Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/362

 304 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS propeller, of agricultural machines, anthracite coal, and friction matches, of the modern type of daily newspaper, of the beginnings of such cities as Chicago, of the steady immigration from Europe, of the rise of the Abolitionists and other reformers, and of the blooming of American literature when to the names of Bryant, Cooper, and Irving were added those of Longfellow, Whittier, Prescott, Holmes, and Hawthorne. The rapid expansion of the country and the extensive changes in ideas and modes of living brought to the surface much crude- ness of thought and action. As the typical popular hero of such a period, Andrew Jackson must always remain one of the most picturesque and interesting figures in American history. His ignorance of the principles of statesmanship, the crudeness of his methods, and the evils that have followed from some of his measures are obvious enough and have often been remarked upon. But in having a president of this type and at such a time we were fortunate in securing a man so sound in most of his impulses, of such absolute probity, truthfulness, and courage, and such unflinching loyalty to the Union. Jackson s death, in the year in which Texas was annexed to the United States, marks in a certain sense the close of the political era in which he had played so great a part. From the year 1845 the Calhoun element in the Demo-