Chapter 3, Andrew Jackson and the Rise of Liberal Capitalism Summary and Analysis

Andrew Jackson is often depicted as a wild man and populist opponent of aristocratic privilege. There is some truth to this, but Andrew Jackson was an aristocrat in Tennessee. Elite classes in the frontier were successful businessmen and lawyers who often were as rough around the edges as anyone else. The only form of social hierarchy among whites was in terms of accomplishment. Andrew Jackson grew up in this milieu, quickly moving up the social ladder. And while he may have felt alienated from Northeastern elites, he had his own kind of aristocratic demeanor.

Andrew Jackson's fame came primarily from his military victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, but for a long time he languished in quasi-obscurity due to enormous debts he accumulated...