American Biography – Andrew Jackson
Jackson said that he was born in South Carolina; other
sources state that he was born in North Carolina.
According to another story, he was born on a ship
sailing from Ireland to the United States. His father
died around the time Andrew was born. In his youth,
he was always in fights or trouble of some sort. He
received little, if any formal education, although he did
learn how to read and write.
When he was fourteen, he joined the
revolutionary forces. He and his brother were taken
prisoner. His brother died from smallpox and Andrew
hovered near death for a few weeks. After he
recovered he learned that his mother had died while
nursing American prisoners. (Another brother died
also during the Revolution). While a prisoner, he was
ordered by a British officer to clean his boots; Andrew
refused. The officer beat him with a sword, scarring
Andrew across the face for life.
After gambling away an inheritance from an
Irish grandparent, he realized that he needed a
profession to survive. He decided to study the law with
a local lawyer. In 1787 he was admitted to the bar.
An old friend had been appointed as a judge for a
remote frontier settlement near present day Nashville,
Tennessee. He arranged for Andrew to be appointed
as the Public Prosecutor.
In Tennessee Andrew prospered. His law
practice went very well. He became district attorney
and a judge. For the most part, he supported the
landowners and moneylenders over the poor. He also speculated heavily in land. He became very
rich. Purchasing a plantation, which he increased in size over the years, he owned as many as 100
slaves He was a member of the elite.
In 1791, Andrew married Rachel Donelson Robards. She had fled her husband and they
had heard that he had divorced her. She was a plump, quiet, unassuming woman, who loved to be
left alone to smoke her corncob pipe by the fireside. Soon after their marriage, they learned that
Robards had not divorced her and he publicly accused of adultery. She secured a divorce from him
and the Jackson’s were re-married in 1794.
In 1796, Tennessee entered the Union. Andrew was elected to the Senate. Years later,
when Andrew ran for the Presidency in 1824, Thomas Jefferson wrote to a friend about him: “I feel
much alarmed at the prospect of seeing Gen.Jackson President. He is one of the most unfit men I
know of for such a place. He has had very little respect for laws or constitutions, and is in fact, an
able military chief, nothing more. When I was President of the Senate, he was a Senator; and he
could never speak on account of the rashness of his feelings. I have seen him attempt it
repeatedly; and as often choke with rage. His passions are no doubt cooler now; he has been
much tried since I knew him. But he is a dangerous man.”
After one year in the Senate, he retired and became a judge of the state Supreme Court. At
the same time, hew driven to bankruptcy because of his speculation in land. The experience gave
him an intense dislike of debts, paper money, speculation and banks.
In 1802, Andrew was elected commander of the Tennessee militia. In 1813-14, he defeated
the Creeks. The peace treaty he imposed on them was harsh that even the government in
Washington refused to support it. In 1814, he was ordered to defend the city of New Orleans
against British invasion. He put together a rag-tag army which included militia, local pirates,
Choctaw natives and freed slaves. On January 5, 1815, the British landed. They advanced directly
into the American line of fire. The British lost over 2000 men killed and wounded, including three
of their highest ranking officers. Andrew’s forces had very few casualties. It was a decisive
victory. However, the War had actually ended a few weeks before the Battle of New Orleans, but
the news had not yet reached the West.
In 1818, he was ordered to pursue the Seminoles who had fled into Spanish-held Florida.
He invaded the region, capturing two Spanish forts. Also he captured two British subjects.
Accusing them of aiding the Seminoles, he had them hanged. Before he returned to the United
States, he appointed one of his subordinates as Governor. His actions caused an international
crisis with the British and the Spanish.
In 1824, Andrew was nominated for the
Presidency. In the election, he received more popular
votes than any of the four other candidates. However,
since none of them received a majority of votes, the
decision on who had won was given to the House of
Representatives. It chose John Quincy Adams.
Andrew and his supporters were furious. They did
whatever they could to undermine Adams
administration, and succeeded. They also prepared for
the Presidential election of 1828.
