Andrew Jackson Facts - 7th President of USA

This article will enlighten Andrew Jackson facts. He was born with humble beginnings. His father died before Andrew was even born.

Andrew Jackson Biography

Andrew was only thirteen when he joined the Continental Army.  His older brother had died the year before while serving in the Continental Army, yet Andrew and his other brother Robert served as messengers. They were captured by the British in April of 1781 and were forced to march forty miles without food or water to a prisoner-of-war camp. There, Robert caught smallpox and died.

andrew jackson facts

His mother died during the same year of caring for soldiers. It is also reported that when Andrew Jackson was ordered to shine a British soldier's shoes, he refused, and was punished with a slash of the sabre on Andrew's face.

Andrew Jackson Education

Andrew Jackson Facts - Andrew studied to become a lawyer and also held a number of jobs working for the government, including representatives, senators, and judges. He was elected president in 1829. Jackson brought several changes to the Presidency.

First of all, he was the first common man to be elected president. Due to his humble beginnings, he was able to connect to many ordinary Americans. Jackson believed that ordinary men could make political decisions for themselves. He also rewarded his loyal supporters, as he fired one thousand of the ten thousand employees on the federal payroll, replacing them with his supporters.

Another very interesting story is that due to his popularity, approximately twenty thousand supporters and well-wishers followed his carriage to the White House. Many of them came right into the White House, even through the windows. They got up on chairs and couches, broke china, and even spit tobacco on the carpets. Jackson escaped the building through a back window and went to a hotel.

Trail of Tears

Jackson's presidency was not without stains. Jackson was no friend of the Indian. The state of Georgia was attempting to remove the Cherokees from their land, despite the fact that the Cherokees were one of the Five Civilized Tribes and had adopted many of the white man's ways as well as living in peace.

Although the Supreme Court stated that the state of Georgia did not have the right to settle their land without Cherokee permission, Jackson refused to enforce the ruling, and forced to sign a treaty, the Cherokees gave up their land and were sent west. This westward movement is known as the Trail of Tears, in which many Indians died of starvation, cold, and disease on their winter trek westward.

On a personal level, Jackson wed Rachel Donelson in 1791, which later caused much embarrassment to the couple, not realizing that Rachel was still married to her former husband. They wed again legally, but during Jackson's campaign for president, they were accused of adultery, and soon after Jackson's inauguration, Rachel died. She was buried in her inauguration dress.

Jackson was president for two terms, from 1829 until 1837.  He was known for his swift action and authoritative decisions. In fact, his enemies called him "King Andrew I."  At the conclusion of his presidency, he retired to his home and it is reported for the last eight years, he lived as a near invalid.

His legacy has been rather impressive, regardless of what you think of him. He was the first truly populist president, a trend that has continued and grown to this day. There are a number of political trends in America that continue today that were either started or intensified in the Jackson era.

The Twenty Dollar Bill, with Jackson's face on the front.

First, and perhaps most notably, was Manifest Destiny. Manifest Destiny was basically the expansion of the American country to the Pacific Ocean, an act which would lead to the creation of pretty much all of the states West of the Mississippi, and kicked off the massive settler movement to the west.

The largest implication of this was the mass murder of Native Americans and the forced removal of the tribes off of their land, regardless of what agreements had been previously agreed upon.

The next major political trend was the act of rewarding those who had helped Jackson into office with positions in the cabinet and in other executive branch positions. This continues today and is still hotly debated.

President Andrew Jackson

Though Jackson was a part of the Democratic Party, he started trends that, today, would be reminiscent of the Republican party. He favored a small federal government with more of the powers allocated to the states but consolidated the role of the Presidency within the Federal Government.

He also adopted a stance of Laissez-Faire economics, stating that the government should not get involved in the business, particularly in the banking business.

Though the ideologies of the party would greatly change over the course of the next 170 years, Jackson can be considered the first President to truly pull together the Democratic Party into its current entity.

Interesting Fact of Andrew Jackson

One of the more interesting stories of Jackson's presidency was when Richard Lawrence, an unemployed Englishman, pulled out two pistols and attempted to shoot and kill Jackson. Both pistols misfired, and Jackson ran to Lawrence and started attacking him with a cane. Eventually, Lawrence was disarmed and held down by a number of bystanders, including the legendary Davy Crockett.

Jackson started a trend of populist personalities in the United States that continues to this day. He still has supporters and was seen as a hero by many, and a racist, populist buffoon by many others. Much of the history behind Jackson has become a legend, and the Man himself stands as a symbol of the early days of the country, to the War of 1812 (in which he was a hero), to the beginning of the expansion of the frontier, and a precursor who set the stage for the civil war.

More Andrew Jackson Facts

NICKNAME - Old Hickory

BIRTH - Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767 in Waxsaws, S.C.

MOTHER - Elizabeth Hutchinson

FATHER - Andrew Jackson

SISTERS - None

BROTHERS - Hugh and Robert

MARRIAGE - Rachel Donelson Robards on August 1, 1791

CHILDREN - Andrew Jackson, Jr.

HOME - The Hermitage, Nashville Tenn.

EDUCATION - Attended public schools, Studied law in Salisbury, S.C.

RELIGION - Presbyterian

PRE-PRESIDENCY PROFESSION - Lawer, soldier, and politician

MILITARY SERVICE
  1. American Revolutionary War: at age 13 was an enlisted messenger.
  2. War of 1812: Major in the army and won the battle of New Orleans.
  3. First Seminole War (1817-1818).

POLITICAL LIFE

  1. The public prosecutor in North Carolina
  2. US Representative (1796-1797) First congressional representative from Tennessee
  3. US Senator (1797-1798) Served only 5 months
  4. Justice of Tennesee Superior Court (1798-1804)
  5. US Senator (1823-1825) US President two terms
POLITICAL PARTY - Democrat

INAUGURATION
  1. March 4, 1833, at the age of 61
  2. Andrew Jackson - First and Second Term Inaugural Address

Andrew Jackson Administration

PRESIDENCY - Two Terms of Office (March 4, 1829-March 4, 1837)

Vice President
  1. First Term: John C. Calhoun
  2. Second Term: Martin Van Buren
First Lady - Rachel Donelson Jackson

Supreme Court Appointments
  1. John McLean (1829)
  2. Henry Baldwin (1830)
States Admitted to the Union
  1. Arkansas, 1836
  2. Michigan, 1837

Andrew Jackson Cabinet

Secretary Of State
  1. Martin Van Buren (1829-1831)
  2. Edward Livingston (1831-1833)
  3. Louis MacLane (1833-1834)
  4. John Forsyth (1834-1837)
Secretary Of The Treasury
  1. Samuel D. Ingham (1829-1831)
  2. Louis MacLane (1831-1833)
  3. William J. Duane (1833, June-September)
  4. Levi Woodbury (1834-1837)
Secretary Of War
  1. John H. Eaton (1829-1831)
  2. Lewis Cass (1831-1836)
Attorney General
  1. John M. Berrien (1829-1831)
  2. Roger B. Taney (1831-1833)
  3. Benjamin F. Butler (1833-1837)
Secretary Of The Navy
  1. John Branch (1829-1831)
  2. Levi Woodbury (1831-1834)
  3. Mahlon Dickerson (1834-1837)
Postmaster General
  1. William T. Barry (1829-1835)
  2. Amos Kendall (1835-1837)
DEATH - June 8, 1845, Nashville, Tenn. at the age of 78

BURIAL - The Hermitage, Nashville, Tenn.

LANDMARKS - The Hermitage, Nashville, Tenn. (Homestead and Grave)


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