No, he was not against war if it meant keeping his idea of a Republic intact but then again, he was across the pond for most of the Revolutionary War. I think Jackson was like that. Use force to get what ya want but they differed when it came to participation. Jackson had no problem riding into a fight.

It's a real sticky mess when one factors in who was in power or wanted power in the Southern most section of the states. We had the Brits and France in the Northeast but the South had them and Spain, the Indians, and whatever floated in on the tide to try to make the rules. It's a wonder anyone truly felt like they 'belonged' to a country. Some of that regional over national attitude had to carry on down through a couple of generations. We also had a huge population of Catholics who were fluent in Spanish. They were a bit more outgoing than the Puritans. We was a truly mixed up bunch.

As much as we've kicked that can around, it comes back (at least to me) to the clan/herd/mind my own matters you mind yours type of personality that seemed to be more plentiful in this region. Many would have been happy to have the state be their nation. They couldn't wrap their minds around the 'national' idea. They were too used to the flag changing every few years to believe one would really stay put.

Pam