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Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American statesman who served as the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837. He was born near the end of the colonial era, somewhere near the then-unmarked border between North and South Carolina, into a recently immigrated Scots-Irish farming family of relatively modest means. During the American Revolutionary War, Jackson, whose family supported the revolutionary cause, acted as a courier. At age 13, he was captured and mistreated by the British army. He later became a lawyer. He was also elected to Congressional office, first to the U.S. House of Representatives and twice to the U.S. Senate.

In 1801, Jackson was appointed colonel in the Tennessee militia, which became his political as well as military base. He owned hundreds of slaves who worked on the Hermitage Plantation. In 1806, he killed a man in a duel over a matter of honor regarding his wife Rachel. He gained national fame through his role in the War of 1812, most famously where he won a decisive victory over the main British invasion army at the Battle of New Orleans, albeit some weeks after the Treaty of Ghent had already been signed (unbeknownst to the combatants).  In response to conflict with the Seminole in Spanish Florida, he invaded the territory in 1818. This led directly to the First Seminole War and the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, which formally transferred Florida from Spain to the United States.

After winning election to the Senate, Jackson decided to run for president in 1824. Although he got a plurality in both electoral and popular vote against three major candidates, Jackson failed to get a majority and lost in the House of Representatives to John Quincy Adams. Jackson claimed that he lost by a "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Speaker of the House Henry Clay, who was also a candidate, to give Clay the office of Secretary of State in exchange for Adams winning the presidency. Jackson's supporters then founded what became the Democratic Party. He ran again for president in 1828 against Adams. Building on his base in the West and with new support from Virginia and New York, he won by a landslide. He blamed the death of his wife, Rachel, which occurred just after the election, on the Adams campaigners, who called her a "bigamist".

As president, Jackson faced a threat of secession by South Carolina over the "Tariff of Abominations", which Congress had enacted under Adams. In contrast to several of his immediate successors, he denied the right of a state to secede from the union or to nullify federal law. The Nullification Crisis was defused when the tariff was amended and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede.

In anticipation of the 1832 election, Congress, led by Clay, attempted to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States four years before the expiration of its charter. In keeping with his platform of economic decentralization, Jackson vetoed the renewal of its charter, thereby seemingly putting his chances for reelection in jeopardy. However, by portraying himself as the defender of the common person against wealthy bankers, he was able to defeat Clay in the election that year. He thoroughly dismantled the bank by the time its charter expired in 1836. His struggles with Congress were personified in his personal rivalry with Clay, whom Jackson deeply disliked and who led the opposition of the emerging Whig Party. Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the "spoils system" in American politics. He is also known for having signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which forcibly relocated a number of native tribes in the South to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

Jackson supported his vice president Martin Van Buren's successful presidential campaign in 1836. He worked to bolster the Democratic Party and helped his friend James K. Polk win the 1844 presidential election.

Early life and education

Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767. His parents were Scots-Irish colonists Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, Presbyterians who had emigrated from Ireland two years earlier.   Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738.  Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His patrilineal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England. 

When they immigrated to North America in 1765, Jackson's parents probably landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Most likely they traveled overland down through the Appalachian Mountains to the Scots-Irish community in the Waxhaws region, straddling the border between North and South Carolina.  They brought two children from Ireland, Hugh (born 1763) and Robert (born 1764).

Jackson's father died in an accident in February 1767 at the age of 29, three weeks before his son Andrew was born in the Waxhaws area. His exact birth site is unclear because he was born about the time his mother was making a difficult trip home from burying Jackson's father. The area was so remote that the border between North and South Carolina had not been officially surveyed. In 1824 Jackson wrote a letter saying that he was born at an uncle's plantation in Lancaster County, South Carolina. But he may have claimed to be a South Carolinian because the state was considering nullification of the Tariff of 1824, which he opposed. In the mid-1850s, second-hand evidence indicated that he may have been born at a different uncle's home in North Carolina. 

