts to make evidence
supported arguments.
Promote the investigation by having students read one of the five articles
written by historians that appear in this edition of History Now.
Focus students’ reading by having them identify specific evidence
that supports or challenges the Age of Jackson as a period of the expansion
of democracy. After completing their reading, organize students so that
each group contains one student for each of the articles. Student groups
should share their evidence and fill in a T-chart with evidence that
supports the Age of Jackson as expanding democracy and evidence that
challenges this assertion.
Each article can be used as evidence for a separate development point
in an essay. In addition, primary sources, provided by the teacher,
could be used to make the students’ argument stronger. Emphasis
should be placed on historical interpretation and the fact that a student’s
use of counter argument indicates an understanding that absolutes in
history are rare and those exceptions need to be addressed.
A guiding question for each article could be proposed by the teacher
to help students read with a purpose. Some suggested guiding questions
are:
As a supplement to each article, teachers could choose additional
secondary sources and some primary sources from the archivist’s
list. Additional activities could include comparing two or more
historian’s accounts of the same event, act or time period, analyzing
how different historians use primary source documents, or having students
choose primary source documents to reinforce their argument. Another
extension activity could include having students compare their conclusions
to the conclusions drawn in Daniel Feller’s article, "Andrew
Jackson's Shifting Legacy." When students read, evaluate, and use
an historian's work, a dialogue between the professional historian and
the high school student takes place. The notion that history is a linear
chronology of names, dates and facts is refuted.
President Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the United States,
governed during a period of demographic, constitutional, social, economic,
and political changes that transformed the notions of democracy and
nation. The essays and historical sources provided in this edition of
History Now will empower students and teachers to investigate the
many interesting facets of the man and the time period.
Bruce Lesh has been a teacher and department chair
for eighteen years at Franklin High School in Reisterstown, Maryland.
A past president of the Maryland Council for the Social Studies and
current Vice-Chair of the National Council for History Education, Bruce
teaches American History and Advanced Placement United States Politics
and Government. Philip Nicolosi has been a history
teacher at West Morris Central High School in Chester, NJ, since 1994.
He also serves as Martial Arts Club advisor, Track Coach, and Student
Council Advisor, and has been an NCHE Master Teacher and Mentor Teacher.
