Andrew Jackson

Infobox President | name=Andrew Jackson
nationality=American

---

order=7th President of the United States
term_start=March 4, 1829
term_end=March 4, 1837
predecessor= John Quincy Adams
successor= Martin Van Buren
order2=1st Territorial Governor of Florida Military Governor
president2= James Monroe
term_start2=March 10, 1821
term_end2=November 12, 1821
predecessor2= None (Spanish territory)
successor2 = William P. Duval
jr/sr3 = United States Senator
state3 = Tennessee
term_start3 = September 26, 1797
term_end3 = April, 1798
predecessor3 = William Cocke
successor3 = Daniel Smith
term_start4 = March 4, 1823
term_end4 = October 14, 1825
predecessor4 = John Williams
successor4 = Hugh Lawson White
state5 = Tennessee
district5 = At-Large
term_start5 = December 4, 1796
term_end5 = September 26, 1797
predecessor5 = Nonendash first TN Congressman (statehood)
order6=Chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs
term_start6=1823
term_end6=1825
preceded6=John Williams
succeeded6=William Henry Harrison
successor5 = William C. C. Claiborne
birth_date=birth date|1767|3|15|mf=y
birth_place=Waxhaws area
death_date= death date and age|mf=yes|1845|06|08|1767|03|15
death_place= Nashville, Tennessee;
Alias= Old Hickory
spouse= Widowed. Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson. (Niece Emily Donelson Jackson and daughter-in-law Sarah Yorke Jackson were first ladies)
occupation= Prosecutor, Judge, Farmer (Planter), Soldier (General)
party= Democratic-Republican and Democratic
vicepresident= John C. Calhoun (1829–1832), "None" (1832–1833), Martin Van Buren (1833–1837)
religion=Presbyterian

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767ndash June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837). He was military governor of Florida (1821), commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. He was a polarizing figure who dominated American politics in the 1820s and 1830s. His political ambition combined with widening political participation by more people shaped the modern Democratic Party. [Wilentz, Sean. "Andrew Jackson" (2005), p. 8, 35.] Renowned for his toughness, he was nicknamed "Old Hickory". As he based his career in developing Tennessee, Jackson was the first President primarily associated with the frontier.

Early life and career

Andrew Jackson was born to Presbyterian Scots-Irish immigrants Andrew and Elizabeth Jackson, on March 15, 1767 approximately two years after they had emigrated from Carrickfergus.cite web |title=Andrew Jackson |work=Information Services Branch, State Library of North Carolina |url=http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/bio/public/jackson.htm] cite web |title=Andrew Jackson Cottage and US Rangers Centre |work=Northern Ireland Tourist Board |url=http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/product.aspx?ProductID=2801] Three weeks after his father's death, Andrew was born in the Waxhaws area near the border between North and South Carolina. He was the youngest of the Jacksons' three sons. His exact birth site was the subject of conflicting lore in the area. Jackson claimed to have been born in a cabin just inside South Carolina. [cite web
url=http://www.perigee.net/~mwaxhaw/faq.html
title=Museum of the Waxhaws and Andrew Jackson Memorial
accessdate=2008-01-13 Controversies about Jackson's birthplace went far beyond the dispute between North and South Carolina. Because his origins were humble and obscure compared to those of his predecessors, wild rumors abounded about Jackson's past. Joseph Nathan Kane, in his almanac-style book "Facts About the Presidents", lists no fewer than eight localities, including two foreign countries, that were mentioned in the popular press as Jackson's "real" birthplacendash including Ireland, where both of Jackson's parents were born.]

He received a sporadic education in the local "old-field" school. During the American Revolutionary War, Jackson, at age thirteen, joined a local regiment as a courier. [cite web|url=http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/jackson|title=Andrew Jackson|publisher=Library of Congress |accessdate=2007-06-03] Andrew and his brother Robert Jackson were captured by the British and held as prisoners of war; they nearly starved to death in captivity. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the irate redcoat slashed at him with a sword, giving him scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British.cite book|last=Crocker III|first=H. W.|title=Don't Tread on Me|publisher=Crown Forum|year=2006|location=New York|pages=105|isbn=9781400053636] While imprisoned, the brothers contracted smallpox. Robert died a few days after their mother secured their release. Jackson's entire immediate family died from war-related hardships which Jackson blamed on the British, and he was orphaned by age 14.

