The White House portrait of Andrew Jackson, courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Two hundred years ago President James Madison signed into law a declaration of war against the British. The War of 1812 catapulted Tennessean Andrew Jackson into the national limelight. His home place – The Hermitage – is collaborating with Madison’s historical home on a blog that publishes letters and articles on the anniversary date they were written.

The blog is culling from Madison’s and Jackson’s official papers, as well as news accounts, including from Nashville’s Democratic Clarion & Tennessee Gazette.

Historian James Yasko of The Hermitage says some of the posts will include letters written home to Jackson’s wife.

“With Jackson, people are going to see the side that to Rachel was very soft and loving, but also he got pretty riled up during the war.”

For example, June 5th, 1812. Jackson sends a letter to a leader in the Creek Indian nation:

“We have sent to demand the murderers, if they are not given up, the whole creek nation shall be covered with blood. fire shall consume their Towns and villages: and their lands shall be divided among the white.”

Yasko says the accounts are unedited.

“It is word for word, grammatical error for grammatical error, spelling mistake for spelling mistake. People are going to have a hard time with Andrew Jackson’s correspondence.”

Yasko says the project is meant to help people understand a complicated war with the British that ultimately turned Jackson into a national hero.

Web Extra

Contributing to the blog are:

-The Hermitage, Home of President Andrew Jackson
-The James Madison Papers
-James Madison’s Montpelier
-Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum
-The Detroit Historical Society
-The Ohio Historical Society
-Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate

Featuring accounts from the:
Niles Weekly Register
Boston Weekly Messenger
Raleigh Register & North Carolina Gazette
National Intelligencer
Nashville Democratic Clarion & Tennessee Gazette
Maryland Gazette