Theodore (Andrew Jackson captive): Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|War orphan (c. 1813–c. 1814)}} |
{{Short description|War orphan (c. 1813–c. 1814)}} |
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[[File:Andrew Jackson as the Great Father.jpg|thumb|"Andrew Jackson as the Great Father" —In this political cartoon, likely published in the 1830s, Andrew Jackson sits in an armchair holding two diminutive Native Americans on his lap. Six diminutive Native Americans sit or stand on the patterned rug at Jackson's feet, looking up at him.]] |
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'''Theodore''' ({{circa|1813}}{{snd}}before March 1814) was a baby or child who was "adopted" by [[Andrew Jackson]] during the early 1810s and sent to live at [[The Hermitage (Nashville, Tennessee)|the Hermitage]]. He is presumed to have been of [[Muscogee]] heritage,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Peterson |first=Dawn |url= |title=Indians in the Family: Adoption and the Politics of Antebellum Expansion |date=2017 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-97872-0 |chapter=5. Adoption in Andrew Jackson's Empire |doi=10.4159/9780674978720}}</ref>{{Rp|page=140}} but his family background and tribal affiliation are unclear.<ref name=":1">{{Cite thesis |last=Gismondi |first=Melissa |title=Rachel Jackson and the Search for Zion, 1760s–1830s |date=2017-06-12 |degree=PhD, History |publisher=University of Virginia |url=https://libraetd.lib.virginia.edu/public_view/v979v320v |place=Charlottesville, Virginia |doi=10.18130/v3q364}}</ref>{{Rp|page=131}} According to one researcher, "Because Theodore lived with the Jacksons prior to the Creek War, a Muscogee, [[Cherokee]], or [[Choctaw]] chief probably gave him to Jackson in early to mid-1813. Jackson referred to Theodore as 'Indian' but he could have belonged to any nation. Some historians have posited that Theodore was an enslaved African-American...Since chiefs often gave children whom they had obtained from raids, or through captive-raiding and adoption practices, Theodore could have belonged to any nearby native nation and may have had some white or African-American ancestry."<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=131}} Theodore was possibly one of the 30 prisoners taken from the [[tribal town]] of Littafuchee, near [[Big Canoe Creek]], in present-day [[St. Clair County, Alabama]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=Andrew |date=1991-01-01 |title=The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume III, 1814-1815 |url=https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_jackson/4/ |journal=The Papers of Andrew Jackson}}</ref>{{Rp|page=36}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Braund |first=Kathryn E. Holland |date=October 2011 |title=Reflections on "Shee Coocys" and the Motherless Child: Creek Women in a Time of War |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/469033 |journal=Alabama Review |language=en |volume=64 |issue=4 |pages=255–284 |doi=10.1353/ala.2011.0004 |issn=2166-9961}}</ref>{{Rp|page=278}} He was described as a "pet" or playmate for [[Andrew Jackson Jr.]], who was then about five years old. When [[Lyncoya]], another Muscogee war orphan, was sent north to Nashville, Jackson described him as "about the size of Theodore and much like him."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rogin |first=Michael Paul |author-link=Michael Rogin |title=Fathers and Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the American Indian |date=1975 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |isbn=978-0-394-48204-0 |location=New York |lccn=74021310 |oclc=1111310}}</ref>{{Rp|page=189}} |
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Theodore died in the spring of 1814. Jackson wrote his wife from Fort Strother on March 4, 1814, "...I am sorry, that little theodore is no more, I regret it on Andrew account, I expect he lamented his loss-to amuse him, and to make him forget his loss, I have asked Col Hays to carry [[Lyncoya Jackson|Lyncoya]] to him..."<ref>{{Cite web |title=General Jackson's lady; a story of the life and times of Rachel Donelson Jackson, beloved wife of General Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United ... |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=iau.31858034828800&seq=311&q1=Theodore |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=HathiTrust |page=285 |language=en}}</ref> Historian Evan Nooe wrote of Theodore's successor, Lyncoya, who survived until he was 16, "[He] lived a short life under the oversight of his parents' killers."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nooe |first=F. Evan |title=Aggression and sufferings: settler violence, native resistance, and the coalescence of the Old South |date=2024 |publisher=The University of Alabama Press |isbn=978-0-8173-9473-8 |series=Indians and southern history |location=Tuscaloosa}}</ref>{{Rp|page=81}} |
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Jackson's motives in adopting Theodore, Charley, and Lyncoya were likely complex. He repeatedly described Muscogee people as savage and barbaric "wretches" but simultaneously "Jackson's claims to Indian territories and enslaved people of African descent revolved around the assumption that anyone who was not white and male needed the paternal oversight of Southern white men such as himself."<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=141}} |