Jackson was the last U.S. President to have been a veteran of the American Revolution, and the second President to have been a prisoner of war (Washington was captured by the French in the French and Indian War).

In 1781, Jackson worked for a time in a saddle-maker's shop.cite book |last=Paletta|first=Lu Ann |coauthors=Worth, Fred L |title=The World Almanac of Presidential Facts |publisher=World Almanac Books |year=1988 |id=ISBN 0345348885] Later he taught school and studied law in Salisbury, North Carolina. In 1787, he was admitted to the bar, and moved to Jonesboro, in what was then the Western District of North Carolina, and later became Tennessee.

Though his legal education was scanty, Jackson knew enough to practice law on the frontier. Since he was not from a distinguished family, he had to make his career by his own merits; soon he began to prosper in the rough-and-tumble world of frontier law. Most of the actions grew out of disputed land-claims, or from assaults and battery. In 1788, he was appointed Solicitor of the Western District and held the same position in the territorial government of Tennessee after 1791.

In 1796, Jackson was a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention. When Tennessee achieved statehood in 1796, Jackson was elected its U.S. Representative. In 1797 he was elected U.S. Senator as a Democratic-Republican. He resigned within a year. In 1798, he was appointed a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court, serving until 1804. [citation |title=JACKSON, Andrew, (1767ndash 1845), |publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress] Besides his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. In 1803 he owned a lot, and built a home and the first general store in Gallatin. In 1804, he acquired the "Hermitage", a convert|640|acre|km2|sing=on plantation in Sumner County, near Nashville. Jackson later added convert|360|acre|km2 to the farm. The primary crop was cotton, grown by enslaved workers. Jackson started with nine slaves, by 1820 he held as many as 44, and later held up to 150 slaves. [Remini (2000), p.51 cites 1820 census; mentions later figures up to 150 without noting a source.]

Military career

War of 1812

Jackson was appointed commander of the Tennessee militia in 1801, with the rank of colonel.

During the War of 1812, Tecumseh incited the "Red Stick" Creek Indians of northern Alabama and Georgia to attack white settlements. Four hundred settlers were killed in the Fort Mims Massacre. In the resulting Creek War, Jackson commanded the American forces, which included Tennessee militia, U.S. regulars, and Cherokee, Choctaw, and Southern Creek Indians.

Jackson defeated the Red Stick Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. Eight hundred "Red Sticks" were killed, but Jackson spared chief William Weatherford. Sam Houston and David Crockett served under Jackson in this campaign. After the victory, Jackson imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson upon both the Northern Creek enemies and the Southern Creek allies, wresting twenty million acres (81,000 km²) from all Creeks for white settlement. Jackson was appointed Major General after this action.

Jackson's service in the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom was conspicuous for bravery and success. When British forces threatened New Orleans, Jackson took command of the defenses, including militia from several western states and territories. He was a strict officer but was popular with his troops. It was said he was "tough as old hickory" wood on the battlefield, which gave him his nickname. In the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, Jackson's 5,000 soldiers won a victory over 7,500 British. The British had more than 2,000 casualties to Jackson's 13 killed and 58 wounded or missing.

The war, and especially this victory, made Jackson a national hero. He received the Thanks of Congress and a gold medal by resolution of February 27, 1815.

First Seminole War

The executions, and Jackson's invasion of territory belonging to Spain, a country with which the U.S. was not at war, created an international incident. Many in the Monroe administration called for Jackson to be censured. Jackson's actions were defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, an early believer in Manifest Destiny. When the Spanish minister demanded a "suitable punishment" for Jackson, Adams wrote back, "Spain must immediately [decide] either to place a force in Florida adequate at once to the protection of her territory ... or cede to the United States a province, of which she retains nothing but the nominal possession, but which is, in fact ... a post of annoyance to them." [cite web |title=Jefferson and His Colleagues |url=http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/grizzard/johnson/johnson13.html |accessdate=2006-10-11 |last=Johnson |first=Allen |year=1920] Adams used Jackson's conquest, and Spain's own weakness, to get Spain to cede Florida to the United States by the Adams-Onís Treaty. Jackson was subsequently named military governor and served from March 10, 1821 to December 31, 1821.

Election of 1824

The Tennessee legislature nominated Jackson for President in 1822. It also elected him U.S. Senator again.

