Hangovers & History

I started Sunday morning slightly hung over. It was bound to happen. I did mix Guinness, white wine (bad, slightly sweet white at that) and a full bodied Cabernet, after all. I rebounded fairly quickly, getting all my Sunday errands done by early afternoon. Ryan and I had been talking about taking the boys to Andrew Jackson State Park for a while and we had nothing better to do so we decided to check it out. They had two hiking trails that were each a mile along. The boys loved it. The trails aren’t the only draw of the park though. They also offer camping, fishing and some history surrounding Andrew Jackson. Now, we didn’t go with the intention of educating ourselves about Andrew Jackson, nor did we take the time while we were there, but I couldn’t help wondering about the guy. I mean, he was our 7th President and was born in the “land of the waxhaws,” which is where I call home, so I thought I’d at least check out Wikipedia to see if he was even a noteworthy president.
Apparently his parents were Irish Immigrants that settled in a Scotch-Irish community in the region of the waxhaws, which is the area that straddles the NC/SC border. Whaaaa??? A Scotch-Irish community in Waxhaw?? First of all, the Scotch-Irish are not Irish, they’re Scots. Had they actually been Irish, then I don’t think there ever would have been an issue with the whole “liquor by the drink” ban surrounding Waxhaw until just recently. Secondly, that might explain why Waxhaw has a Scottish Society and Highland Games instead of an established bar scene and respectable night life. Just sayin’…..
I really have no idea how valid this all is, but to summarize, Wikipedia basically states that Jackson shaped the modern Democratic Party, but supported slavery and Indian removal. This guy sounds like a real a**hole. How does this combination exist?? I’m pretty sure you can’t be a democrat and support the ethnic cleansing of Indians at the same time. Granted, politics wasn’t all that evolved yet, but c’mon. He is also noted as a very successful and prosperous slave owner, planter and merchant. Interesting and all, but I can no longer regress back to this point in time. Onto something more inspiring, like my handsome boys and my ability to hike 2 miles after drinking like a tank the night before.