Jackson's address used the language of citizenship, honor, and shared defense during emergency mobilization. The promises did not dissolve racial hierarchy after victory.
To every noble-hearted, generous freeman of color, volunteering to serve during the present contest with Great Britain, and no longer, there will be paid the same bounty in money and lands, now received by the white soldiers of the United States, viz. one hundred and twenty-four dollars in money, and one hundred and sixty acres in land.
Historical wording and forms retained where stated.
Modernized reading
Jackson publicly praised free Black men who volunteered for the defense of Louisiana.
Plain-language reading; not a substitute for quotation.
Editorial method: The complete sentence is reproduced, including the service-duration limit and material terms.
Annotations
freeman of colorA period legal and social category for free Black and mixed-race men, especially significant in Louisiana.
present contestThe approaching British campaign in the Gulf and defense of New Orleans.
Witness and provenance
Creator
Andrew Jackson
Witness used
The printed recruitment address preserved and digitized by the Maryland State Archives.
Repository or edition
Maryland State Archives
Collection
Documents for the Classroom
Identifier
Andrew Jackson, To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana, 21 September 1814
Transmission
Issued at Mobile during recruitment and preserved as a printed address. The linked archival teaching record supplies the cited witness.
Rights
Public-domain military address; archival image terms may differ.
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