By 1824, the Democratic-Republican Party had become the only functioning national party. Its Presidential candidates had been chosen by an informal Congressional nominating caucus, but this had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Treasury Secretary William H. Crawford for President and Albert Gallatin for Vice President. A Pennsylvanian convention nominated Jackson for President a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" and was a "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." [citation |last=Rutland |first=Robert Allen |title=The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton |pages=48–49 |year=1995 |publisher=University of Missouri Press |isbn=0826210341] Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshippers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." [Adams, Henry. "The Life of Albert Gallatin" (1879), 599.]

Besides Jackson and Crawford, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and House Speaker Henry Clay were also candidates. Jackson received the most popular votes (but not a majority, and four states had no popular ballot). The Electoral votes were split four ways, with Jackson having a plurality. Since no candidate received a majority, the election was decided by the House of Representatives, which chose Adams. Jackson denounced this result as a "corrupt bargain" because Clay gave his support to Adams. Later Adams appointed Clay as Secretary of State. Jackson's defeat burnished his political credentials, however, since many voters believed the "man of the people" had been robbed by the "corrupt aristocrats of the East."

Election of 1828

Jackson resigned from the Senate in October 1825, but continued his quest for the Presidency. The Tennessee legislature again nominated Jackson for President. Jackson attracted Vice President John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, and Thomas Ritchie into his camp (the latter two previous supporters of Crawford). Van Buren, with help from his friends in Philadelphia and Richmond, revived the old Republican Party, gave it a new name as the Democratic Party, "restored party rivalries," and forged a national organization of durability. [citation |last=Rutland |first=Robert Allen |title=The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton |pages=55–56 |year=1995 |publisher=University of Missouri Press |isbn=0826210341] The Jackson coalition handily defeated Adams in 1828.

During the election, Jackson's opponents referred to him as a "jackass." Jackson liked the name and used the jackass as a symbol for a while, but it died out. However, it later became the symbol for the Democratic Party when cartoonist Thomas Nast popularized it. [ [http://www.c-span.org/questions/week174.htm Nickels, Ilona; "How did Republicans pick the elephant, and Democrats the donkey, to represent their parties?"; "Capitol Questions" feature at c-span.com; September 5, 2000] ]

Jackson's wife Rachel died suddenly on December 22, 1828, prior to his inauguration, and was buried on Christmas Eve.

Jackson was the first President to invite the public to attend the White House ball honoring his first inauguration. Many poor people came to the inaugural ball in their homemade clothes. The crowd became so large that Jackson's guards could not hold them out of the White House. The White House became so crowded with people that dishes and decorative pieces in the White House began to break. Some people stood on good chairs in muddied boots just to get a look at the President. The crowd had become so wild that the attendants poured punch in tubs and put it on the White House lawn to lure people out of the White House. Jackson’s raucous populism earned him the nickname King Mob.

Election of 1832

In the 1832 presidential election, Jackson easily won re-election as the candidate of the Democratic Party against Henry Clay, of the National Republican Party, and William Wirt, of the Anti-Masonic Party. Jackson jettisoned Vice President John C. Calhoun because of his support for nullification and involvement in the Eaton Affair, replacing him with long-time confidant Martin Van Buren of New York.

Presidency 1829–1837

Infobox U.S. Cabinet
align=right
Name=Jackson
President=Andrew Jackson
President start=1829
President end=1837
Vice President=John C. Calhoun
Vice President start=1829
Vice President end=1832
Vice President 2="None"
Vice President start 2=1832
Vice President end 2=1833
Vice President 3=Martin Van Buren
Vice President start 3=1833
Vice President end 3=1837
State=Martin Van Buren
State start=1829
State end=1831
State 2=Edward Livingston
State start 2=1831
State end 2=1833
State 3=Louis McLane
State start 3=1833
State end 3=1834
State 4=John Forsyth
State start 4=1834
State end 4=1837
War=John H. Eaton
War start=1829
War end=1831
War 2=Lewis Cass
War start 2=1831
War end 2=1836
Treasury=Samuel D. Ingham
Treasury start=1829
Treasury end=1831
Treasury 2=Louis McLane
Treasury start 2=1831
Treasury end 2=1833
Treasury 3=William J. Duane
Treasury date 3=1833
Treasury 4=Roger B. Taney
Treasury start 4=1833
Treasury end 4=1834
Treasury 5=Levi Woodbury
Treasury start 5=1834
Treasury end 5=1837
Justice=John M. Berrien
Justice start=1829
Justice end=1831
Justice 2=Roger B. Taney
Justice start 2=1831
Justice end 2=1833
Justice 3=Benjamin F. Butler
Justice start 3=1833
Justice end 3=1837
Post=William T. Barry
Post start=1829
Post end=1835
Post 2=Amos Kendall
Post start 2=1835
Post end 2=1837
Navy=John Branch
Navy start=1829
Navy end=1831
Navy 2=Levi Woodbury
Navy start 2=1831
Navy end 2=1834
Navy 3=Mahlon Dickerson
Navy start 3=1834
Navy end 3=1837