Jackson received a sporadic education in the local "old-field" school.  In 1781 he worked for a time in a saddle-maker's shop. Later, he taught school and studied law in Salisbury, North Carolina. In 1787 he was admitted to the bar and moved to Jonesborough, in what was then the Western District of North Carolina. This area later became the Southwest Territory (1790), the precursor to the state of Tennessee.

Revolutionary War service

 
During the Revolutionary War, Jackson, at age thirteen, informally helped the local militia as a courier.  His eldest brother, Hugh, died from heat exhaustion during the Battle of Stono Ferry on June 20, 1779. He and his brother Robert were captured by the British and held as prisoners; they nearly starved to death in captivity. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the officer slashed at the youth with a sword, leaving him with scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British.  While imprisoned, the brothers contracted smallpox.

Robert Jackson died on April 27, 1781, a few days after their mother Elizabeth secured the brothers' release. After being assured Andrew would recover, she volunteered to nurse prisoners of war on board two ships in Charleston harbor, where there had been an outbreak of cholera. In November 1781 she died from the disease and was buried in an unmarked grave. Andrew became an orphan at age 14.  Following the deaths of his brothers and mother during the war, he blamed the British for his losses.

Legal and political career

Jackson began his legal career in Jonesborough, now northeastern Tennessee. Though his legal education was scanty, he knew enough to be a country lawyer on the frontier. Since he was not from a distinguished family, he had to make his career by his own merits; soon he began to prosper in the rough-and-tumble world of frontier law. Most of the actions grew out of disputed land-claims, or from assault and battery. In 1788 he was appointed Solicitor (prosecutor) of the Western District and held the same position in the government of the Territory South of the River Ohio after 1791.

Jackson was elected as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796. When Tennessee achieved statehood that year, he was elected its U.S. Representative. The following year, he was elected U.S. Senator as a Democratic-Republican, but he resigned within a year. (His return to the U.S. Senate in 1823, after 24 years, 11 months, 3 days out of office, marks the second longest gap in service to the chamber in history.)  In 1798 he was appointed a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court, serving until 1804. 

Land speculation and founding of Memphis

In 1794, Jackson formed a business with fellow lawyer and planter John Overton "for the purpose of purchasing lands as well those lands without as within military bounds"—overtly buying and selling land which had been reserved by treaty for the Cherokee and Chickasaw.  Upon his return from Florida, Jackson negotiated the sale of the land from the Chickasaw Nation in 1818 (termed the Jackson Purchase). He was one of the three original investors who founded Memphis, Tennessee, in 1819. 

Hermitage plantation

In addition to his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as planter, slave owner, and merchant. He built a home and the first general store in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1803. The next year he acquired the Hermitage, a 640 acre plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added 360 acre to the plantation, which eventually grew to 1050 acres. The primary crop was cotton, grown by enslaved workers. Starting with nine slaves, he held as many as 44 by 1820 and later held up to 150 slaves, making him among the planter elite. Throughout his lifetime Jackson may have owned as many as 300 slaves. 

African American men, women, and children were kept as slave workers by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation. Slaves lived in extended family units between five and ten persons quartered in 20-foot-square cabins made either of brick or logs. The size and quality of his Hermitage slave quarters exceeded the standards of his times. To help slaves acquire food staples, in addition to his rations, he supplied slaves with guns, knives, and fishing equipment for hunting and fishing. At times he paid his slaves with monies and coins to trade in local markets. The Hermitage plantation was a profit-making enterprise and Jackson, demanding slave loyalty, permitted slaves to be whipped to increase productivity or if he believed his slaves' offenses were severe enough. At various times he posted advertisements for his fugitive slaves. For the standards of his times he was considered a humane slave owner who furnished his slaves food and housing, and did not prohibit his female slaves from having children.

Military career

Jackson was appointed commander of the Tennessee militia in 1801, with the rank of colonel. He was later elected major general of the Tennessee militia in 1802. 

