Jackson in American Culture

Hugely popular and perennially controversial in his lifetime, Andrew Jackson has loomed larger and longer in public consciousness and national memory than the vast majority of the nation’s leaders, whether heroic generals or powerfully influential presidents—and he was both. The Library of Congress digital collections and resources listed below—as well as others in this guide, such as the Printed Ephemera collection and the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog—document some of the myriad ways in which Jackson has been revered, reviled, and remembered by his fellow Americans.

An American Ballroom Companion

An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals, ca. 1490-1920
A collection of more than two hundred dance manuals.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

American dancing master, and ball-room prompter containing about five hundred dances including all the latest and most fashionable ... [1862.]
Page 86 gives instructions for a dance called "Jackson at New Orleans."
The ball-room manual of contra dances and social cotillons with remarks on quadrilles and Spanish dance. [1863.]
Pages 18 and 19 include instructions for dancing "Jackson's Hornpipe," believed to have been named in honor of Andrew Jackson.

America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets

America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets
Spanning the beginning of the nineteenth century to the 1880s, this collection features several thousand song sheets: single printed sheets, usually six by eight inches, with lyrics but no music, an early example of a mass popular medium. Search on the phrases "Andrew Jackson," "President Jackson," "General Jackson," "Old Hickory," or "Hickory Jackson" to find several dozen items referring to Andrew Jackson. Searching on the individual terms Jackson or Hickory will yield additional examples.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Hickory soldiers, or, Mechanics metamorphosed.
A "humorous Song" written and sung "to the tune of Yankee Doodle, at the dinner at Faneuil Hall, in honour of the inauguration of President Jackson."
The Hickory Tree.
A campaign song for Jackson's 1824 presidential candidacy.
Hunters of Kentucky, or Half horse and half alligator.
Celebrates the Kentucky soldiers who won the victory under Jackson at New Orleans in 1815.
Huzza! for General Jackson.
A campaign song for Jackson's presidential candidacy.
Jackson's dinner.
Humorous celebration of Andrew Jackson's New Orleans victory as a Christmastime "dinner" in which the Americans served up the British.
Jim Crow complete in 150 verses.
Written in the crude White caricature of Black speech, including racial slurs, that typified the minstrel stage, this lengthy song contains multiple references to Jackson's military and presidential career. It appears to have been written during his presidency, which coincided with the beginnings of blackface minstrelsy.
Johnny Bull, and Yankee volunteers.
A sheet with two songs, one celebrating the Americans in the recent War of 1812, including "Jackson... Whose name and fame's immortal"; the other celebrating both the Revolutionary victories and Jackson's at New Orleans.
Old hickory's days. Air: Our grand-fathers' days.
A Civil War-era song nostalgically contrasting its own time with the years when Jackson led the nation.

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938
More than 2,300 first-person accounts of enslavement and 500 black-and-white photographs of former enslaved persons. Search on the phrase "General Jackson" to find references to Andrew Jackson in addition to the material in these narratives:

Tony Morgan, Mobile, Alabama
Records an oral tradition about Andrew Jackson.
Dr. George Washington Buckner, Evansville, Indiana
Contains an African American folk narrative about Andrew Jackson.

Cartoon Prints, American

Cartoon Prints, American
A collection of more than 500 eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American prints representing several forms of political art. Searches on the words Jackson and Hickory will yield approximately 100 images alluding to Andrew Jackson.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

The grand national caravan moving east. [1833?]
A burlesque parade, with a devil playing a fiddle, led by Andrew Jackson and satirizing various aspects of his administration including the forced removal of Native Americans from their homelands.
King Andrew the First. [1833.]
A caricature of Andrew Jackson as a despotic monarch, probably issued during the Fall of 1833 in response to the President's September order to remove federal deposits from the Second Bank of the United States without Congressional approval.
Set to between Old Hickory and Bully Nick. [1834.]
Pro-Jackson satire on the public conflict between Andrew Jackson and Nicholas Biddle over the future of the Second Bank of the United States, portraying Jackson as the champion of the common man against the moneyed interests of the Bank.
The re-union of the home of the brave and free! [1863.]
A somewhat premature Civil War allegory of reconciliation between the North and South, extolling former Presidents Andrew Jackson and George Washington as defenders of the Union.