Federal debt

:"See also: Panic of 1837"In 1835, Jackson managed to reduce the federal debt to only $33,733.05, the lowest it has been since the first fiscal year of 1791. [cite web |url=http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo1.htm |title=Historical Debt Outstanding - Annual 1791 - 1849 |accessdate=2007-11-25 |last= |first= |coauthors= |date= |work=Public Debt Reports |publisher=Treasury Direct] However, this accomplishment was short lived, and a severe depression from 1837 to 1844 caused a ten-fold increase in national debt within its first year. [cite web |url=http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/dep1837.htm |title=The Depression of 1837-1844 |accessdate=2007-11-25 |last=Watkins |first=Thayer |coauthors= |date= |work=San José State University Department of Economics |publisher=]

Electoral College

Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as President.cite web |title=Andrew Jackson's First Annual Message to Congress |publisher=The American Presidency Project |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29471 |accessdate=2008-03-14] [cite web |title=Andrew Jackson's Second Annual Message to Congress |publisher=The American Presidency Project |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29472 |accessdate=2008-03-14] In his third annual message to Congress, he expressed the view "I have heretofore recommended amendments of the Federal Constitution giving the election of President and Vice-President to the people and limiting the service of the former to a single term. So important do I consider these changes in our fundamental law that I can not, in accordance with my sense of duty, omit to press them upon the consideration of a new Congress." [cite web |title=Andrew Jackson's Third Annual Message to Congress |publisher=The American Presidency Project |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29473 |accessdate=2008-03-14] The institution remains to the present day.

poils system

When Jackson became President, he implemented the theory of rotation in office, declaring it "a leading principle in the republican creed." He believed that rotation in office would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. To strengthen party loyalty, Jackson's supporters wanted to give the posts to party members. In practice, this meant replacing federal employees with friends or party loyalists. [The Spoils System, as the rotation in office system was called, did not originate with Jackson. It originated with New York governors in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (most notably George Clinton and DeWitt Clinton). Thomas Jefferson brought it to the Executive Branch when he replaced Federalist office-holders after becoming President. [http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h965.html The Spoils System versus the Merit System.] Retrieved on 2006-11-21.] However, the effect was not as drastic as expected or portrayed. By the end of his term, Jackson dismissed less than twenty percent of the Federal employees at the start of it. [ [http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=637 Jacksonian Democracy: The Presidency of Andrew Jackson] . Retrieved on 2006-11-21.] While Jackson did not start the "spoils system," he did indirectly encourage its growth for many years to come.

Opposition to the National Bank

The Second Bank of the United States was authorized for a twenty year period during James Madison's tenure in 1816. As President, Jackson worked to rescind the bank's federal charter. In Jackson's veto message (written by George Bancroft), the bank needed to be abolished because:

* It concentrated the nation's financial strength in a single institution.
* It exposed the government to control by foreign interests.
* It served mainly to make the rich richer.
* It exercised too much control over members of Congress.
* It favored northeastern states over southern and western states.

Following Jefferson, Jackson supported an "agricultural republic" and felt the Bank improved the fortunes of an "elite circle" of commercial and industrial entrepreneurs at the expense of farmers and laborers. After a titanic struggle, Jackson succeeded in destroying the Bank by vetoing its 1832 re-charter by Congress and by withdrawing U.S. funds in 1833.

The bank's money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that sprang up. This fed an expansion of credit and speculation. At first, as Jackson withdrew money from the Bank to invest it in other banks, land sales, canal construction, cotton production, and manufacturing boomed. [http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=640 Digital History] ] However, due to the practice of banks issuing paper banknotes that were not backed by gold or silver reserves, there was soon rapid inflation and mounting state debts. [ [http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/jackson/section10.rhtml Sparknotes] ] Then, in 1836, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, which required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was a great demand for specie, which many banks did not have enough of to exchange for their notes. These banks collapsed. This was a direct cause of the Panic of 1837, which threw the national economy into a deep depression. It took years for the economy to recover from the damage.

