Extra Credit Questions

[L Verge]

Another outstanding history student! Congratulations, Steve.

Peggy is an interesting story, a woman of questionable virtue who married John Eaton, a friend of President Andrew Jackson. Politics came into play and even the wives of Cabinet members and ranking politicians decided to shun the young lady -- led by Floride Calhoun, wife of the venerable John C. Calhoun, then Vice President of the U.S. This was during the 1830s when Jackson was creating troubles with the tariff, Martin Van Buren was making waves, etc. What made matters worse was that Jackson, reminded of the harsh treatment his deceased wife, Rachel, had endured, sided with Peggy Eaton.

Things got so heated that what has been dubbed the Petticoat Affair ended with Calhoun resigning and returning to South Carolina and stirring up a lot of trouble between the North and South for the next few decades. This effectively ended any hope that Calhoun had once had of gaining the Presidency. He died before the 1860 election, but if he had become President earlier perhaps he might have served to bridge the divide between North and South instead of being considered the Father of Secession.

Google Peggy Eaton for an interesting story -- right down to her old age, when she took a 20-year-old husband (who ran away with her money and her granddaughter)!