War of 1812

Creek campaign and treaty

During the War of 1812, the Shawnee chief Tecumseh encouraged the "Red Stick" Creek Indians of northern Alabama and Georgia to attack white settlements. He had unified tribes in the Northwest to rise up against the Americans, trying to repel American settlers from those lands north of the Ohio. Four hundred settlers were killed in the Fort Mims massacre of 1813—one of the few instances of Native Americans killing a large number of American settlers and their African-American slaves—which brought the United States into the internal Creek campaign. Occurring at the same time as the War of 1812, the Creek campaign saw Jackson command the U.S. forces, which included the Tennessee militia, U.S. regulars, and Cherokee, Choctaw, and Lower Creek warriors. Sam Houston and David Crockett served under Jackson in this campaign.

Jackson defeated the Red Sticks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. US forces and their allies killed 800 Red Stick warriors in this battle, but spared the chief Red Eagle, a mixed-race man also known as William Weatherford. After the victory, John Armstrong Jr., Madison's Secretary of War, ordered Major General Thomas Pinckney in April 1814 to make the surrender treaty.  Pinckney specified the terms of surrender. These terms included the handing over an unspecified amount of land, the construction of U.S. forts, the turning over of warriors who instigated hostilities, and an agreement to stop trade with foreign countries. Jackson opposed the unpopular Pinckney treaty, desiring to end the threats that had caused the conflict with  the Creek nation in the first place. Jackson was promoted Major General and given charge of the Seventh Military District, replacing Major General Thomas Flournoy. Jackson, now commanding general, invalidated Pinckney's treaty and specified more direct terms upon both the Upper Creek and the Lower Creek. Ultimately, these terms had the effect of declaring twenty-two million acres in present-day Georgia and Alabama as open for American settlement. On August 9, 1814, 35 Indian elder leaders signed Jackson's Treaty of Fort Jackson. The warrior faction of the Creek nation and the British, however, did not formally recognize the treaty. 

According to author Gloria Jahoda, the Creeks coined their own name for him, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce". 

Battle of New Orleans

Jackson's service in the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom was conspicuous for bravery and success. When British forces threatened 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. They said he was "tough as old hickory" wood on the battlefield, and he acquired the nickname of "Old Hickory". In the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, 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), 1,262 wounded, and 484 captured or missing. The Americans had 71 casualties: 13 dead, 39 wounded, and 19 missing. 

Enforced martial law New Orleans

Jackson ordered the arrest of U. S. District Court Judge Dominic A. Hall in March 1815, after the judge signed a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of a Louisiana legislator that Jackson had arrested.  Louis Louaillier had written an anonymous piece in the New Orleans newspaper, challenging Jackson's refusal to release the militia, after the British ceded the field of battle.  Jackson had claimed the authority to declare martial law over the entire City of New Orleans, not merely his "camp".  After ordering the arrest of a Louisiana legislator, a federal judge, a lawyer and after intervention of Joshua Lewis, a State Judge, who was simultaneously serving under Jackson in the militia, and who also signed a writ of habeas corpus against Jackson, his commanding officer, seeking Judge Hall's release, Jackson relented. 

Civilian authorities in New Orleans had reason to fear Jackson. But they fared better than did the six members of the militia whose executions, ordered by Jackson, would surface as the Coffin Handbills during his 1828 Presidential campaign. Nonetheless, Jackson became a national hero for his actions in this battle and the War of 1812.  By a resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson received the Thanks of Congress as well as a Congressional Gold Medal.  Alexis de Tocqueville, "underwhelmed" by Jackson, later commented in Democracy in America that Jackson "... was raised to the Presidency, and has been maintained there, solely by the recollection of a victory which he gained, twenty years ago, under the walls of New Orleans." 

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 was to seize Florida from Spain once and for all. 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 will be accomplished." 

The Seminole attacked Jackson's Tennessee volunteers. The Seminole attack left their villages vulnerable, and Jackson burned their houses and the crops. He found letters that indicated that the Spanish and British were secretly assisting the Indians. Jackson believed that the United States could not be secure as long as Spain and the British 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 actions struck fear into the Seminole tribes as word spread of his ruthlessness in battle (he became known as "Sharp Knife").