Early American Sheet Music

Early American Sheet Music
A collection of printed or manuscript sheet music created in what became the United States before 1820.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Battle of the memorable 8th of January 1815 composed for the piano forte.
Composed in 1815 and copyrighted under its full title, "The Heroe of New Orleans, Battle of the Memorable 8th of January 1815." January 8, 1815, was the date of Andrew Jackson's victory over the British at New Orleans, and this pianoforte piece -- also known as “The 8th of January” or as "Jackson's Victory"-- went on to become a fiddle tune that is still a favorite of traditional fiddlers in the United States.
Jackson's Favorite March as performed by the band in the Washington Theatre.
Created between 1815 and 1817.
Jackson's victory a grand march.
Created between 1815 and 1820?
Battle of New Orleans for the piano forte.
Created between 1815 and 1820?

Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection

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 Appalachian fiddle tunes performed by Henry Reed of Glen Lyn, Virginia, and recorded by folklorist Alan Jabbour in 1966-67, when Reed was more than eighty years old.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

British Field March [audio recording].
A march, originally a fife tune, that Henry Reed learned from Quince Dillion, an elderly fiddler and fife player from whom Reed acquired many tunes as a boy. In calling this piece "British Field March," he said that it was the march used by the British to retreat in the Battle of New Orleans after Andrew Jackson and his American forces defeated them. The tune is in fact an old British air.
British Field March [music transcription].

The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America

The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America
A curated collection of songs of many types reflecting American historical experience, accompanied by rich contextual materials.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Rock [essay].
Discusses Johnny Horton's hit "The Battle of New Orleans," which won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1960. Its melody is that of the traditional fiddle tune known as "The 8th of January," which also celebrates Jackson's victory and dates from the time of the battle.

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1820-1860

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1820-1860
A collection of American sheet music registered for copyright during the years 1820 to 1860.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

General Jackson's New Orleans march.
Created in 1833.
Jackson's grand march.
Created in 1836.
Come, sons of freedom!
Created in 1839. Subtitle: "A New National Song Respectfully dedicated to, Ex-President Jackson."
Grand funeral march, composed in memory of General Jackson.
Created in 1845, the year of Jackson's death.

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1870-1885

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1870-1885
A collection of American sheet music registered for copyright during the years 1870 to 1885.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

When Hickory Jackson had his day.
Created in 1875. Written in a White stereotype of Black dialect, supposedly as an aging Black man's expression of nostalgia for the years "in Dixie's land" "when old man Hickory Jackson had his Day."
Ode to General Andrew Jackson.
Created in 1880. For mixed chorus and piano; written for the occasion of the unveiling of a statue of Jackson.

Popular Graphic Arts

Popular Graphic Arts
About 15,000 historical prints (ca. 1700-1900; mostly American) created to document geographic locations or popular subjects and sometimes used for advertising and educational purposes. Searches on the phrases "Andrew Jackson," "Jackson, Andrew," "President Jackson," and the term Hermitage yield dozens of images related to Jackson: most are portraits, but others are of places or events associated with him, or comment on his political career or legacy.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

A correct view of the battle near the city of New Orleans, on the eighth of January 1815, under the command of Genl. Andw. Jackson,...
Published between 1815 and 1820, and thus one of the earliest graphic images of the battle.
Death of Genl. Andrew Jackson: President of the United States from 1829 to 1837.
Published in 1845 by N. Currier (whose firm subsequently became Currier & Ives).
General Andrew Jackson: the hero, the sage and the patriot.
A posthumous image, published in 1845 by N. Currier (whose firm subsequently became Currier & Ives).
The Hermitage, Jackson's tomb, and Andrew J. Donelson's residence 12 miles from Nashville, Tennessee....
Created in 1856. The Hermitage was Jackson's home for the last four decades of his life.
Mill's colossal equestrian statue. Of General Andrew Jackson.
Undated nineteenth-century print, showing the large equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson that was placed in front of the White House in 1853.

