Throughout history, the world of politics has been continually rocked by salacious scandals which distract from a politicians’ ambitions and place magnifying glasses on their moral character. Benedict Arnold and Andrew Jackson are no different. Each man rose to prominence during the tumultuous period of the American Revolution and both witnessed as their resolute pursuits for power, respect, and, most importantly, honor, helped manufacture their societal disgraces in the aftermath. These pursuits were at the epicenter of American culture during this era, so any transgression of morality was viewed as hypocritic and completely discredited one’s character in the eyes of society. Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson, a proud, fearless war hero and politician,
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In “The Nature of Treason”, Charles Royster argues that Arnold’s failed betrayal reawakened a population who had become downtrodden in the wake of military defeats and revitalized them with a moral righteousness which endures to this day. Given this outlet for their wartime anxieties, Revolutionary society held him up as the epitome of ethical failure – the name Benedict Arnold came to represent the worst offenses against American virtue. His once highly esteemed career was distorted to demonstrate an insatiable greed which only Britain and Satan could satisfy. Any bravery he had shown was twisted to reveal his innate violent depravity. They asserted that Arnold’s faulty character had guaranteed his traitorous fate while Revolutionaries’ “native courage and public virtue” had made them …show more content…
Rachel had been left by her first husband and married Jackson a few years later in 1791, only to be exposed for bigamy after two years as her husband had falsely led them to believe that she was already divorced. This ill-fated incident was exacerbated by the scandal of Margaret “Peggy” Eaton, wife of Secretary of War, John Eaton. Similarly to Jackson and Rachel, John and Peggy married controversially, within the 12 month grieving period following the death of her husband, John Timberlake. This violation of societal norms and rumors that her affair with Eaton had actually caused Timberlake to commit suicide, led the social elite of Washington to completely rebuke her – initiating a two-year long controversy which culminated in the dissolvement of Jackson’s entire
In “The Nature of Treason”, Charles Royster argues that Arnold’s failed betrayal reawakened a population who had become downtrodden in the wake of military defeats and revitalized them with a moral righteousness which endures to this day. Given this outlet for their wartime anxieties, Revolutionary society held him up as the epitome of ethical failure – the name Benedict Arnold came to represent the worst offenses against American virtue. His once highly esteemed career was distorted to demonstrate an insatiable greed which only Britain and Satan could satisfy. Any bravery he had shown was twisted to reveal his innate violent depravity. They asserted that Arnold’s faulty character had guaranteed his traitorous fate while Revolutionaries’ “native courage and public virtue” had made them …show more content…
Rachel had been left by her first husband and married Jackson a few years later in 1791, only to be exposed for bigamy after two years as her husband had falsely led them to believe that she was already divorced. This ill-fated incident was exacerbated by the scandal of Margaret “Peggy” Eaton, wife of Secretary of War, John Eaton. Similarly to Jackson and Rachel, John and Peggy married controversially, within the 12 month grieving period following the death of her husband, John Timberlake. This violation of societal norms and rumors that her affair with Eaton had actually caused Timberlake to commit suicide, led the social elite of Washington to completely rebuke her – initiating a two-year long controversy which culminated in the dissolvement of Jackson’s entire