The U.S. Senate censured Jackson on March 28, 1834, for his action in removing U.S. funds from the Bank of the United States. When the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged.

Nullification crisis

Another notable crisis during Jackson's period of office was the "Nullification Crisis", or "secession crisis," of 1828ndash 1832, which merged issues of sectional strife with disagreements over tariffs. Critics alleged that high tariffs (the "Tariff of Abominations") on imports of common manufactured goods made in Europe made those goods more expensive than ones from the northern U.S., raising the prices paid by planters in the South. Southern politicians argued that tariffs benefited northern industrialists at the expense of southern farmers.

The issue came to a head when Vice President Calhoun, in the South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, supported the claim of his home state, South Carolina, that it had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828, and more generally the right of a state to nullify any Federal laws which went against its interests. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he was also a strong supporter of a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men.

Particularly notable was an incident at the April 13, 1830 Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States." Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!"ndash a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!" [Ogg, 164.]

The next year, Calhoun and Jackson broke apart politically from one another. Around this time, the Petticoat Affair caused further resignations from Jackson's cabinet, leading to its reorganization as the "Kitchen Cabinet." Martin Van Buren, despite resigning as Secretary of State, played a leading role in the new unofficial cabinet. [ [http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0400180-00 Martin Van Buren biography at Encyclopedia Americana] ] At the first Democratic National Convention, privately engineered by members of the Kitchen Cabinet, [citation |last=Parton |first=James | author-link=James Parton |title=Life of Andrew Jackson |volume=3 |pages=381–385 |year=2006 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=1428639292. First published in 1860.] Van Buren replaced Calhoun as Jackson's running mate. In December 1832, Calhoun resigned as Vice President to become a U.S. Senator for South Carolina.

In response to South Carolina's nullification claim, Jackson vowed to send troops to South Carolina to enforce the laws. In December 1832, he issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the President declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution... forms a "government" not a league... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States is not a nation." [Syrett, 36. See also: cite web |title=President Jackson's Proclamation Regarding Nullification, December 10, 1832 |url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/proclamations/jack01.htm |accessdate=2006-08-10 ]

Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff. But it was held up until protectionists led by Clay agreed to a reduced Compromise Tariff. The Force Bill and Compromise Tariff passed on March 1, 1833. and Jackson signed both. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance. The Force Bill became moot because it was no longer needed.

Indian removal

[
Official White House portrait of Jackson.] Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Jackson's presidency was his policy regarding American Indians. [For an attack on Jackson see Cave (2003). 65(6): 1330–1353. For a defense see Remini (2001).] Jackson was a leading advocate of a policy known as Indian removal. In his December 8, 1829 First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson stated:

Prior to his election as president, Jackson had been involved wth the issue of Indian removal for over ten years. The removal of the Native Americans to the west of the Mississippi River had been a major part of his political agenda in both the 1824 and 1828 presidential elections. [Remini,"Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Freedom, 1822–1832" pp. 117, 200] After his election he signed the Indian Removal Act into law in 1830. The Act authorized the President to negotiate treaties to purchase tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands further west, outside of existing U.S. state borders.

While frequently frowned upon in the North, the Removal Act was popular in the South, where population growth and the discovery of gold on Cherokee land had increased pressure on tribal lands. The state of Georgia became involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokees, culminating in the 1832 U.S. Supreme Court decision ("Worcester v. Georgia") which ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands. Jackson is often quoted (regarding the decision) as having said, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!" Whether or not he actually said it is disputed. [Cave (2003); Remini (1988).]

In any case, Jackson used the Georgia crisis to pressure Cherokee leaders to sign a removal treaty. A small faction of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota with Jackson's representatives. Ridge was not a recognized leader of the Cherokee Nation, and this document was rejected by most Cherokees as illegitimate. [ [http://www.historicaldocuments.com/IndianRemovalAct.htm Historical Documents - The Indian Removal Act of 1830 ] ] Over 15,000 Cherokees signed a petition in protest; it was ignored by the Supreme Court. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html PBS] The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren, who ordered 7,000 armed troops to remove the Cherokees. [http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/jackson.htm Indian Removal] This resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 Cherokees on the "Trail of Tears."