Posters: WPA Posters

Posters: WPA Posters
Posters produced from 1936 to 1943 by various branches of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal agency.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

First anniversary Federal Theatre production and world premiere of "Rachel's man" A dramatization of the life of America's most colorful soldier-statesman Andrew Jackson.
Published in 1937 or 1938.

Stereograph Cards

Stereograph Cards
Stereographs are two nearly identical photographs or photomechanical prints, paired to produce the illusion of a single three-dimensional image, usually when viewed through a stereoscope. This collection includes images produced from the 1850s to the 1940s. Search on the term Jackson to find numerous images of statues, place names, and other things commemorating Andrew Jackson.

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

[General Jackson].
Equestrian statue in Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C.
Jackson Square, New Orleans, U.S.A.
Jackson Monument and St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, La.
Flower garden, Jackson Park, Chicago.
In 1881, Chicago's Lake Park was renamed Jackson Park in honor of Andrew Jackson.
The Travelers' Protective Association Building, from the Jackson Statue, World's Fair, St. Louis, Mo.
The St. Louis World's Fair was in 1904.
Chairs & sabre belonging to Gen. Andrew Jackson.

Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941

Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941
An online presentation of selections from a multi-format ethnographic field collection documenting the everyday life of residents of Farm Security Administration (FSA) migrant work camps in central California in 1940 and 1941. It includes several examples of the lasting traces of Andrew Jackson's career in American folk culture.

Eighth of January [audio recording].
One of four variations on this folk tune recorded in this collection, its name refers to Andrew Jackson's victory over the British at New Orleans on January 8, 1815. Played on guitar and fiddle as a square-dance tune.
Eighth of January [audio recording].
One of four variations on this folk tune recorded in this collection, its name refers to Andrew Jackson's victory over the British at New Orleans on January 8, 1815. Played on harmonica and guitar as a square-dance tune.
Eighth of January [audio recording].
One of four variations on this folk tune recorded in this collection, its name refers to Andrew Jackson's victory over the British at New Orleans on January 8, 1815. Played on fiddle and guitar.
Eighth of January [audio recording].
One of four variations on this folk tune recorded in this collection, its name refers to Andrew Jackson's victory over the British at New Orleans on January 8, 1815. Played on fiddle and guitar.
Migrant Workers' Songs in California [manuscript field notes].
These ethnographic field notes record a visit to a migrant camp on August 3, 1940, where Todd and Sonkin witnessed a children’s game called “New Orleans,” involving two groups of children chasing each other across a room: evidently an allusion to the 1815 Battle of New Orleans.

Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865

Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865
This manuscript collection documents daily life in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War through the eyes of U.S. Patent Office examiner Horatio Nelson Taft (1806-1888).

Diary entry for January 8, 1863.
On January 8, 1863, Taft notes the 48th 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."

Additional Materials

For additional examples of Jackson's place in American culture, go to the Library of Congress Catalog, select the Browse option, change the search box to "SUBJECTS beginning with," and enter the following subject headings:

Click on each heading to see a list of relevant titles, with links to their catalog records. If the item is no longer under copyright, its record may contain a link to an online electronic version.

Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide

Digital Collections: Ask a Librarian

Jackson in American Culture

An American Ballroom Companion

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1938

Cartoon Prints, American

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Early American Sheet Music

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1820-1860

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, ca. 1870-1885

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Popular Graphic Arts

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Posters: WPA Posters

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Stereograph Cards

Jackson-related materials in this collection include:

Voices from the Dust Bowl: the Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941

Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865

Additional Materials