Andrew Jackson’s Life

INTRODUCTION

A man with such a basic life, but such big ideas and dreams. From being a prisoner of war, to President. Andrew Jackson had a very rough childhood, but was a well rounded leader in both military, and Presidency. All of his actions had great impact on the Americas during his life span and after.

Childhood/Early Life

Jackson's life all started march 15, 1767. There is no record of a place of birth but both North and South Carolina claim he was born in their states. It is said the Waxhaws region was his original birth place but this can not be confirmed. As a child, he received very little to no formal education. When he was young his mother and brother died in 1780-1781 due the the British invasion of the Carolinas, which soon lead to his lifelong hatred towards the british over his lifespan. When he was 13 years, old he enlisted in a local militia and saw combat in the American Revolution. He was captured as a prisoner of war and made a servant by British officers. The scar across his face was sought after he refused to clean a officer's boots, which resulted in him getting struck across the face with a saber. Some theorize that this incident was the cause for his hatred of the British, but this cannot be confirmed. After the war, Jackson along with his one surviving brother, contracted smallpox in a war camp prison. Jackson survived, unfortunately his brother did not. Having no one to go to, he soon moved to Charleston to live out the rest of his youth, with the help for his uncle giving him lump sums of money. He eventually went back to school to further his education at Passyunk Square neighborhood in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Jackson was always interested in the legal field. He ended up making his own private practice as a prosecuting attorney. He would soon marry Rachel Donelson Robards and have 10 children, then marry again this time to Lisa Marie Presley. He was known to be very rambunctious, fearless, and temperamental. The temperamental part of him led to him fighting over 103 duel, which he claimed was because he was defending his wife's honor.

Military life

President Madison commissioned Jackson as Major General of U.S. Volunteers in December 1812. During the war of 1812, he took troops to fight against indians on the southern frontier to fight against British forces. Jackson's men were getting beat badly and were outnumbered from fighting, which caused for his troops to try and desert him in battle, but Jackson put them at gunpoint and said he would kill them if they try and desert him. After a long painful battle then won this war against the British. This earned him his nickname of Ol' Hickory and Hero of New Orleans from his determination and toughness. In October of 1813, he led his troops to march to Fort Mims (present day southern Alabama), due to the fact it was under attack by a hostile faction that went by the name of Red Sticks.

War of 1812

Jackson was known as the only president that fought in both the revolutionary war and war of 1812. In the summer of 1814, Jackson commissioned his troops to move towards Alabama to attack the british. Most of his army consisted of inexperienced volunteers, free black men, riflemen from two different states, and the louisiana militia. The odds were very much against them. For every one soldier jackson had, there were two british soldiers. Even though this battle was uneven, Jackson's forces held their ground across a long barrier they made. On the day of January 8th, 1815, the british did a full scale attack on jackson. The british troops suffered mass casualties, around 8,600, and would be defeated. This led to nickname, the hero of New Orleans, which would later impact Jackson's election and presidency.

Road to the presidency

Jackson's war efforts and political involvement made him a more popular vote in his election. He served in the senate in 1797, and 1823 to 1825. He was also in house of representatives from 1796 to 1797. He formed a strong bond with Radicals and was named territorial governor of Florida after war of 1812. In 1822, Tennessee Legislature nominated him for presidency which prompted his avocation for public office.personally During Jackson's election he did not want to personally represent himself in any other state than Tennessee. He had a very clear point which made people understand him when he spoke of cleansing the government corruption and bringing it back to its earlier values. Historians believes the election of 1828 was recognized, and still is one of the most malicious and corrupt in the history of America. Jackson won the popular votes, but not the electoral college votes to be elected. The result was a tie for the election between Adams and Jackson, which called for the House of Representatives to choose. John Q Adams was elected by Henry Clay, and speaker of the house. Jackson had his suspicions about the election. He thought the two had a gentleman's agreement. When Adams took office, he made Clay Secretary of State, and this confirmed Jackson's theory. When it came time for elections Jackson would win against him, even with all of Adams supporters accusing him of going to be a napoleonic ambitionist and a tyrant who would use the presidency all for his own benefit.