By the 1830s, under constant pressure from settlers, each of the five southern tribes had ceded most of its lands, but sizable self-government groups lived in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. All of these (except the Seminoles) had moved far in the coexistence with whites, and they resisted suggestions that they should voluntarily remove themselves. Their non-violent methods earned them the title the Five Civilized Tribes. [PBS: Judgement Day. “Indian removal.” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2959.html (accessed January 12, 2008).]

In all, more than 45,000 American Indians were relocated to the West during Jackson's administration. During this time, the administration purchased about 100 million acres (400,000 km²) of Indian land for about $68 million and 32 million acres (130,000 km²) of western land. Jackson was criticized at the time for his role in these events, and the criticism has grown over the years. Remini characterizes the Indian Removal era as "one of the unhappiest chapters in American history." [Remini (2001).]

Attack and assassination attempt

The first attempt to do bodily harm to a President was against Jackson. Jackson ordered the dismissal of Robert B. Randolph from the Navy for embezzlement. On May 6, 1833, Jackson sailed on USS "Cygnet" to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. During a stopover near Alexandria, Virginia, Randolph appeared and struck the President. He then fled the scene with several members of Jackson's party chasing him, including the well known writer Washington Irving. Jackson decided not to press charges.

On January 30, 1835, a more serious attack occurred in the Capitol. Jackson was crossing the Capitol Rotunda after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis when Richard Lawrence approached Jackson. Lawrence aimed two pistols at Jackson, which both misfired. Jackson then attacked Lawrence with his cane, prompting his aides to restrain him. Others present, including David Crockett, restrained and disarmed Lawrence, who was clearly deranged.

Richard Lawrence gave the doctors several reasons for the shooting. He had recently lost his job painting houses and somehow blamed Jackson. He claimed that with the President dead, "money would be more plenty"—a reference to Jackson’s struggle with the Bank of the United States—and that he "could not rise until the President fell." Finally, he informed his interrogators that he was actually a deposed English King—Richard III, specifically, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was merely his clerk. He was deemed insane, institutionalized, and never punished for his assassination attempt.

Jackson's statue in the Rotunda is placed in front of the doorway in which the attempt occurred.

upreme Court appointments

*John McLeanndash 1830.
*Henry Baldwinndash 1830.
*James Moore Waynendash 1835.
*Roger Brooke Taney (Chief Justice)ndash 1836.
*Philip Pendleton Barbourndash 1836.
*John Catronndash 1837.

Major Supreme Court cases

*"Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia"ndash 1831.
*"Worcester v. Georgia"ndash 1832.
*"Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge"ndash 1837.

tates admitted to the Union

*Arkansasndash June 15, 1836.
*Michiganndash January 26, 1837.

Family and personal life

Shortly after Jackson first arrived in Nashville in 1788, he took up residence as a boarder with Rachel Stockley Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. At the time, Rachel Robards was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards, a man subject to irrational fits of jealous rage. Due to Lewis Robards' temperament, the two were separated in 1790. Shortly after their separation, Robards sent word that he had obtained a divorce. Trusting that the divorce was complete, Jackson and Rachel were married in 1791. Two years later they learned that the divorce had never actually been finalized, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson illegitimate. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson re-married in 1794. [Remini, 17–25]

The controversy surrounding their marriage remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. Jackson fought 13 duels, many nominally over his wife's honor. Charles Dickinson, the only man Jackson ever killed in a duel, had been goaded into angering Jackson by Jackson's political opponents. In the duel, fought over a horse-racing debt and an insult to his wife on May 30, 1806, Dickinson shot Jackson in the ribs before Jackson returned the fatal shot; Jackson actually allowed Dickinson to shoot first, knowing him to be an excellent shot, and as his opponent reloaded, Jackson shot, even as the bullet lodged itself in his chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could never be safely removed. Jackson had been wounded so frequently in duels that it was said he "rattled like a bag of marbles." [cite book|title=Character : Profiles in Presidential Courage|last=Wallace|first=Chris|authorlink=Chris Wallace (journalist)|publisher=Rugged Land|location=New York, NY|year=2005|id=ISBN 1-59071-054-1] At times he would cough up blood, and he experienced considerable pain from his wounds for the rest of his life.