The Presidential election of 1828 can be
interpreted on several levels. As a political campaign it
pitted “John Q. Adams who can write, (against) Andy
Jackson who can fight!” It was bitter contest.
Personal attacks were common. Jackson’s wife died of
a heart attack a few weeks after the election and
Andrew blamed her death on his political enemies. As
he vowed, “May God Almighty forgive her murderers,
as I know she forgave them. I never can.” Although
Andrew had won, he entered the White House a bitter
and lonely man.
On another level the election of 1828 witnessed
a national political change. It ended the domination by
the Jeffersonian Democrats of national politics. New political parties soon emerged to replace it;
The Democratic Party (centered around Jackson) and the Whig Party (centered around Clay).
On a third level, Jackson’s victory had been described as the “triumph of the common man”.
Religious and property qualifications had been removed as barriers to the right to vote throughout
the country prior to the election. Twice as many people voted in 1828 than in any previous
election. Andrew benefited from this development; however he was not responsible for it. In any
event, more voters identified with him than with his opponent. He swamped Adams by winning
over 140,000 more popular votes and almost 100 more Electoral College votes.
Andrew’s electoral victory (and re-election in 1832) and his two terms as President have
been referred to as “Jacksonian Democracy”. Some historians dislike that term because they
believe that the developments which occurred during these years were not the results of Andrew’s
efforts. He did increase the power of the Presidency to a degree it had never experienced before.
For example, he vetoed twelve congressional bills, more than any of his predecessors. He also
strengthened the sense of union during the crisis with South Carolina. On the other hand, he
retained his Anti-Amerindian and pro-slavery sentiments.
Andrew also set the guiding image that men who wished to enter the White House have
followed ever since: born in a log cabin (of poor birth), being “self-made” (amassing wealth
through one’s own talents, and having some military reputation. In 1836, Andrew retired from
public life, although he remained a powerful influence in his party.
Jackson was a violent and vengeful man. He had a fiery temper, although he often
pretended to be angrier than he really was to scare people into doing what he wanted them to do.
He was a bully and a tyrant. On the other side, he was extremely loyal to his friends. He tended
to view political disputes as personal duels rather than conflicts over principles or issues.
It is said that Jackson reflected the fundamental changes that were
occurring during his lifetime; he did not cause them. Explain this
statement.
Andrew Jackson and The Bank War (handout)
A contemporary Cartoon shows President Jackson trying to kill the “many-headed
monster,” the Bank of the United States. Why did Jackson set out to destroy the
bank?
Democratic cartoon shows Jackson fighting the monster Bank. "The Bank," Jackson
told Martin Van Buren, "is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!"
King Andrew
The economic consequences of the Bank War, the harsh treatment of Native
Americans and his dictatorial methods of dealing with Congress made President
Jackson many enemies. Bringing to the United States its first full measure of
true democracy, “Old Hickory” was also derided as “King Andrew”, a tyrant. A
believer in individual rights, Jackson made the federal government more power
than ever. A frontier southerner, he didn’t want to disturb the institution of
slavery, yet he turned against the South when that region threatened the
authority of the his government. A military hero who had build his reputation
in large part by killing natives, he espoused what was considered, his day, the
most enlightened approach to the so-called “Indian Problem” – relocation from
the East (“removal”) to new lands in the West. The great removal opened the
darkest chapter of Indian-white relations in the history of the United States.
Taking their cue from the English critics of King George III in the late 18th
century, the anti-Jackson groups formed a new political party: The Whigs.
Pursuing the analogy to George III, the Whigs openly attacked Jackson as “King
Andrew,” A tyrant who trampled on the constitution with his excessive use of
the presidential veto to thwart Congress. While the Democrats continued to
draw their traditional support from small farmers and from the South and West,
the Whigs now attracted former Federalists, social Reformers and merchants
from the North and Northwest.
A political cartoon from 1832
satirizing Andrew Jackson’s
belief in the need for a strong
presidency to govern the
United States. His critics
denounced him as a tyrant
and called him “King Andrew
the first.” He is shown in the
cartoon trampling the
Constitution and ruling by
veto. Why would it be
considered an insult to
refer to the president as
“King”?