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Andrew Jackson7th U.S. President

Hero of the “Common Man” or King Andrew?

1767-1845

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“Old Hickory”• Because he was tough as

hickory wood• Willing to suffer alongside

his men• Creek Indians names him

“sharp Knife for unwillingness to deal fairly

• Treaty with Creeks took 23 million acres after they acted as his allies

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Jackson’s Early Life• Andrew Jackson is born

in Lancaster County, South Carolina March 15, 1767

• Involved in Revolutionary War as a young boy

• Served as a messenger for the army

• Captured by the British.• Slashed by officer's sword

Jackson's boyhood home

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Young Andrew Jackson• Moves from South Carolina

to Tennessee• Marries Rachel Donelson

Robards in 1791• Remarries her in 1794• Knows enough to

become a frontier lawyer

• Makes money on land speculation

Rachel Donelson Robards

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Early Political Life

• Gets involved in politics• Serves as delegate to TN

Constitutional Convention• Serves in U.S. House• Senator from Tennessee

1797-98• Time in the U.S. capital is

not happy for Jackson

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The Hermitage

• Acquires 640 acres of land near Nashville in 1804

• Eventually grows to 1,000+ acre plantation

• Mainly cotton & tobacco• Jackson was a

comparatively “good” slave master

• Still used whippings to induce production

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Duel with John Dickinson • May 30, 1806 Jackson

kills John Dickinson in a duel.

• Dickinson accused Jackson of cheating in a horse race

• Also insulted Jackson’s wife Rachel

• Jackson was hot in the duel

• Put his hand over the wound and fired and killed Dickinson 

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Military Career

• Commander of the Tennessee militia in 1801 • Elected Major-general in 1802• Carries out attacks against Creek Indians in War of 1812

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Battle of New Orleans• Jackson's 5,000 soldiers

won a decisive victory over 7,500 British.

• At the end of the battle, the British had 2,037 casualties: 291 dead (including three senior generals.

• The Americans had 71 casualties: 13 dead, 39 wounded.

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Seminole Wars• 1818-19 – Florida – Long

Knife• Seminole Indians were

providing sanctuary for runaway slaves

• Territory owned by Spain• Jackson burns Seminole

villages• Hangs two British agents• Some in Monroe

administration call for censure

John C. Calhoun – Secretary of War under Monroe – wanted Jackson censured

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Election of 1824

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Corrupt Bargain• Henry Clay persuades

members of the House to vote for John Quincy Adams

• Adams is elected by the House

• Clay becomes Adams’ Secretary of State

• Jackson supporters claim “corrupt bargain”

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Election of 1828• Landslide victory for

Andrew Jackson• Jackson’s faith in

“common man”• Distrust of Eastern banks,

establishment, special privileges

• Wins second term against Henry Clay in 1832

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Jackson’s Bitterness

• Campaign had been intense – many attacks on Jackson’s and Rachel’s character.

• In December of 1828, Rachel Jackson dies after suffering 5days of violent heart seizures.

• Jackson blames the attacks on Rachel during the campaign for her death

• Never forgives his political enemies.

Rachel Jackson

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President Andrew Jackson and the “Kitchen Cabinet”

• (1829–1831)Infighting between Calhoun (VP) & Martin Van Buren Secretary of state

• Turns to unofficial cabinet led by Francis Blair

• Van Buren & John Eaton resign

• Others are forced to resign• New Cabinet takes over

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Spoil’s System

• Believed in rotation of political appointments

• Jackson “rotated 20% of Federal appointments

• Jackson’s belief that an average person could do government jobs

• Critics saw it as a reward for political support

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Eaton Affair• John Eaton Secretary of War &

his wife Margaret (Peggy)• 17 year old Peggy married 39

year old John Timberlake in 1817

• Timberlake dies in 1828• In 1829 Peggy married family

friend John Eaton• Criticized for not waiting the

proper mourning period• Peggy Shunned by Washington

SocietyFloride Bonneau Calhoun

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Indian Removal• Jackson always anti-Indian• Whites wanted land of

natives• Indians judged as a

group• Gold discovered on

Cherokee land• 1830 Congress passes

Indian Removal Act• Cherokee sue to prevent

forced relocation

Cherokee Chief John Ross

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John Marshall has made his decision• Worcester v. Georgia• Supreme Court finds

for the Cherokee• Jackson endorsed

attacks on the decision.

• Agrees that the Supreme Court had no power to review the constitutionality of state laws

• Refuses to enforce Supreme Court Decision

John Marshall Chief of U.S. Supreme Court

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Trail of Tears• Group of Cherokee sign

Treaty of New Echota • Jackson sends 7,000

soldiers to Georgia in 1836

• Forced march to Oklahoma

• Estimated 6,000 die between march and the internment camps west of the Mississippi

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Nullification crisis• Unhappiness of the tariff in

South Carolina• Calhoun’s Exposition and

Protest• SC nullifies tariffs of

1828 and1832 • Jackson argues that

nullification istreason• Hang the first man I can

get my hands on from the first tree that I can find

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Webster- Hayne Debate

• Webster:  Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.  

• Jackson: Our Federal Union—it must preserved. 

• Calhoun: The Union, next to our liberty, most dear. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts

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The Force Bill & Compromise

• Congress passed Force Bill• Use of military force to

carry out the laws of Congress

• Henry Clay engineers a compromise

• Tariff gradually lowered soby 1842 it would be at 1816levels.

Henry Clay of Kentucky

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Jackson versus the Bank• Always suspicious of

banks and bank notes (paper money)

• Jackson decided to kill the bank by taking Federal deposits out. 

• Jackson so determined, he fired two Treasury Secretaries who refused to do it.

• They feared it would destabilize the economy.

• The third, Roger B. Taney did it.

Second Bank of the United States - Philadelphia

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Jackson and Biddle• BUS run by Nicholas

Biddle• Philadelphia aristocrat• Financial favors to

people in effort to save the BUS.

• Lots of loans to Daniel Webster.

• Webster also named a counsel and director of the Boston branch.

• •Confirms Jackson’s suspicions about elite.

Nicholas Biddle

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Panic of 1837• 1836 Election Whigs run

multiple candidates• Martin Van Buren wins

easily• Major Recession – till mid

1840s• Land speculation• Loose lending by state banks• Increase in interest rates• Problems in Great Britain

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Later Life• Blamed for Panic of 1837

– initially unpopular in retirement

• Rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union.“

• Dies on June 8, 1845, at the age of 78

• By the time he dies, and afterward, becomes immensely popular

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Jackson’s Impact

• Administration defined by opposition

• Liberal use of veto power• Major legislation Indian

Removal Act• Autocratic personality• Rotating cabinet officers• Personal animosity toward

rivals like Clay, Biddle, Calhoun, John Ross

The heroic Andrew Jackson

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A Man of the People

• Self-made – poor background

• Seen as opponent of the rich and powerful

• Plain spoken – related to common man

• Historians are divided• His stock goes up and

downMany people would like to see Jackson

replaced on the twenty dollar bill