Presidency

The build up to Jackson's political stance was accompanied by his military work. He was apart of the election of 1824 and was up against three different candidates, William H. Crawford, Henry Clay, and John Quincy Adams. Elected on March 4th of 1826, he served till 1837. While in office, he oversaw multiple projects. His main goal had to deal with the indian Removal Act. Which ordered the removal of thousands of Cherokee indians across the Trail of Tears to there reservations. They had to cross over nine different states for a total of 2,200 miles . He was the first democrat elected president. He is considered one of the first presidents that was for the people and wanted to represent them. He was the leader of the executive branch,and was known to rule with a iron fist. He was known as the first Tennessee man to be elected into the house of representatives. There was one known assassination attempt on him, January 30, 1835 by the house painter Richard Lawrence. There were two shots fired, neither shot went off, this gave Jackson a chance to beat him over the head with his cane.

The Trail of Tears

In 1830 congress was pressuring Jackson to pass legislation on removal of Native Cherokee indians in Georgia, which was land allocated to them due to the treaty signed in 1791. The treaty was named the Hopewell Treaty. This all changes at the discovery of gold and settlement purposed by white men. Georgia tried to reclaim the land but was taken to supreme court and ruled in favor of the Cherokee people. Then on May 28, 1830, Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act to force Native Indians to move to unsettled lands just west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their lands. This land persided in the states border.

The bank war and jackson's involvement

This dispute began with the his campaign in 1833 to eradicate the Second Bank of America. This dispute went on throughout his presidency, as Jackson had soon won national support for his cause. Where as in 1832, Jackson vetoed a bill that called for the early renewal for the second banks charter. He was not fond of the banking system, and acted harshly to reduce the banks economical powers. He had opposition form fellow cabinet members and went through two secretaries of treasury until he got what he wanted. On October 1st 1833, he announced that the federal funds would not be deposited into the second bank but rather place them in various state banks. The president of the second bank had ideas around jackson's genius plan, he decided to call back loans and contracting credit. In the end, the second banks charter ended up expiring in 1836 and Jackson official won the bank war.

Abolishment and the American System

The American System and economic policy lasted from 1816 to 1828. This called for certain tariffs on imported goods, which limited federal funding for certain infrastructure. This american system idea had success, but still was a flaw with internal conflicts. Abolishment of Slavery in the South was mostly about the treatment of slaves and their rights. Southern states were against abolishment and were fully dependent on slave labor, unlike the northern states. The first priority of Jackson's was to preserve the state of union before his conflicts with opposing slavery.

Life after presidency

After his two terms in office in 1829 to 1837, Jackson was was looking forward to having a quiet retirement from the political view. Though, even after his two terms were up his political views and stances carried on throughout Martin Van Buren's terms for office. He had say in the annexation of texas and abolishment of slavery. Although his term was long over, his work did get completed by political followers in office. This all stopped when William Henry Harrison took office on March 4 ,1841. At last, his age and also illness were bearing down on him. His health has been declining for many years, and he eventually died from natural causes on June 8th, 1845. He passed away at his final resting place and home at the Hermitage. The Hermitage was his house in Nashville, Tennessee. It is now a National Museum where you can go in and learn all the interesting facts about Andrew Jackson and his life.

Jacksons end result

In conclusion, the life line of Andrew Jackson was a rough and challenging time. He went through many difficult times as a child. He went into the militia at a young age and then eventually went back to school to finish his education. He also had some very great accomplishments. Not just as President, but even when he had success an attorney. After time he finished his education and created his own private practice of law. He then went on to getting married and having 10 children. All while going through political battles over elections and with Congress.He went on to being in the election to run for The President of the United States. He was up against four candidates and won. Not to mention that when paper currency came along from all of these efforts he got his place on the U.S. 2 dollar bill.

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