Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. He rose to fame as a U.S. Army general and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. His political philosophy, which dominated his presidency, became the basis for the rise of Jacksonian democracy. His legacy is controversial: he has been praised as an advocate for white working Americans and preserving the union of states, and criticized for his racist policies, particularly towards Native Americans. Jackson was born in the colonial Carolinas before the American Revolutionary War. He became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson. He briefly served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Superior Court from 1798 to 1804. He purchased a plantation later known as the Hermitage, becoming a wealthy planter who profited off the forced labor of hundreds of enslaved African Americans during his lifetime. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and negotiating the Treaty of Fort Jackson that required the indigenous Creek (Mvskoke) population to surrender vast tracts of the present-day U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 made him a national hero. He later commanded United States forces during the First Seminole War against the Seminoles (Semvnole) and other allied Native groups. This campaign was one of the factors that prompted Spain to negotiate the cession of Florida to the United States, which was finalized in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, in exchange for United States renunciation of territorial claims. He briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824. He won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote, but no candidate won the electoral majority. With the help of Henry Clay, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as president. Jackson's supporters alleged that there was a "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Clay (who joined Adams' cabinet) and began creating a new political coalition that became the Democratic Party in the 1830s. Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide victory despite issues such as his slave trading and his "irregular" marriage. In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act. This act, which has been described as ethnic cleansing, displaced tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands east of the Mississippi River. It resulted in thousands of deaths in what has become known as the Trail of Tears. Jackson faced a challenge to the integrity of the federal union when South Carolina threatened to nullify a high protective tariff set by the federal government. He threatened the use of military force to enforce the tariff, but the crisis was defused when it was amended. In 1832, he vetoed a bill by Congress to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States, viewing the Bank as a fourth branch of government run by the elite. After a lengthy struggle, the Bank was dismantled. In 1835, Jackson became the only U.S. president to pay off the national debt. After leaving office, he supported the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk, as well as the annexation of Texas. Opinions about Jackson are often polarized. Supporters characterize him as a defender of democracy and the U.S. Constitution, while critics point to his reputation as a demagogue who ignored the law when it suited him. Scholarly rankings of U.S. presidents historically placed Jackson high in the ranking of presidents. However, in the late 20th century his reputation declined, and in the 21st century his ranking has fallen. ### Early life === Childhood === Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaws region of the Carolinas. His parents, Andrew Jackson and Elizabeth Hutchinson, were Scots-Irish colonists and Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ulster, Ireland, in 1765. Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, around 1738, and his ancestors had crossed into northern Ireland from Scotland after the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Jackson had two older brothers who came with his parents from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764). Elizabeth had a strong hatred of the British that she passed on to her sons. Jackson's exact birthplace is unclear. Jackson's father died at the age of 29 in February 1767, three weeks before his son Andrew was born; afterwards, Elizabeth and her three sons moved in with her sister and brother-in-law, Jane and James Crawford. Jackson later stated that he was born on the Crawford plantation, which is in Lancaster County, South Carolina, but second-hand evidence suggests that he might have been born at another uncle's home in North Carolina. When Jackson was young, Elizabeth thought he might become a minister and paid to have him schooled by a local clergyman. He learned to read, write, and work with numbers, and was exposed to Greek and Latin, but he was too strong-willed and hot-tempered for the ministry. === Revolutionary War === Jackson and his older brothers, Hugh and Robert, served on the Patriot side against British forces during the American Revolutionary War. Hugh, who served under Colonel William Richardson Davie, died from heat exhaustion after the Battle of Stono Ferry in June 1779. After anti-British sentiment intensified in the Southern Colonies following the Battle of Waxhaws in May 1780, Elizabeth encouraged Andrew and Robert to participate in militia drills. They served as couriers, and were present at the Battle of Hanging Rock in August 1780. Andrew and Robert were captured in April 1781 when the British occupied the home of a Crawford relative. A British officer demanded to have his boots polished. Andrew refused, and the officer slashed him with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head. Robert also refused and was struck a blow on the head. The brothers were taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Camden, South Carolina, where they became malnourished and contracted smallpox. In late spring, the brothers were released to their mother in a prisoner exchange. Robert died two days after arriving home, but Elizabeth was able to nurse Andrew back to health. Once he recovered, Elizabeth volunteered to nurse American prisoners of war housed in British prison ships in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. She contracted cholera and died soon afterwards. Her death made Jackson an orphan at age 14, and increased his hatred for the values he associated with Britain, in particular aristocracy and political privilege. ### Presidency === Inauguration === Jackson arrived in Washington, D.C., on February 11, and began forming his cabinet. He chose Van Buren as Secretary of State, John Eaton as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch as Secretary of Navy, John M. Berrien as Attorney General, and William T. Barry as Postmaster General. Jackson was inaugurated on March 4, 1829; Adams, who was embittered by his defeat, refused to attend. Jackson was the first president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. In his inaugural address, he promised to protect the sovereignty of the states, respect the limits of the presidency, reform the government by removing disloyal or incompetent appointees, and observe a fair policy toward Native Americans. Jackson invited the public to the White House, which was promptly overrun by well-wishers who caused minor damage to its furnishings. The spectacle earned him the nickname "King Mob". === Reforms and rotation in office === Jackson believed that Adams's administration had been corrupt and he initiated investigations into all executive departments. These investigations revealed that $280,000 (equivalent to $8,500,000 in 2025) was stolen from the Treasury. They also resulted in a reduction in costs to the Department of the Navy, saving $1 million (equivalent to $30,200,000 in 2025). Jackson asked Congress to tighten laws on embezzlement and tax evasion, and he pushed for an improved government accounting system. Jackson implemented a principle he called "rotation in office". The previous custom had been for the president to leave the existing appointees in office, replacing them through attrition. Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, an 1820 law that limited office tenure, authorized the president to remove current office holders, and appoint new ones. During his first year in office, he removed about 10% of all federal employees and replaced them with loyal Democrats. Jackson argued that rotation in office reduced corruption by making officeholders responsible to the popular will, but it functioned as political patronage and became known as the spoils system. === Petticoat affair === Jackson spent much of his time during his first two and a half years in office dealing with what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair". The…