| May 30 |  |
Editor says, what if Old Hickory had died in one of his many duels? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the July 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1806, on this day thirty-nine year old Carolinian Andrew Jackson was shot dead in a duel with a fellow planter and expert marksman called Charles Dickinson (because dueling was outlawed in Tennessee, the two men travelled to Adairville in the Kentucky border area). Dickinson had accused Jackson of welshing on a horse-racing bet and then called his wife a bigamist because she had married Jackson unaware that her first husband had not finalized the divorce.
The Duel in AdairvilleSince Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson and his second, Thomas Overton, determined it would be best to let Dickinson fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness. Jackson would wait and, if he was still standing, take careful aim at Dickinson. The obvious weakness of this strategy was, of course, that Jackson might not be alive to take aim. Being a notorious hot-head, he dismissed this danger with the cavalier statement "I should hit him if he had shot me through the brain".
And Jackson stood stoically throughout the duel but Overton noticed blood running down on Jackson's boot as they left the duelling ground. The expert Dickinson had aimed at Jackson's heart though the bullet had been slightly deflected by Jackson's choice of loose clothing on his lean frame, and careful sideways stance. The bullet broke some of Jackson's ribs, and had lodged inches from his heart. The bullet could not be removed under the then-current state of medical technology and he died the following day from blood loss.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Politicians Source: Wikipedia Labels: Charles Dickinson, Andrew Jackson, Carolina, Adairville, Kentucky. Editor says, in authoring this post we have repurposed content from Wikipedia, and also Top 10 Universities Online.
~ Ooh eck.... :(
~ THis would have changed a lot of things. The Cherokee might not have set out on the Trail of Tears, and the "common folk" would have had a different leader.
~ Or none, at least for a while. Jackson's early death might have lengthened the reign of the Richmond-Boston codominium, under which, since 1789, every president who wasn't a Virginian was an Adams from Boston.
~ No trial of tears? No threat of S.C secession in '37?
~ A few decades later, politics might not get the "Everyman" bump from Jacksonians. Whigs might very well still be around.
~ Florida remains Spanish for another 25 years or so instead of being invaded by Jackson's troops? Florida was a haven for run away slaves and native Americans fleeing encroachment from 'American settlers' in much the same way Canada was for the northern USA. Spain did not pay much attention or treasure to the defense of Florida and Jackson was the leading force behind the encroachment and raiding that took place between 1814 and 1821 when Spain gave up Florida and sold it to the USA.
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© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
