Andrew Jackson’s relationship with his male wards is a subject that offers fruitful inquiry into conceptions of patriarchy and masculinity in antebellum America. This paper will address Jackson’s advice to his male wards, specifically Andrew Jackson, Jr., Andrew J. Donelson, and Andrew J. Hutchings, on topics such as slavery, treatment of women, education, and finances. It will illustrate the ways in which Jackson attempted to use paternalistic language to shape his wards’ behavior to fit his beliefs about patriarchy and masculinity. The paper will also explain the wards’ rebellion against his authority, which was grounded in their generation’s beliefs about masculinity. This paper will add to the growing historiography on southern masculinity and family relations typified by the research of Stephen Berry, Craig T. Friend, Lorri Glover, Jennifer R. Green, and Anya Jabour.
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