Like most of us, our seventh
President was full of contradictions
• He had virtually
• Yet he turned no education. It himself into a was said that lawyer, a the President
“ never spelled general, a man of considerable a word the wealth, and the same way twice.
”
President of the
United States

• Young Andrew loved sports more than schoolwork.
• He had a hot temper and would pick a fight at the drop of a hat.
• One of his friends commented,
“He would drop the hat himself.
”

• Which meant he fit the stereotype that he was touchy and
fiercely protective of his honor
• He carried two bullets in his body from duels he ’ d fought

• During the American Revolution, Jackson was captured by the British. A British officer ordered him to shine his boots.
Jackson refused, replying, “I am a prisoner of war, and I demand to be treated as such.
” The outraged officer struck him on the head with a saber when
Jackson refused to shine his boots.

He led troops against Indians and, in the War of 1812, crushed the British at the
Battle of New Orleans
• What no one knew at the time was treaty that ended the War of 1812 had already been signed!

• She died before he became President.
He never got over it.
• Jackson was, forever after, very protective of women
• A slave trader once insulted his wife
Rachel, which enraged Jackson.

• Jackson challenged him to a duel. Duels were an accepted way of settling disputed between gentleman.
• Dickinson shot first, hitting Jackson in the chest. Jackson remained standing, pointed his pistol and shot the slave trader dead.

• She was the wife of
Jackson ’ s Secretary of
War
• It was said an affair had broken up a previous marriage
• The wives of the rest of
Jackson ’ s cabinet refused to call on her or even talk to her at White
House receptions

Floride Calhoun, the wife of
Jackson ’ s Vice President, led the anti-Peggy faction
• Eventually, several cabinet members resigned because
Jackson refused to bar Peggy from White
House functions
• It was the first White
House “ sex scandal ”

Jackson was both tough and frail
• The men who fought for him called him “ Old Hickory ” —after the wood that is so incredibly hard that it made great canes for gentlemen to carry (and clobber each other with).
Yet he was over 6 ’ 1 ” and weighed about 130 lbs.

In 1835, a man attempted to shoot the President
• But his palms were sweaty, so both his pistols misfired.
• Jackson proceeded to nearly beat the poor man to death with his cane. It took several people to pry the old man off the would-be assassin.

Jackson saw himself as the champion of the “ Common Man ”
• At his first Inauguration, the “ Common
Men ” at the White House reception nearly tore the place apart during their celebration for “ Old Andy.
”
• They were distracted only when a 300lb. cheese was wheeled out onto the
White House lawn.
• Which is where we get the term: “ Big
Cheese ”

Although he loved the “ Common
Man, ” this did not extend to people of color
• Jackson ’ s wealth was based on
The Hermitage, his plantation, worked by slave labor
• He hated Indians and probably would have preferred to have seen them exterminated

And his political philosophy followed Jefferson ’ s
• He believed that farmers and workers were the backbone of America
• He opposed a powerful national government; he felt that political power should be at the state level, closer to the people
• Both men hated the Bank of the United
States —both felt it gave the national government too much power
• Neither man trusted wealthy, city-dwelling easterners

• Remember, for example, that
Jefferson had made war on the
Barbary pirates, bought the
Louisiana Territory, and sent Lewis and Clark West without bothering to consult Congress
• Why is it ironic that both Jefferson and Jackson were strong
Presidents?

• Was one of the most controversial in
American history
• His power either made him a hero or a dictator, depending on your point of view
• Here are some illustrations and cartoons about him
• What events do they show? What opinion do they communicate?

• The practice of rewarding political supporters, friends, and relatives with government jobs.

But the biggest crisis of
Jackson ’ s Presidency
• May have been the Nullification Crisis over the
Tariff of 1828. In 1833, it nearly tore the Union apart.
• A tariff is a tax imposed by the government on goods imported from another country.
• The idea was to encourage the growth of manufacturing. Higher tariffs meant higher prices for imported factory goods. American manufacture's could then outsell their foreign competitors.

• Tariffs raised the prices they paid for factory goods.
• High Tariffs discouraged trade among nations, and planters in the South worried that tariffs would hurt cotton sales to other countries.
• Southerners believed that the law favored one region (NORTH), and that the law was unconstitutional.

• Jackson understood Southerners concerns. He signed a new law that lowered tariffs, but not enough for the most extreme supporters of states rights.
• South Carolina nullified (rejected) the tariff laws, and threatened to secede.
• Secede: Withdraw from an organization, in this case, to withdraw from the United States.

• “If one drop of blood be shed there in defiance of laws of the United States, I will hang the first man of them I can get my hands on from the first tree I can find!
”
• Congress passed a law that lowered the tariffs, and South Carolina backed down.
However, the tensions between North and
South would increase, and eventually lead to a long, bloody war.

• “Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there.
”
• “Peace, above all things, is to be desired, but blood must sometimes be spilled to obtain it on equable and lasting terms.
”
• “The people are the government, administering it by their agents; they are the government, the sovereign power.
”