Short Stuff: Andrew Jackson's Inauguration | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. Hey and welcome to the short stuff. I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's. sitting in for Dave and this is Short. Stuff and Chuck I have come to really. detest politics. in particular the um American brand of. zero outrage politics that the entire. nation's imshed in. Yeah, I try not to. think about it. I avoid politics as much. as possible. Same. So, let's get started. about this uh political history story.

We're talking about Andrew Jackson and. his uh first inauguration uh or his. inauguration rather. Um they used to. hold these in March and his was held on. March 4th, 1829. And what happened there. at the capital was he gave a speech and. did his thing. And what you should know. about Andrew Jackson is he was a very. populous president. Some say the very. first one. And people loved him. and. they were like, "He's for the little. people and like we want to go meet this. guy on inauguration day." So he said,

"That's a great idea." George Washington. held these levies at the White House, which is basically come and meet the. first family on inauguration day. And. I'm going to do the same. Big mistake. Yeah. There's a just basically a legend. of Andrew Jackson's inauguration in 1829. that they basically tore the roof off. the White House. They partied so hard. there. Yeah. and he didn't. But that was. the thing you mentioned he was a. populist president. um all of a sudden.

because of uh because of him being a. populist and and this the people who. supported him, average everyday people. who typically weren't into politics at. all suddenly overran Washington DC in a. very celebratory mood because Andrew. Jackson had beaten the Washington. establishment, the elites, John Quincy. Adams and now the people were truly. represented in uh in in the American. government as far as they were. concerned. Yeah. But here's the thing.

Uh there are historians that say uh hold. your water there. It may not have been. as wild as everyone thinks. There's a. guy named Daniel Feller who was a. history professor at uh UT Tennessee. I'll even say that as a Georgia fan and. he was the editor of the papers of. Andrew Jackson. So he knows a thing or. two. And he's like, "You know what? They. talk about people, you know, wrecking. the place, people coming there with. muddy boots and turning over tables and. punch bowls." He said, "Take that with a. grain of salt because all a lot of this. stuff comes from the account of this.

woman named uh Margaret Baird Smith who. showed up like late to the party after. this stuff had evidently happened. She. was tardy to the party. Tardy to the. party." And also did not like Andrew. Jackson and his politics. So probably. had a pretty um heavy slant on the chaos. she described. Yeah. And this was I mean. she was a good example of how the. opposition to Andrew Jackson felt like. the they felt like they owned DC and. Andrew Jackson and his supporters didn't. really belong there, right? And yet.

because Andrew Jackson had won the. presidency. Um and the these like. average everyday people felt represented. finally they they showed up. Uh the. question is like nobody's saying like. that didn't happen. It's the degree to. which it happened. And Margaret Bayard. Smith's letters uh to her daughter in. particular are essentially like one of a. very few number of firsthand accounts. And she's she really did not like this.

and and pretty much. I guess blew it out of proportion is a. really good way to put it. Yeah. She. writes about the the majesty of the. people disappearing and and a and a mob. of people of uh you know fighting and. scrambling and what a pity. What a pity. Yeah, she said it twice. Yeah. Uh yeah. And is this a how stuff works article? Uh this is a Dave Ruse shorty special. I. should have known because Dave mentions. like you can almost hear uh Margaret. clutching her pearls in this Dave line.

Right. So, um, you said she was tardy to the. party. She showed up a little bit after. three. And the reason she didn't go. straight from the inauguration to, um, the party is because she heard that. there were these large crowds. The. estimate that has been bandied about all. these years later is that there were. 20,000. people. Yeah. Who showed up at the White. House. That's incredible. To to party. So, I say we take a break and we come.

back and talk about what they say. happened at this 20,000 person strong. party at the White House. Let's do it. [Music]. Learning things with Chuck and Josh. stuff you should know. [Music]. Learning stuff is fun with Josh and. Chuck.