Rachel died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, two weeks after her husband's victory in the election and two months prior to Jackson taking office as President. Jackson blamed John Quincy Adams for Rachel's death because the marital scandal was brought up in the election of 1828. He felt that this had hastened her death and never forgave Adams.

Jackson had two adopted sons, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek Indian orphan adopted by Jackson after the Creek War. Jackson had planned to have Lyncoya educated at West Point, but he died of tuberculosis in 1828, at the age of sixteen. [ [http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=7 Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson] . From: National First Ladies' Library. Retrieved November 7, 2007.] [ [http://www.nndb.com/people/855/000126477/ Rachel Jackson] . From: nndb.com. Retrieved November 7, 2007.]

The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.

The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 would run for Vice President on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the President and Emily became strained during the Petticoat Affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836.

Jackson remained influential in both national and state politics after retiring to The Hermitage in 1837. Though a slave-holder, Jackson was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states, and declined to give any support to talk of secession.

Jackson was a lean figure standing at 6 feet, 1 inch (1.85 m) tall, and weighing between 130 and 140 pounds (64 kg) on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough, caused by a musket ball in his lung which was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes even made his whole body shake. After retiring to Nashville, he enjoyed eight years of retirement and died at The Hermitage on June 8, 1845 at the age of 78, of chronic tuberculosis, "dropsy" and heart failure.

In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr., except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various other friends and family members. Andrew Jackson was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville.

Memorials

* Memorials to Jackson include a set of three identical equestrian statues located in different parts of the country. One is in Jackson Square in New Orleans. Another is in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol. The other is in Washington, D.C. near the White House. Equestrian statues of Jackson have also been erected elsewhere, including one in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida.
* Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including Jacksonville, Florida; Jackson, Louisiana; Jackson, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; Jackson County, Mississippi; Jackson, Missouri; Jackson County, Oregon; Jacksonville, North Carolina; Jackson, Tennessee; Jackson County, Florida; Jackson Parish, Louisiana; Jackson County, Missouri; and Jackson County, Ohio.
* A state park now exists on the site of his birthplace in Lancaster County, South Carolina
* Andrew Jackson High School, in Lancaster County, SC, is named after him and also uses the title of "Hickory Log" for its Annual photo book.
* The section of U.S. Route 74 between Charlotte, North Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina is named the Andrew Jackson Highway.
* Jackson's portrait appears on the twenty dollar bill. He has appeared on $5, $10, $50, and $10,000 bills in the past, as well as a Confederate $1,000 bill.
* Jackson's image is on the Blackjack postage stamp.
* The U.S. Army installation Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, is named in his honor.
* Fort Jackson, built before the Civil War on the Mississippi River for the defense of New Orleans, was named in his honor.
*USS "Andrew Jackson" (SSBN-619), a "Lafayette"-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, which served from 1963 to 1989.
*Jackson Park, the third-largest park in Chicago is named for him.
*Jackson Park, a public golf course in Seattle, Washington is named for him.
*Andrew Jackson Centre, the "Andrew Jackson Cottage and US Rangers Centre" includes Jackson's parents home - a "traditional thatched Ulster–Scots farmhouse built in 1750’s. It has been restored to its original state".

ee also

*Second Party System
*List of places named for Andrew Jackson
*The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home, now a tourist destination
*U.S. presidential election, 1832
*Trail of Tears
*Indian Removal Act