The executions, and Jackson's invasion of territory belonging to Spain, a country with which the U.S. was not at war, created an international incident. Many in the Monroe administration called for Jackson to be censured. The Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, an early believer in Manifest Destiny, defended Jackson. 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 by the Adams–Onís Treaty. Jackson was subsequently named Florida's military governor and served 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 national 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 who attended backed Treasury Secretary William H. Crawford for President and Albert Gallatin for Vice President. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for President a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" and was 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 worshipers 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, the 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 having a plurality. Because no candidate received a majority, the election was decided by the House of Representatives, which chose Adams. Jackson supporters denounced this result as a "corrupt bargain" because Clay gave his state's support to Adams, who subsequently appointed Clay as Secretary of State. As none of the electors from Kentucky, Clay's home state, had initially voted for Adams, and Jackson had won more nationwide popular votes than Adams, some Kentucky politicians criticized Clay for violating the will of the people in return for personal political favors. Jackson's defeat burnished his political credentials, however; many voters believed the "man of the people" had been robbed by the "corrupt aristocrats of the East".

Election of 1828

Jackson denounced the "corrupt bargain" that put Adams in the White House and laid plans for a crusade to oust Adams from office. 
After resigning the Senate in October 1825, he continued his quest for the Presidency. The Tennessee legislature again nominated Jackson for President. He attracted Vice President John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, and Thomas Ritchie into his camp (Van Buren and Ritchie were previous supporters of Crawford). Van Buren, with help from his friends in Philadelphia and Richmond, revived many of the ideals of the old Republican Party, gave it a new name as the Democratic Party, 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. 

The campaign was very much a personal one. As was the custom at the time, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized many campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press, which reached a low point when the press accused Jackson's wife Rachel of bigamy.  Though the accusation was technically true, as were most personal attacks leveled against him during the campaign, it was based on events that occurred many years prior (1791 to 1794). Jackson said he would forgive those who insulted him, but he would never forgive the ones who attacked his wife. Rachel died suddenly on December 22, 1828, before his inauguration, and was buried on Christmas Eve. He blamed the Adams campaigners for her death. "May God Almighty forgive her murderers", he swore at her funeral. "I never can."  Jackson also came under heavy attack as a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and moved them about in defiance of modern standards or morality. (He was not attacked for merely owning slaves used in plantation work.) 

Presidency 1829–1837

Jackson's name has been associated with Jacksonian democracy or the spread of democracy in terms of the passing of political power from established elites to ordinary voters based in political parties. "The Age of Jackson" shaped the national agenda and American politics.  Jackson's philosophy as President followed much in the same line as Thomas Jefferson, advocating Republican values held by the Revolutionary War generation. Jackson's presidency held a high moralistic tone; having as a planter himself agrarian sympathies, a limited view of states rights and the federal government. Jackson feared that monied and business interests would corrupt republican values. When South Carolina opposed the tariff law he took a strong line in favor of nationalism and against secession.

Jackson believed that the president's authority was derived from the people and the presidential office was above party politics.  Instead of choosing party favorites, Jackson chose "plain, businessmen" whom he intended to control. Jackson chose Martin Van Buren as Secretary of State, John Eaton as Secretary of War, Samuel Ingham as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch as Secretary of Navy, John Berrien as Attorney General, and William T. Barry as Postmaster General.  Jackson's first choice of Cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip, especially between Eaton, Vice President John C. Calhoun, and Van Buren.  By the Spring of 1831, only Barry remained, while the rest of Jackson's cabinet had been discharged. Jackson's following cabinet selections worked better together.

Inauguration

On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol.  Jackson was the first President to invite the public to attend the White House ball honoring his first inauguration. Many poor people came to the inaugural ball in their homemade clothes. The crowd became so large that Jackson's guards could not keep them out of the White House, which became so crowded with people that dishes and decorative pieces inside were eventually broken. Some people stood on good chairs in muddied boots just to get a look at the President. The crowd had become so wild that the attendants poured punch in tubs and put it on the White House lawn to lure people outside. Jackson's raucous populism earned him the nickname "King Mob".