[Music]. So, we said, Chuck, before we broke that. there's about 20,000 people estimated to. have been at the White House for Andrew. Jackson's inauguration levy. That even. Margaret Bayard said um or Bayard Smith. said that that was probably an. exaggerated number. Yeah, she did say. that there were some crazy things going. on though. Yeah, bloody noses. Uh. several thousand dollars worth of worth.

of glasswware broken. Uh but here's the. thing again. They some historians think. she might have been exaggerating because. she was just maybe a pearl clutcher and. didn't like Jackson. Uh there was a sen. a senator from Massachusetts named. Daniel Webster. uh who was not a fan of Jackson as well. but he wrote all about this day and he. didn't mention like all this chaos going. on. He said you know people have come. 500 miles to see General Jackson. They. really seem to think the country is. rescued from some uh dreadful danger.

And he also said a lot of people were. also there to uh like aspiring political. um uh politicos I guess trying to maybe. uh get a job or get some influence. So. he wrote in pretty good depth about this. and he never mentioned like you know a. party where people were getting in. fights and and muddy boots and turning. over tables. Yeah. It was like he he. didn't mention that it was it turned. into the infield at the Kentucky Derby. Right. Yeah. Um, that is really.

significant because he was there and to. not mention like that people were just. going. berserk partying at the White House and. trashing the place. I think that to me. says volumes about it that e it either. was did it happened a little bit but was. so insignificant that Webster didn't. even think it was worth mentioning or. that the whole thing was basically made. up. Yeah, I mean I get the feeling it wasn't. completely made up. I bet it got a.

little wild and there are also people. that say like, you know, it sounds like. there were probably people that maybe. stood on tables and chairs to get a. better look and like maybe a table. breaks when you're doing that. But she. made it sound like they just trashed the. place, right? Yeah. Exactly. And that. not only did they trash the place, they. were it wasn't just that there were. 20,000 people or however many people. were there that they were just rowdy. She was basically trying to portray them. as again people who didn't belong in.

Washington, let alone the White House. And look, you can't even you can't you. can't take these supporters of Andrew. Jackson anywhere. Look look at what they. did. They rushed people carrying out the. punch bowls to get punch and free cake. and um yeah, they they elbowed each. other. It was like a Black Friday sale. essentially is what Margaret Smith was. describing. And again, just painting. people in a very unflattering light. The. problem is this. That was a letter to. her daughter, right? So, if her daughter. was misled or maybe she was even trying.

to entertain her daughter, who knows? It. would be one thing. Historians would. probably still have found those letters. and and be talking about it. But the. reason why it became such a um a. well-known thing is that the press. picked that up, too. And exactly like. happens today, that exaggeration was run. with to outrage people who were um. opponents of Andrew Jackson because that. completely satisfied their opinion of. those people. Yeah. Here's a bit from.

the New York spectator that was pretty. colorful. Uh here was the corpulent. epicure grunting and sweating for. breath. The dandy wishing he had no. toes. The tight-laced miss, fearing her. person might receive some permanently de. deforming impulse. The miser hunting for. his pocketbook. The courtier looking for. his watch and the office seeker in an. agony to reach the president. Right. What does that even mean? I I don't. know. The uh part about the dandy. wishing he had no toes. I looked high. and low for what that meant.

Uh maybe because they were getting. stepped on so much. Uh maybe. I don't. know. That's the only thing I could. think of that made any sense. The the. one I came up with is that uh maybe it. was in fashion to have small feet. Maybe. I know that the Dandy Has No Toes. is a pretty great record title. Yeah, for sure. One of the best deep gut. Yeah. So, uh the I guess in 1978 the. Tennessee Historical Society, they. rolled up their sleeves and they're. like, "Let's get to the bottom of this.". And from their research, they actually. said they said they considered it sheer.

bedum. Yeah. Yeah, but they turned up. another account from a senator named. James Hamilton of South Carolina who was. a supporter of Jackson's and even he. said that this was a he called it a. regular Saturnelia. Uh but he also said. that most of the damage was minimal. So. somewhere in between there Yeah. and. Margaret Bayard Smith's account it was. probably the truth. And yeah, I think it. was um Daniel Webster who's probably the. most reliable. Yeah, I agree. But who.

knows? It's a fun story. It is a fun. story. Uh, and we love fun history. stories. And, uh, I guess Chuck Short. Stuff is out. Correct. Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].