Andrew Jackson Totally Explained

Everything about Andrew Jackson totally explained

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – 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 the 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 the masses of people shaped the modern Democratic Party. Renowned for his toughness, he was nicknamed "Old Hickory." As he based his career in 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. 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.
   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. 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. While imprisoned they contracted smallpox, and after their mother secured their release, Robert died a few days later. Jackson's entire immediate family died from war-related hardships that Jackson blamed upon the British, leaving him 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.
   Besides his legal and political career, Jackson also prospered as a planter and merchant. In 1804, he acquired "The Hermitage", a farm near Nashville. Jackson later added to the farm. The primary crop was cotton, grown by slave workers. Jackson started with nine slaves, and had as many as 44 in 1820.

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. 400 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. 800 "Red Sticks" were killed, but Jackson spared chief William Weatherford. Sam Houston and David Crockett served under Jackson at this time. After the victory, Jackson imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson upon both the Northern Creek enemies and the Southern Creek allies, wresting 20 million acres (81,000 km²) from all Creeks for white settlement. Jackson was appointed Major General after this success.
   Jackson's service in the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom was conspicuous for bravery and success. When British forces menaced 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 4,000 militiamen won a total victory over 10,000 British. The British had over 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

Jackson served in the military again during the First Seminole War. He was ordered by President James Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek Indians. Jackson was also charged with preventing Spanish Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His directions were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this would be to seize Florida. Before going, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it'll be accomplished." Monroe gave Jackson orders that were purposely ambiguous, sufficient for international denials.
The Seminoles attacked Jackson's Tennessee volunteers. The Seminoles' attack, however, left their villages vulnerable, and Jackson burned them and the crops. He found letters that indicated that the Spanish and British were secretly assisting the Indians. Jackson believed that the United States wouldn't be secure as long as Spain and the United Kingdom encouraged Indians to fight and argued that his actions were undertaken in self-defense. Jackson captured Pensacola, Florida, with little more than some warning shots, and deposed the Spanish governor. He captured and then tried and executed two British subjects, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been supplying and advising the Indians. Jackson's action also struck fear into the Seminole tribes as word of his ruthlessness in battle spread.

The executions, and Jackson's invasion of territory belonging to Spain, a country the U.S. wasn't at war with, created an international incident. Many in the Monroe administration called for Jackson to be censured. However, 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." Adams used Jackson's conquest, and Spain's own weakness, to get Spain to cede Florida to the United States in the Adams-Onís Treaty. Jackson was subsequently named military governor, serving 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 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 that 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 was in contempt of the "voice of the people" and a "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate." 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."
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 again having a plurality. Since no candidate received a majority, the election was made by the House of Representatives, which chose Adams. Jackson denounced this result as a "corrupt bargain" because Clay gave his support to Adams, who later 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, "restored party rivalries," and forged a national organization of durability. 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.

Inaugural ball

Jackson invited the public to attend the White House ball honoring his first inauguration. Many poor people, instead of dressing for the occasion, came to the inaugural ball in their homemade clothes. The crowd became so large that Jackson's guards couldn't 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 raucous that the attendants poured punch in tubs and put it on the White House lawn to lure people out of the White House. This was the first time that a President invited the public to attend the inaugural ball.

Presidency 1829–1837

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. 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.

Electoral College

Jackson repeatedly called for the abolishment of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as President. 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." The institution remains to the present day.

Spoils system

When Jackson became President, he implemented the theory of rotation in office, declaring it "a leading principle in the republican creed." However, the effect wasn't 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. While Jackson didn't start the "spoils system," he did indirectly encourage its growth for many years to come.

First Baby

Jackson experienced the first known case of a President being handed a baby to kiss. However, Jackson declined, and handed the baby to Secretary of War John H. Eaton to do the honors.

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, at the expense of farmers and laborers, the Bank improved the fortunes of an "elite circle" of commercial and industrial entrepreneurs. 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. 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. 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 didn't have enough of to exchange for their notes. These banks collapsed.
   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. At the first Democratic National Convention, privately engineered by members of the Kitchen Cabinet, 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 isn't a nation."
   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

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Jackson's presidency was his policy regarding American Indians. Jackson was a leading advocate of a policy known as Indian removal. In his December 8, 1829 First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson stated:
Mattias Gardell who specializes in the study of religious racism in USA, studying groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Nation of Islam, says Jackson called Indian removal the "Final Solution" to the Indian issue during his election campaign. 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 couldn't 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's disputed.
   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 wasn't a recognized leader of the Cherokee Nation, and this document was rejected by most Cherokees as illegitimate. Over 15,000 Cherokees signed a petition in protest; it was ignored by the Supreme Court. The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, Van Buren, who ordered 7,000 armed troops to remove the Cherokees. 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.
   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."

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.
   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. 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." At times he'd cough up blood, and he experienced considerable pain from his wounds for the rest of his life.
   Rachel died of unknown causes 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,
   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.Further Information

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