Men Who Made America's Self-Made Man

Summary

Back in the days when only aristocrats and spiritual leaders could hold political and cultural authority, there was no pride in claiming to be self-made. Instead, an assertion of self-made success was dangerous, both blasphemous and foolhardy; it put souls and social relationships at risk. It took two revolutions and their ambitious storytellers to reverse those values. The first, the American Revolution, flipped elite origins from a source of power and esteem to targets of anti-aristocratic invective. The second, the 19th century’s industrial and financial transformations, replaced appreciation for self-improvement to serve with paeans to wealth. No one’s image exemplified the post-Revolutionary anti-aristocratic ethos more intensely and intentionally than that crafted by Andrew Jackson, the first president from the western territories and the only general to be elected president since George Washington. Supported by the votes of men enfranchised since the Revolution, Jackson was fiercely loyal, demanded loyalty from others, and exacted retribution without hesitation. He seemed to have two personas, one forceful, raging, and deadly; the other affectionate, polished, and charming. His dual identities encompassed military leadership and being a skilled lawyer and land speculator who often quoted the Bible. Jackson was born in 1767 and raised by his widowed mother until her death when he was fourteen. He lost his brothers during the Revolutionary War and received a head wound as a boy from a British officer in punishment for defiance. This background enabled Jackson and his supporters to credibly construct his childhood as harsh. In reality, however, his mother’s family was prosperous, and he grew up in an affluent uncle’s home. He attended a private academy and taught for a while, receiving enough schooling plus legal training under the guidance of influential lawyers to practice law by 1787. At fifteen he even inherited about £400, approximately $85,400 in 2024, whi...