Jim Brown’s syndicated column seems every week in quite a few newspapers all through the nation and on web sites worldwide. You possibly can learn all his previous columns and see persevering with updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You may also look over a listing of books he has revealed at www.thelisburnpress.com.
I don’t learn about you, however I’ve all the time cherished to learn and research Louisiana Historical past. I’ve had the pleasure of educating the historical past of the Bayou State at each Tulane College and LSU. And in terms of inspecting the large political figures that had a direct bearing on the stature and even the survival of Louisiana as an American state, two people stand head and shoulders above all others.
They every are former presidents. And with out their imaginative and prescient and dramatic management, Louisiana would possibly nicely not be an American state at the moment. Nobody else may fill this position greater than Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson.
Jefferson was the nation’s third president, and will nicely be the brightest mind that ever graced our nations’ political scene. He was the writer of America’s founding doc, the Declaration of Independence, and he grew to become the voice for the hopes and aspirations of a brand new America. Jefferson based the College of Virginia, and he designed and constructed Monticello, probably the most gorgeous anti-bellum houses within the nation. And he was the driving power in negotiating the Louisiana Buy from Napoleon in 1803. Merely put, with out Jefferson’s imaginative and prescient and tenacity in in search of the huge territory west of the Mississippi River, Louisiana wouldn’t be a state at the moment.
Andrew Jackson was our nations’ seventh president, and was the one president to have been a prisoner of warfare, having been captured by the British at 17 whereas serving within the Revolutionary Battle. He later was Nicknamed “Previous Hickory” for his legendary toughness on the battlefield. Throughout his presidential marketing campaign in 1828, his opponents known as him a jackass. Jackson was amused and used the picture to win the presidency. He based the Democratic Occasion and used the jackass as its image.
However what Andrew Jackson did for Louisiana was unimaginable. Within the warfare of 1812, New Orleans was beneath siege by the British. Main Basic Andrew Jackson rushed to New Orleans and gathered a rag tag military made up of a motley group of native residents, frontiersmen, slaves, Indians and even pirates. And he was desirous to struggle the British, telling his spouse: “I owe to Britain a debt of retaliatory vengeance, and may our forces meet I belief I shall pay the debt.”
Louisiana ought to usually thank its fortunate stars for Jackson’s tenacity to get his revenge. He soundly beat the British on the Battle for New Orleans, grew to become an American hero, and saved Louisiana from changing into a everlasting British protectorate.
If ever there have been any two people who must be usually honored and commemorated in Louisiana historical past, there must be doubt the 2 must be Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. And for a few years, the Louisiana Democratic Occasion did honor each American heroes by internet hosting an annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner as a yearly fundraiser. Democrats held related occasions throughout the nation.
However no extra in Louisiana. Occasion officers determined it’s not “politically right” to honor these two American icons. You see, they had been slave homeowners. It made no distinction that the primary seven American presidents additionally owned slaves, as did a lot of the nation’s founding fathers. The democratic management apparently needs to evaluate these previous heroes primarily based on present-day values, and proceed a warped effort to re write Louisiana and American historical past.
The brand new dinner identify is the “True Blue Gala.” I suppose we are going to see a decision on the dinner calling for the re-naming of Jefferson and Jackson parishes, Thomas Jefferson Excessive College in Gretna, the city of Jackson, La., Jefferson Island in Iberia Parish; the checklist goes on and on.
The Louisiana Democratic Occasion is changing into increasingly irrelevant within the Bayou State. And Jackson’s image for the Democrat Occasion would appear to have a special connotation at the moment. The true ingrates are those that attempt to rewrite historical past and belittle previous leaders who served and saved our nation, and notably Louisiana. The occasion of Jefferson and Jackson deserve lots higher.
Peace and Justice
Jim Brown
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