Chapters 12-13 Summary and Analysis

These chapters fill in details on Jackson's life as he waits to go to war with Britain. The short "Master and Slaves" examines Jackson's record as a slaveholder in an era when attitudes are in flux, and then turns to the beginnings of the Jackson family. An 1808 congressional ban on importing additional slaves assuages consciences but, with the current stock reproducing fast enough to keep up with demand, prices increase. Owners use euphemisms and pretend it is a labor system like others, and assign to agents such non-idyllic aspects as tearing families apart. In 1804, Jackson buys the Hermitage. The new log house is rustic by comparison with what the Jacksons leave, but improvements soon begin, with slaves doing the heavy work. Their numbers grow as the operation expands. By 1820, Jackson holds four dozen, increasing to a hundred in 1829 -...