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⚫ | According to one historian, Jackson Jr. "threw a fit when his own playmate died and coveted [[Charley (Andrew Jackson captive)|Charley]]," who was another Indigenous captive and the assigned playmate of [[Andrew Jackson Donelson]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Snyder |first=Christina |title=The Native South: New Histories and Enduring Legacies |date=2017 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-9690-9 |editor-last=Garrison |editor-first=Tim Alan |location=Lincoln |pages=84–106 |chapter=Andrew Jackson's Indian Son: Native Captives and American Empire |doi=10.2307/j.ctt1q1xq7h.9 |jstor=j.ctt1q1xq7h.9 |editor-last2=O'Brien |editor-first2=Greg}}</ref>{{Rp|page=91}} Lyncoya Jackson, who was captured at the [[Battle of Tallushatchee]] ("all his family is destroyed") arrived at the Hermitage in May 1814.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Various |last2=Jackson |first2=Andrew |url=https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_jackson/5/ |title=The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume II, 1804–1813 |editor-last1=Moser |editor-first1=Harold D. |editor-last2=MacPherson |editor-first2=Sharon |year=1984 |publisher=University of Tennessee Press |location=Knoxville |isbn=978-0-87049-441-3 |lccn=79015078 |oclc=5029597 |ref={{harvid|''Papers of A. Jackson, Vol. 2''|1984}} }} {{free access}}</ref>{{Rp|page=444}} |
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== See also == |
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* {{slink|List of children of presidents of the United States|Andrew and Rachel Jackson}} |
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* {{slink|Genocide Convention|Definition of genocide}} |
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* [[Adoption in the United States]] and [[:Category:Adoption history]] |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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{{Andrew Jackson}} |
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[[Category:19th-century Native Americans]] |
[[Category:19th-century Native Americans]] |
Latest revision as of 08:10, 30 December 2024
Theodore (c. 1813 – before March 1814) was a baby or child who was "adopted" by Andrew Jackson during the early 1810s and sent to live at the Hermitage. He is presumed to have been of Muscogee heritage,[1]: 140 but his family background and tribal affiliation are unclear.[2]: 131 According to one researcher, "Because Theodore lived with the Jacksons prior to the Creek War, a Muscogee, Cherokee, or Choctaw chief probably gave him to Jackson in early to mid-1813. Jackson referred to Theodore as 'Indian' but he could have belonged to any nation. Some historians have posited that Theodore was an enslaved African-American...Since chiefs often gave children whom they had obtained from raids, or through captive-raiding and adoption practices, Theodore could have belonged to any nearby native nation and may have had some white or African-American ancestry."[2]: 131 Theodore was possibly one of the 30 prisoners taken from the tribal town of Littafuchee, near Big Canoe Creek, in present-day St. Clair County, Alabama.[3]: 36 [4]: 278 He was described as a "pet" or playmate for Andrew Jackson Jr., who was then about five years old. When Lyncoya, another Muscogee war orphan, was sent north to Nashville, Jackson described him as "about the size of Theodore and much like him."[5]: 189
Theodore died in the spring of 1814. Jackson wrote his wife from Fort Strother on March 4, 1814, "...I am sorry, that little theodore is no more, I regret it on Andrew account, I expect he lamented his loss-to amuse him, and to make him forget his loss, I have asked Col Hays to carry Lyncoya to him..."[6] Historian Evan Nooe wrote of Theodore's successor, Lyncoya, who survived until he was 16, "[He] lived a short life under the oversight of his parents' killers."[7]: 81
According to one historian, Jackson Jr. "threw a fit when his own playmate died and coveted Charley," who was another Indigenous captive and the assigned playmate of Andrew Jackson Donelson.[8]: 91 Lyncoya Jackson, who was captured at the Battle of Tallushatchee ("all his family is destroyed") arrived at the Hermitage in May 1814.[9]: 444
See also
[edit]- List of children of presidents of the United States § Andrew and Rachel Jackson
- Genocide Convention § Definition of genocide
- Adoption in the United States and Category:Adoption history
References
[edit]- ^ Peterson, Dawn (2017). "5. Adoption in Andrew Jackson's Empire". Indians in the Family: Adoption and the Politics of Antebellum Expansion. Harvard University Press. doi:10.4159/9780674978720. ISBN 978-0-674-97872-0.
- ^ a b Gismondi, Melissa (2017-06-12). Rachel Jackson and the Search for Zion, 1760s–1830s (PhD, History thesis). Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia. doi:10.18130/v3q364.
- ^ Jackson, Andrew (1991-01-01). "The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume III, 1814-1815". The Papers of Andrew Jackson.
- ^ Braund, Kathryn E. Holland (October 2011). "Reflections on "Shee Coocys" and the Motherless Child: Creek Women in a Time of War". Alabama Review. 64 (4): 255–284. doi:10.1353/ala.2011.0004. ISSN 2166-9961.
- ^ Rogin, Michael Paul (1975). Fathers and Children: Andrew Jackson and the Subjugation of the American Indian. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-48204-0. LCCN 74021310. OCLC 1111310.
- ^ "General Jackson's lady; a story of the life and times of Rachel Donelson Jackson, beloved wife of General Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United ..." HathiTrust. p. 285. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
- ^ Nooe, F. Evan (2024). Aggression and sufferings: settler violence, native resistance, and the coalescence of the Old South. Indians and southern history. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-9473-8.
- ^ Snyder, Christina (2017). "Andrew Jackson's Indian Son: Native Captives and American Empire". In Garrison, Tim Alan; O'Brien, Greg (eds.). The Native South: New Histories and Enduring Legacies. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 84–106. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1q1xq7h.9. ISBN 978-0-8032-9690-9. JSTOR j.ctt1q1xq7h.9.
- ^ Various; Jackson, Andrew (1984). Moser, Harold D.; MacPherson, Sharon (eds.). The Papers of Andrew Jackson, Volume II, 1804–1813. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-0-87049-441-3. LCCN 79015078. OCLC 5029597.