References

econdary sources

* Brands, H. W. "Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times" (2005), ISBN 0385507380; ISBN 978-0385507387; ISBN 1400030722; ISBN 978-1400030729 biography emphasizing military career.
* Brustein, Andrew. "The Passions of Andrew Jackson". (2003).
* Bugg Jr. James L. ed. "Jacksonian Democracy: Myth or Reality?" (1952), excerpts from scholars.
* Cave, Alfred A.. "Abuse of Power: Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act of 1830" (2003).
* Gammon, Samuel Rhea. "The Presidential Campaign of 1832" (1922).
* Hammond, Bray. "Andrew Jackson's Battle with the "Money Power" (1958) ch 8, of his "Banks and Politics in America: From the Revolution to the Civil War" (1954); Pulitzer prize.
* Hofstatder, Richard. "The American Political Tradition" (1948), chapter on Jackson.
*James, Marquis. "The Life of Andrew Jackson" Combines two books: "The Border Captain" and "Andrew Jackson: Portrait of a President", 1933, 1937; winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1938.
* Latner Richard B. "The Presidency of Andrew Jackson: White House Politics, 1820–1837" (1979), standard survey.
* [http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=406 Mabry, Donald J., "Short Book Bibliography on Andrew Jackson", Historical Text Archive.]
* Ogg, Frederic Austin ; "The Reign of Andrew Jackson: A Chronicle of the Frontier in Politics" 1919. [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13009 short popular survey online at Gutenberg] .
*Parton, James. "Life of Andrew Jackson" (1860). [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01632322&id=t-rhrBzV8rEC&printsec=titlepage Volume I] , [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01632322&id=M9gNJq_KnC8C&printsec=titlepage Volume III] .
* Ratner, Lorman A. "Andrew Jackson and His Tennessee Lieutenants: A Study in Political Culture" (1997).
*Remini, Robert V.. "The Life of Andrew Jackson". Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume monumental biography, (1988).
** "Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire, 1767–1821" (1977); "Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Freedom, 1822–1832" (1981); "Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Democracy, 1833–1845" (1984).
*Remini, Robert V.. "The Legacy of Andrew Jackson: Essays on Democracy, Indian Removal, and Slavery" (1988).
*Remini, Robert V.. "Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars" (2001).
*Remini, Robert V.. "Andrew Jackson," "American National Biography" (2000).
* Rowland, Dunbar. "Andrew Jackson's Campaign against the British, or, the Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812, concerning the Military Operations of the Americans, Creek Indians, British, and Spanish, 1813–1815" (1926).
*Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. "The Age of Jackson". (1945). Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History. history of ideas of the era.
* Charles Grier Sellers, Jr. "Andrew Jackson versus the Historians," "The Mississippi Valley Historical Review," Vol. 44, No. 4. (Mar., 1958), pp. 615–634. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0161-391X%28195803%2944%3A4%3C615%3AAJVTH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Y in JSTOR] .
* Syrett, Harold C. "Andrew Jackson: His Contribution to the American Tradition" (1953).
* Taylor, George Rogers, ed. "Jackson Versus Biddle: The Struggle over the Second Bank of the United States" (1949), excerpts from primary and secondary sources.
* Ward, John William. "Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age" (1962) how writers saw him.
* Wilentz, Sean. "Andrew Jackson" (2005) short biography.

External links

* [http://www.american-presidents.com/presidents/andrew-jackson Andrew Jackson Biography and Fact File]
*gutenberg author|id=Andrew+Jackson | name=Andrew Jackson
*CongBio|J000005
* [http://www.rightsideoftheroad.com/?p=450 Andrew Jackson, the national bank and censure]
* [http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/pol-gl.htm#F. American Political History Online]
* [http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer%5Fpol%5Fhist/thumbnail129.html Andrew Jackson images]
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/aj7.html White House Biography]
* [http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/jackson/ Andrew Jackson on the Web (resource directory)]
* [http://www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/jackson.htm Critical Resources: Andrew Jackson and Indian Removal]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=534 Andrew Jackson] at Find A Grave
* [http://www.bargeron.com/genealogy/gsb/f3802.html A genealogical profile of the President]
* [http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g07.htm Jackson's medical history]
* [http://www.wnpt.net/rachel/rachel_andrew/together.html PBS documentary on Rachel & Andrew's life together]
* [http://www.floridamemory.com/Collections/CallBrevardPapers/ Andrew Jackson letters to Richard K. Call]
* [http://clinton3.nara.gov/WH/glimpse/presidents/html/aj7.html Andrew Jackson's Auto lb|1400|-1 Cheddar]
* [http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/jackson Essay on Andrew Jackson and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs]
* [http://tides.sfasu.edu/AN18/SHHI_1.php?culture=2&chrono=5&index=0 Andrew Jackson's Candidacy, August 25, 1828] From [http://tides.sfasu.edu/ Texas Tides]
* [http://www.knowsouthernhistory.net/Speeches/andrew_jackson_bank_veto.html Andrew Jackson's veto speech in 1832 regarding the Bank of the US]
* [http://www.gilderlehrman.org/ Transcripts of letters of Andrew Jackson] at the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Persondata
NAME= Jackson, Andrew
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=seventh President of the United States
DATE OF BIRTH= birth date|1767|3|15|mf=y
PLACE OF BIRTH= Waxhaw, South Carolina/North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH= death date|1845|6|8|mf=y
PLACE OF DEATH= The Hermitage, Nashville, Tennessee