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Researching information is rewarding.
You begin on a subject with one question, find the answer and
learn the answer opens more questions.
It’s fascinating, but the trek is filled with dangers.
You may find out something you didn’t expect, and you didn’t
want to know. Facts and
beliefs you have held all your life can be challenged.
Heroes of your youth may not have the qualities you gave them. Names enshrined with the glory of the past may
be stripped of their luster in the cold light of truth. George Washington has stood the test of time and
remains as noble today as he was in the Revolutionary War and as the
first president of our country. He
was surrounded by those we considered great.
Two were Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Only a genius and true patriot could pen the
inspiring words of the Declaration of Independence.
I recall being a teenager standing and admiring the larger than
life marble white statue of him at this monument in Washington.
He was idolized by history.
In the Revolutionary War he worked with Benjamin Franklin to
secure aid from France against the British.
In his presidency, he expanded American frontiers with the
Louisiana Purchase. His contributions to America and the world
ranged from architecture to botany to education with the birth of the
University of Virginia. No
one could deny the greatness he brought to his age. Alexander Hamilton was mainly a behind the
scenes man. On Gen.
Washington’s staff during the war, he was the first Secretary of the
Treasury and brought fiscal soundness to the new nation.
His countenance is present each time someone spends a $10 bill.
Washington only made the $1 bill with Jefferson on the seldom
seen $2 bill. The third great man in the early days of
America, though a different generation from Jefferson or Hamilton, was
Andrew Jackson. A ferocious
soldier who beat the British at the Battle of New Orleans, he went on to
become president and bring the common man into the White House. In the halls of historical infamy were others.
Benedict Arnold was the country’s first well known traitor when
he tried to pass on to the British plans to take West Point.
He had been a brilliant officer for Washington, but he felt
slighted when he was passed over for promotion—and took revenge on his
own country. Another dark figure was Aaron Burr.
He killed Alexander Hamilton in the well known duel and became a
fugitive from the law. Some
historians once described him as a tyrant in the same venue of a Hitler
or Stalin. They say he
wanted to conquer the western part of America and create his own empire.
President Jefferson was responsible for having him arrested for
treason and brought in chains for trial in Richmond, VA. I was comfortable with my heroes and villains.
Research shattered my beliefs. When I began work on my historical novel, Valley
of the Mules, I read everything I could get my hands on if it dealt with
the early years of America. Although
my main theme was the treatment of the Indians and particularly the
Cherokees in the early 1800s, I had to understand the background created
by the movers and shakers. Hamilton,
Jefferson, Jackson and even Burr, who played a role. My collection of material included such books as
Woodward’s The Cherokees, Holmes and Smith’s Beginning Cherokee, a
biography of John Ross, Halbert and Ball’s The Creek War of 1812 and
1814 and I even ordered some tapes to try to learn to speak the Cherokee
language. I gave up on
that. A book that began to shake the foundation
beneath my idol was Jonathan Daniels’ Ordeal of Ambition.
It probed into the lives and times of Jefferson, Hamilton and
Burr with a brutal honesty, opening doors I didn’t know existed. It was known the founders goofed when they said
the president would be the man receiving the most electoral votes and
the vice president would be the runner up.
When Jefferson ran for president and Burr ran for his vice
president, they both received the same number of votes.
The decision was thrown to the House of Representatives where
Jefferson had enough enemies and Burr enough friends where Burr might
have been president. He
declined. But Jefferson would always view him with suspicion. Burr and Hamilton were both lawyers and
sometimes worked on the same cases.
But Hamilton was a political manipulator.
It was hard to say if he hated Jefferson or Burr more, but he
considered Burr more dangerous. Jefferson was no piker.
He pulled strings through his financially supported yellow
journalists to go after Hamilton and Burr.
But he tried to always remain in the shadows, even sometimes
using future presidents like James Madison and James Monroe to do his
dirty work. Hamilton wasn’t as discreet in his attacks on
Burr. Although dueling
wasn’t legal in most places, it was still a matter of honor.
In fact, Hamilton’s own son was killed in a duel, using the
pistols which would later be held by Hamilton and Burr. When Burr challenged Hamilton, it could have been averted by
an apology from Hamilton and nearly was.
Some think Hamilton was suicidal at that point, leaving letters
written the night before indicating he expected to die. Pistols used were well known to Hamilton and not
to Burr. One had a secret
hair trigger. Hamilton’s
shot went over Burr’s head. Burr
shot Hamilton in what should not have been a mortal wound, but it was. He tried to go to the fallen Hamilton, but his seconds made
him flee to avoid arrest for dueling. Spaniards were active on what was then
America’s frontier, the Mississippi River.
Burr’s “treason” was to try to protect that frontier as he
called on loyal friends to raise a fighting force.
He was in the middle of intrigue, mostly from his supposed friend
Gen. James Wilkinson who lied and betrayed him to Jefferson.
In the trial, presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall, Burr
was acquitted. Of the three men, Jefferson and Hamilton looked
dirty in the weight of research, their Machiavellian intrigue exposed.
Burr, the man called traitor who died in disgrace and in poverty,
stands out as a man of honor and patriotism. The third idol was Andrew Jackson.
His contributions to America’s defense and spreading Democratic
principles in government are legendary.
His cruelty to the Indians is not so obvious.
When the Creek Indian war, Jackson needed the help of Cherokees,
Catawbas and others to defeat the Creeks.
When the Creeks were defeated, Jackson asked Washington for
permission to turn on the Cherokees and others to drive them from the
territory. The federal
government refused. Chief Junuluska was credited with saving
Jackson’s life in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
Later he said, if he had known what Jackson would do, he would
not have saved him. There is no denying the important work
Jefferson, Hamilton and Jackson gave our future.
But we must accept their faults as well. We must wonder what some researcher 200 years
from now will uncover on the idols of today—those who lead our country
and the world. Their
contributions will stand out, as will their weaknesses.
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