Petticoat politics

Jackson devoted a considerable amount of his presidential time during his early years in office responding to what came to be known as the "Petticoat affair" or "Eaton affair". Vicious Washington gossip circulated among Jackson's Cabinet members and their wives including Vice President John C. Calhoun's wife Floride Calhoun concerning Secretary of War John H. Eaton and his wife Peggy Eaton. Salacious rumors held that Peggy as a barmaid in her father's tavern had been sexually promiscuous or had even been a prostitute. Petticoat politics emerged when the wives of cabinet members, led by Mrs. Calhoun, refused to socialize with the Eatons. Jackson was outraged—male honor, he firmly believed, required husbands to control their wives. Allowing a prostitute in the official family was of course unthinkable—but for Jackson, after losing his own wife to horrible rumors, Peggy's virtue could not be questioned. It was a matter of authority: Jackson told his Cabinet that "She is as chaste as a virgin!"  Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers who questioned and dishonored Jackson himself. 

Meanwhile, the Cabinet wives insisted that the interests and honor of all American women was at stake. They believed a responsible woman should never accord a man sexual favors without the assurance that went with marriage. A woman who broke that code was dishonorable and unacceptable. Historian Daniel Walker Howe notes that this was the feminist spirit that in the next decade shaped the woman's rights movement. The aristocratic wives of European diplomats shrugged the matter off; they had their national interest to uphold, and had seen how life worked in Paris and London. Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, a widower, was already forming a coalition against Calhoun; he could now see his main chance to strike hard; he took the side of Jackson and Eaton.  

The upshot was a total revamping of the cabinet, with everyone resigning or being fired save the Postmaster General. Jackson nominated Van Buren to be Minister to England; Calhoun blocked the nomination. Calhoun continued to serve as Vice President and boasted that Van Buren's political career was over, stating the defeated nomination would "...kill him, sir, kill dead. He will never kick, sir, never kick."  Van Buren, however, fully recovered and played a leading role in the Jackson's unofficial Kitchen Cabinet. He became Jackson's running mate in 1832 and his successor in 1836. Jackson also acquired the Globe newspaper to have his own propaganda weapon for fighting the rumor mills. 

Indian removal policy

Since the presidency of James Madison when Jackson was a military commander, Jackson had played a prominent role in Indian relations. Although there are scant details, Madison often met with Southeastern and Western Indians who included the Creek and Osage. Madison would meet with the Indians and would often encourage them to give up their lives as hunter-gatherers and instead take up farming.Rutland (1990), pp. 199–200Rutland (1990), p. 37. Indian conflicts continued to intensify during Madison's presidency, particularly with the War of 1812, and in the years after. Throughout his eight years in office, Jackson made about 70 treaties with Native American tribes both in the South and the Northwest. Jackson's presidency marked a new era in Indian-Anglo American relations initiating a policy of Indian removal.  Jackson himself sometimes participated in the treaty negotiating process with various Indian tribes, though other times he left the negotiations to his subordinates. The southern tribes included the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole and the Cherokee. The northwest tribes include the Chippewa, Ottawa, and the Potawatomi. Though conflict between Indians and American settlers took place in the north and in the south, the problem was worse in the south where the Indian populations were larger. Indian wars broke out repeatedly, often when native tribes, especially the Muscogee and Seminole Indians, refused to abide by the treaties for various reasons. The Second Seminole War, started in December 1835, lasted over six years, finally ending in August 1842 under President John Tyler.

Though relations between Europeans (and later Americans) and Indians were always complicated, they grew increasingly complicated once American settlements began pushing further west in the years after the American Revolution. Often these relations were peaceful, though they increasingly grew tense and sometimes violent, both on the part of American settlers and the Indians. From George Washington to John Quincy Adams, the problem was typically ignored or dealt with lightly; though by Jackson's time the earlier policy had grown unsustainable. The problem was especially acute in the south (in particular the lands near the state of Georgia), where Indian populations were larger, denser, and more Americanized than those of the north. There had developed a growing popular and political movement to deal with the problem, and out of this developed a policy to relocate certain Indian populations. Jackson, never known for timidity, became an advocate for this relocation policy in what is considered by some historians to be the most controversial aspect of his presidency. This contrasted with his immediate predecessor, President John Q. Adams, who tended to follow the policy of his own predecessors, letting the problem play itself out with minimal intervention. Jackson's presidency thus took place in a new era in Indian-Anglo American relations, marked by federal action and a policy of relocation. During Jackson's presidency, Indian relations between the Southern tribes and the state governments had reached a critical juncture.

