Andrew Jackson, born in 1767 to Scottish-Irish immigrants, became a lawyer and politician, serving as a senator and judge before becoming the seventh US president. He was known for his fiery temper, duels, and support for federal government control. He owned slaves and was involved in the Trail of Tears, but staunchly supported the Union. He served two terms and retired to his plantation, the Hermitage, where he died in 1845.
Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States of America, was born on March 15, 1767 in Waxhaw, on the border between North and South Carolina, to the newly widowed Elizabeth Hutchinson. His parents were Scottish-Irish immigrants who had come to farm in 1765 with their sons Hugh and Robert.
Growing up, Andrew Jackson was feisty and often got into fights. He learned to read despite a sporadic education. At age thirteen, Andrew became a courier for a regiment of South Carolina militia during the Revolutionary War. Barely a teenager, Jackson was in several skirmishes with British and British sympathizers. After Hugh was killed, Robert and Andrew were captured by the British. Both brothers contracted smallpox in prison. Their mother arranged for their release, but she also contracted the disease, which proved fatal for her and Robert. Andrew recovered, but was orphaned at the age of 14.
To earn money, the young man made saddles. He taught school for a time before studying law on his own. By 1787, he had learned enough to establish his own law practice in Nashville, then a part of the North Carolina frontier that would eventually belong to Tennessee.
In 1791, Andrew Jackson married Mrs Rachel Donelson Robards, whom he had met when he moved into his mother’s boarding house. This marriage would cause a lot of trouble for the couple as it turned out that Rachel’s first marriage had not been officially terminated. Although the situation was rectified and a second ceremony was held, gossipers and political enemies would take advantage of this fact to stoke the fires of scandal. Jackson would fight more than one duel to defend his wife’s honor.
In 1796 he was elected a member of Congress from the new state of Tennessee. In 1797 he became a United States Senator, and held that office until 1798, when he became a judge in the superior court of Tennessee. He was a judge until 1804.
Andrew and Rachel Jackson maintained a plantation, the Hermitage, and bred racehorses. Jackson kept slaves to help run her plantation. The fiery temper of his youth did not fade in adulthood and he continued to be involved in duels and the occasional brawl. In 1806, Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson dueled with pistols. Dickinson shot Jackson in the chest, a wound from which he would suffer for the rest of his life. Jackson returned the blow, killing Dickinson.
Although Rachel and Andrew never had children of their own, they adopted Rachel’s nephew, naming him Andrew Jackson, Jr. They also adopted an Indian orphan named Lyncoya. The Jacksons also acted as guardians for a number of other children’s wards who came to live with them after their parents’ deaths.
A colonel in the Tennessee militia, Jackson’s success in the War of 1812 solidified his reputation for bravery. He was nicknamed Old Hickory by troops who admired his toughness. Eventually he would rise to the rank of major general.
In 1822 he became the first presidential candidate to be nominated not by Congress but by a political party. In 1823, he was elected to the United States Senate in preparation for a presidential bid.
Although Andrew Jackson won the popular vote in the 1824 presidential election, there was no clear majority in the electoral college. The decision would be up to the House of Representatives. Democrat Jackson was defeated by John Quincy Adams. Jackson decided to return in the 1828 election.
As soon as the 1824 election ended, campaigning for the 1828 election began. Jackson returned home to his plantation as supporters of Adams and Jackson conducted malicious personal attacks on each other’s candidates. Andrew Jackson won the presidential race in 1828, but Rachel died shortly before taking office. Jackson blamed her death on the stress he endured from the defamatory allegations during the campaign and has never forgiven his rival for it. Rachel’s niece Emily Donelson took over the duties of the First Lady’s hostess in Rachel’s stead.
Sixty-one-year-old Jackson assumed the presidency on March 4, 1829. He served two terms, and his administration reflected the personality of its leader. He has pushed for federal government control over individual states. He satisfied the public debt. Lui refused to stop Georgia from evicting Native Americans from its land, a decision that paved the way for the Trail of Tears. Although he continued to own slaves for the rest of his life, he staunchly supported the Union.
Suffering from tuberculosis, with a chronic headache and aching from countless old wounds, he declined to seek a third term. He retired to the Hermitage on March 3, 1837. Thousands of people turned up to greet him. He died on June 8, 1845.
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