In the 1780s, a young Jackson very nearly became a priest, his mother had made arrangements for him to be taught by a local priest, he unfortunately was "too strong-willed and hot-tempered for the ministry", so I propose to you that he's able to rein in his temper enough to continue his education, so Jackson becomes a priest, what then? well around this time the second great awakening was in full swing, several off-shoot religions were created during this period, and it's possible Jackson could become a leader in his own brand of Christianity, this would obviously leave him unable to have any military career, from what I can tell, his immediate predecessor was James Wilkinson, to say his generalship would be bad is an understatement, if there is a battle of new orleans, he is soundly defeated, so where does that leave Jackson, a minister in a united states seemingly coming apart at the seems with the Hartford convention up north?
What if Andrew Jackson became a Priest?
- Thread starter tophatgaming
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I am not an expert on religion by any means, but we can see how this new religion, let's call it jacksonianism for now, would operate by looking at the contemporary ones, the main one being mormonism, which, again, I am nowhere near an expert on
politically I can see the federalists dominating the 1820s, after all, they told everyone war was a bad idea, and now new england, the birthplace of the revolution, was now her own country
I'm not too positive on that - OTL, the Hartford Convention was dominated by the moderates, and the resolutions they reached didn't endorse secession. And in any case, the Treaty of Ghent had already been signed by the time the battle happened.
However, a possible loss at New Orleans (which is not necessarily a given) might make the Federalist opinion of the war sound more reasonable - the war was at best a bloody stalemate, Washington was sacked and they were lucky they didn't have to make any territorial concessions...
you get the idea, I'm honestly more interested in what Jackson would do as the founder of his own version of Christianity
That's a fun AH I've not seen before!
I'm assuming you mean a Presbyterian minister or clergyman rather than a 'priest' - that would be quite a specifically RC or potentially Episcopalian term, especially in the period, and comes with a theology to match.
Well, there's no reason to assume that he would stray outside the orthodoxy of his church, so you may well just end up with Rev. Andrew Jackson, presbyterian minister. But the idea of Jackson leading some sort of Mormon-style restorationist Christianity is a fun one. I've heard it said before that a lot of the ideas that coalesced into Mormonism (Native Americans as the people of God, restoration of some sort of apostolic Christianity) were in the cultural milieu in more mainstream branches of Christianity, so any of those could work their way into a 'Jacksonite' church. I don't know how much you could really be guided by OTL for this; you've got an interesting premise here, but I think it's for you to fill in the details. For me, I'm picturing Jackson leading his followers out of the United States to found God's kingdom on earth in, say, Texas...
imagine the rabid pro-slavery and later lost cause rhetoric as an actual religion
Given the man was only marginally literate in English, the necessary Latin (for a priest) would have been a stretch.... 
remember this is a different jackson, one that completed his educationGiven the man was only marginally literate in English, the necessary Latin (for a priest) would have been a stretch....
while yes the hartford convention wasn't secessionist, if the union is consistently defeated in the south, culminating in a sound defeat at new orleans, it's possible the treaty of ghent isn't even signed, moreover it could radicalise the convention towards secession
As far as I know, Jackson was a Presbyterian, he wouldn't need Latin to go into the clergy. Actually, I'm not even sure if they have priests.Given the man was only marginally literate in English, the necessary Latin (for a priest) would have been a stretch....
the title is honestly more of a play on all the 'what if stalin became a priest' scenarios, regardless, imagine jackson as the head of a mormon style church, giving a theocratic edge to the pro-slavery politics of the time
Quite honestly, despite the importance of his presidency often being undersold, Jackson wasn't actually much of a party leader, instead being more of a figurehead for an emerging political movement. Without him, Van Buren is likely to find another person to head his burgeoning Democratic party. William Crawford was his original choice before Jackson, but Crawford's health was in decline so it's hard to imagine that panning out. There are plenty of OTL Jacksonians who might fit the bill, but so many were from Jackson's orbit, making it hard to guess which one could fill that void in his absence. Another interesting consequence of this is that the Whig party might not emerge, as it was originally a coalition of anti-Jacksonians drawn from together different political corners (Nationalists, States' Rights, Anti-Masons, etc), all in agreement that Jackson's presidency was dangerous.
As for Jackson himself, it's frankly hard to imagine him pursuing priesthood. The man was known for having a few vices and notoriously had quite the temper at times. Many of those problems stemmed from his childhood, due to having no father in his life, living with his extended family, experiencing the fighting of the Revolutionary War, and eventually becoming an orphan following his mother's early death. He did work as a teacher and a lawyer for a time, which seem like careers more tolerant of his personality flaws.
As for Jackson himself, it's frankly hard to imagine him pursuing priesthood. The man was known for having a few vices and notoriously had quite the temper at times. Many of those problems stemmed from his childhood, due to having no father in his life, living with his extended family, experiencing the fighting of the Revolutionary War, and eventually becoming an orphan following his mother's early death. He did work as a teacher and a lawyer for a time, which seem like careers more tolerant of his personality flaws.
as it happens, the pod is andrew jacksons father not dying, so his issues are butterflied away
Richard M. Johnson or Thomas Hart Benton could both serve as alternative focal points for the *Democratic Party. One alternative way of shaking things out might be a 'nationalist' party bringing together people like Johnson and Webster versus a 'states rights' party led by Tyler and Calhoun. There was the possibility of this kind of alignment happening in OTL between Jackson and Webster over Nullification.
politics are fun and all, but religion is the main thing, if a pro-slavery, pro-democracy person like jackson founded his own branch of Christianity as part of the second great awakening
Johnson's personal life I think would disqualify him in the eyes of many of his contemporaries. Benton was my first thought as well when pondering potential replacements, although without Jackson it's hard to say how his early career would've progressed. He had a good relationship with Van Buren so if he does achieve some prominence on his own, possibly in Tennessee as a senator or governor, it might be Bentonian Democrats that history talks about. I also agree about a potential split between the Nationalists and States' Righters. It's hard to say whether that would be hindered or helped by a more potent Hartford Convention. Van Buren in some ways leveraged the Convention's effect on the popularity of Federalists to realign politics in New York, so it might only accelerate that process. Simultaneously, similar concerns regarding Nullification pushed nationalists like Webster towards Unionists like Jackson. So I'm not entirely certain on how that all might reconcile.
I'm not sure that slavery would be an overriding religious aspect, especially given that the Second Great Awakening's emerging groups tended to be somewhere between neutral to hostile to the institution. Given his distrust of elites and penchant for populism, I could see Jackson embracing a Restorationist view.
using the mormons as an example, they were very much pro-slavery, remember a large part of their religion was the mark of cain being dark skin, there's no way to talk about this without talking about what contemporary movements were doing