In his December 8, 1829, First Annual Message to Congress, Jackson advocated land west of the Mississippi River be set aside for Indian tribes. Congress had been developing its own Indian relocation bill, and Jackson had many supporters in both the Senate and House who agreed with his goal. On May 26, 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which Jackson signed into law. The Act authorized the President to negotiate treaties to buy tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands further west, outside of existing U.S. state borders. The passage of the bill was Jackson's first legislative triumph and marked the Democratic party's emergence into American political society. The passage of the act was especially 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). In that decision, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, in writing for the court, ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands.   Jackson is frequently, though incorrectly, attributed the following response: "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it". The quote originated in 1863 from Horace Greeley.

Jackson used the Georgia crisis to broker an agreement whereby the Cherokee leaders agreed to a removal treaty. A group of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota with Jackson's representatives. Ridge was not a widely recognized leader of the Cherokee Nation, and this document was rejected by some as illegitimate.  A group of Cherokees petitioned in protest of the proposed removal, though this wasn't taken up by the Supreme Court or the U.S. Congress, in part due to delays and timing.

The treaty was enforced by Jackson's successor, President Martin Van Buren, who sent 7,000 troops to carry out the relocation policy. Due to the infighting between political factions, many Cherokees thought their appeals were still being considered when the relocation began.  It was subsequent to this that as many as 4,000 Cherokees died 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 methods earned them the title of the "Five Civilized Tribes". More than 45,000 American Indians were relocated to the West during Jackson's administration, though a few Cherokees walked back afterwards or migrated to the high Smoky Mountains along the North Carolina and Tennessee border. 

Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Indians and American settlers has been a source of controversy   on and off over the years,  especially among his political opponents at the time and ideological opponents since.   Modern historians,  such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., often note the history of American conflicts with Indians   dating to long before the American revolution, and the ultimate need for a solution which Jackson and Congress partly achieved. Starting around 1970, the controversy picked up again, this time with more ideological tones. Around that time, Jackson came under sharp attack from revisionist writers on the left, such as Michael Paul Rogin and Howard Zinn, often on this issue.   In 1969 Francis Paul Prucha argued that Jackson's removal of the "Five Civilized Tribes" from the very hostile white environment in the Old South to Oklahoma probably saved their very existence.  

Treaties

South:
:*Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek Choctaw September 27, 1830
:*Treaty of Cusseta Creek March 24, 1832
:*Treaty of Payne's Landing Seminole May 9, 1832
:*Treaty of New Echota Cherokee December 29, 1835
Northwest:
:*Treaty between the United States of America and the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottowa, and Potawatamie Indians Retrieved on November 29, 2014
::February 21, 1835

Wars

:*Black Hawk War May–August 1832
:*Second Seminole War December 1835 to August 1842 Truce: January–June 1837
:*Second Creek War May–July 1836; sporadic violence in 1837

Initiated reforms

In an effort to purge the government of corruption of previous administrations, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments.  During Jackson's tenure in office, large amounts of public money were put in the hands of public officials. Jackson, who believed appointees should be hired on merit, withdrew many candidates he believed were lax in their handling of monies.  Jackson asked Congress to reform embezzlement laws, reduce fraudulent applications for federal pensions, revenue laws to prevent evasion of custom duties, and laws to improve government accounting. Jackson's Postmaster Barry resigned after a Congressional investigation into the postal service revealed mismanagement of mail services, collusion and favoritism in awarding lucrative contracts, failure to audit accounts and supervise contract performances. Jackson replaced Barry with Amos Kendall, who went on to implement much needed reforms in the Postal Service. 

Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition 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."

