Search - Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil and the Presidency on DVD

Revisionist?

snackman | Ricmond, VA United States | 01/08/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, this might seem a little like revisionist history if your only
study of American History was in High School and you remember the two
pages of "Jacksonian" history they cramed in between the Revolution
and the Civil War. History takes years to unfold and to see
it clearly. Maybe Jackson was a product of his times, but during his
Presidency Indians and Slaves were not "white" and they were treated according to the customs of the times and Jackson did not change that.
There was even fear of them banding together to challenge whites, this is something I don't remember from High School history, but it helps explain the Seminole Indians Wars and the the Trail of Tears. Is that revisionist? No, I call that insight into the American Experience and the reason you study history: to find a cause.
He had the opportunity as every President did from the founding of our Nation, to challenge slavery and abolish it, as did the British during in 1833, DURING HIS PRESIDENCY. Instead he did as all other Presidents before him, he choose to ignore it and hope it would go away.
Another fact that I never learned was the assination attempt on Jackson's life. Great documentary on a controvertial President.


"Andrew Jackson was a patriot and a traitor. He was the greatest of generals, and wholly ignorant of the art of war. He was the most candid of men, and capable of the profoundest dissimulation. He was a democratic autocrat, an urbane savage, an atrocious saint."


- James Parton, Jackson's first biographer, 1859


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Jackson Presidency: Good or Evil?

KS | 03/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a teacher, this documentary was helpful in teaching the students the positives and negatives of Andrew Jackson. It was a great review of what we had covered in class and provided information that the students used in writing a persuasive essay."

The Andrew Jackson I never Learned About In School

V. Strang | IA USA | 03/04/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'll have to admit I bought this video because my son is in it! (He's one of the musicians very briefly shown in the inauguration scene.) That was my motivation for keeping the production around for posterity. However, I have to say that when I watched the program when it was aired on public television in 1/08, I was thoroughly engaged, entertained, and educated. There were many things I learned about Andrew Jackson and the early politics of the American presidency that I don't recall learning about in my school days. Among these was the fact that he was the first to actually be elected by popular vote, and in that, kept the presidency from being a "good old boys" legacy to be passed on to Washington insiders and power brokers. Trivia buffs and presidential historians will find this a valuable addition to their collections. For myself, it will be a memento of my son's 20 seconds of fame."