Andrew
Jackson (1751-1836) 7th
president of the United States (1829-1837)
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Andrew
Jackson was born in South Carolina on March 15th
1767. He was the third son of Andrew and
Elizabeth Jackson, immigrants from Northern
Ireland. Jackson’s father died
days before he was born.
Jackson
had no formal education but became interested in
law. He spent several years reading and studying
law. At the age of 20 he was admitted to the bar.
Shortly there after, in 1788, Jackson was appointed
public prosecutor of the western district of North
Carolina. He would soon settle in Nashville, Tennessee
and become a successful lawyer.
Jackson
soon met Rachel Donelson Robards who would eventually
become his wife. At the time Rachel was married
to Captain Lewis Robards, whose bad temper had driven
Rachel home to live with her mother who was Andrew
Jackson’s landlady. They were married in 1791. Jackson
and Rachel believed that Captain Robards had received
a legal divorce by the Virginia legislature but
the marriage was not dissolved until 1793. This
stunned the righteous Jackson and the couple was
properly remarried in 1794. Jackson’s enemies would
claim that he stole another’s man wife and lived
with her for 3 years. These claims did not sit well
with Jackson and often invoked his famous temper.
Jackson killed Charles Dickinson, a fellow lawyer,
in a pistol duel for insulting Rachel. As Jackson
continued to prosper in Tennessee he built his famous
mansion,
the Hermitage, near Nashville.
War
of 1812
Andrew Jackson was commissioned as brigadier general
and then major general in the War
of 1812. On November 7, 1814 Jackson drove the
British from Florida
and captured the town of Pensacola.
He became a national hero when he defeated the British
in The Battle of New Orleans. The British sustained
2,000 dead and injured while Jackson sustained only
6 casualties. The Battle of New Orleans would be
the last battle of the war. On December 24, 1814
the Treaty of Ghent was signed which called for
the end of the war to take effect in February of
1815. Jackson would go on to drive the Seminole
Indians from Florida in 1818.
Controversy
On
March 4, 1823, Andrew Jackson was elected senator
of Tennessee. In 1824, Jackson ran for the Presidency
of the United
States of America. His
opponent in the election was John Quincy Adams.
Neither Jackson nor Adams won the majority vote,
and the election was to be determined in the House
of Representatives. Henry Clay, who lost the presidential
election, was still the speaker of the House of
Representatives. Clay was a friend and advocate
of Adams and lobbied hard for his election. Adams
eventually won and appointed Clay to be his Secretary
of State. Jackson and his supporters cried foul.
They believed that corruption, thievery and crooked
politics had cost him the election. These events
would Drive Jackson’s campaign in 1828.
Presidency
and Late Life
In 1828 Jackson won the presidential election by
a landslide. He was seen as the people’s president.
He received 178 electoral votes to Adams' 83. Jackson
wasted no time in putting his mark on the presidency.
Jackson
claimed that the old corrupt politicians had to
go. He removed almost the entire old regime and
replaced them with people he chose. In 1828, however,
Rachel died and Jackson became depressed.
Jackson believed in the national government and
its ability to impose tariffs.
South Carolina attempted to nullify the tariffs
of 1828 and 1832 that the federal government imposed.
South Carolina, like much of the south, was angry
that the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 would result in
higher prices on goods that weren't manufactured
in the south. Jackson, in his typical style, threatened
to send in federal troops to enforce compliance
with the law. Henry Clay’s compromise of 1833 prevented
final confrontation.
In
1832, Andrew Jackson took measures to take away
the federal charter of the Second Bank of the United
States. Jackson believed the bank was unconstitutional,
too powerful, exposed the nation's finances to foreign
interests, favored northeastern states, and was
corrupt. Eventually, Jackson succeeded in this endeavor,
and the bank's charter was vetoed in 1832. Hundreds
of state and local banks took over the National
Bank's lending functions.
Andrew
Jackson is perhaps best known for his Indian removal
programs. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal
Act, which authorized Congress to purchase Indian
lands in the east in exchange for unsettled land
in the west. Jackson's actions were particularly
popular in the south, as gold had been discovered
on Cherokee lands in Georgia. Jackson pressured
Cherokee leaders to sign a removal treaty (known
as the Treaty of New Echota), that was surely rejected
by most Cherokee people. The treaty, which was enforced
by Martin Van Buren (the next president), resulted
in the removal of the Cherokee Indians from their
native lands via The
Trail of Tears. The Cherokee were forced to
walk hundreds of miles from Georgia to present-day
Oklahoma. Thousands died along the way. In all,
more than 45,000 Indians were "removed"
during Jackson's administration.
Andrew Jackson retired to his mansion in Tennessee
after his 2nd term. He died on June 8th
1845 at Hermitage where he was buried beside Rachel.
