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Blogs by Victor K. Pryles
Andrew Jackson & The Ides Of March 3/15/2005 7:40:47 AM
Today is AJ's birthday and I have written a short story where he looms large. It's the birthday of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, born in the Waxhaws area near the border between North and South Carolina on this day in 1767.
Andrew Jackson was elected President in 1828. His election was a victory for the common people. He was the first populist president who did not come from the aristocracy. Jackson said, "As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of persons and of property, liberty of conscience and of the press, it will be worth defending.
In my short story "Two Seperate Heavens" I portray Andrew Jackson as far from infallible leader. His administration of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans remains a large stain on our Republic. In this piece of historical fiction I portray him as a hero of The Battle Of New Orleans. "Old Hickory", but also a man of deep contradictions.
In our story a father his deaf/mute son come to terms with not only the loss of one nation for the greater benefit of another, but the personal side of loss that is timeless and deeply human, and they do this through the eyes of an Indian warrior. I invite my readers to check it out. Happy Birthday, Andrew Jackson.