Jackson's time in the presidency as saw various improvements in financial provisions for veterans and their dependents. The Service Pension Act of 1832, for instance, provided pensions to veterans "even where there existed no obvious financial or physical need",  while an Act of July 1836 enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husband's pensions.  In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards. 

Rotation in office and spoils system

Upon assuming the presidency in 1829 Jackson enforced the Tenure of Office Act, passed earlier into law by President James Monroe in 1820, that limited appointed office tenure and authorized the president to remove and appoint political party associates.  Jackson believed that a rotation in office was actually a democratic reform preventing father-to-son succession of office and made civil service responsible to the popular will.  Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed". Jackson noted, "In a country where offices are created solely for the benefit of the people no one man has any more intrinsic right to official station than another."  Jackson believed that rotating political appointments would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. Opposed to this view, however, were Jackson's supporters who in order to strengthen party loyalty wanted to give the posts to other party members. In practice, this would have meant the continuation of the patronage system by replacing federal employees with friends or party loyalists.  The number of federal office holders removed by Jackson were exaggerated by his opponents; Jackson only rotated about 20% of federal office holders during his first term, some for dereliction of duty rather than political purposes.  Jackson, however, did use his image and presidential power to award his loyal Democratic Party followers by granting them federal office appointments. Jackson's democratic approach incorporated patriotism for country as qualification for holding office. Having appointed a soldier who had lost his leg fighting on the battlefield to a postmastership Jackson stated "If he lost his leg fighting for his country, that is ... enough for me."  

Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system, a practice that Jackson, ironically, didn't justify.  The political realities of Washington, however, ultimately forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations.  Historians believe Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of an era of decline in public ethics.  Supervision of bureaus and departments whose operations were outside of Washington (such as the New York Customs House; the Postal Service; the Departments of Navy and War; and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whose budget had increased enormously in the previous two decades) proved to be difficult. Other aspects of the spoils system including the buying of offices, forced political party campaign participation, and collection of assessments, did not take place until after Jackson's presidency.  During Jackson's presidency, those in opposition to Jackson's purging of office holders, formed the Whig Party, calling Jackson "King Andrew I" having feared his military background, and named their party after the English parliamentary Whigs who opposed eighteenth century British monarchy. 

Nullification crisis

Another notable crisis during Jackson's period of office was the "Nullification Crisis", or "secession crisis", of 1828–1832, which merged issues of sectional strife with disagreements over tariffs. Critics alleged that high tariffs (the "Tariff of Abominations") on imports of common manufactured goods made in Europe made those goods more expensive than ones from the northern U.S., raising the prices paid by planters in the South. Southern politicians argued that tariffs benefited northern industrialists at the expense of southern farmers.

The issue came to a head when Vice President Calhoun, in the South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, supported the claim of his home state, South Carolina, that it had the right to "nullify"—declare void—the tariff legislation of 1828, and more generally the right of a state to nullify any Federal laws that went against its interests. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he also vigorously supported a strong union, with effective powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. Particularly notable was an incident at the April 13, 1830, Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Robert Hayne began by toasting to "The Union of the States, and the Sovereignty of the States". Jackson then rose, and in a booming voice added "Our federal Union: It must be preserved!" – a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun clarified his position by responding "The Union: Next to our Liberty, the most dear!" 

In May 1830, Jackson discovered that Calhoun had asked President Monroe to censure then-General Jackson for his invasion of Spanish Florida in 1818 while Calhoun was serving as Secretary of War. Calhoun's and Jackson's relationship deteriorated further. By February 1831, the break between Calhoun and Jackson was final. Responding to inaccurate press reports about the feud, Calhoun had published letters between him and Jackson detailing the conflict in the United States Telegraph. Jackson and Calhoun began an angry correspondence which lasted until Jackson stopped it in July. 

At the first Democratic National Convention, which was privately engineered by members of the Kitchen Cabinet, Calhoun and Jackson broke from each other politically and Van Buren replaced Calhoun as Jackson's running mate in the 1832 presidential election.  On December 28, 1832, with less than two months remaining on his term, 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 is not a nation."Syrett, 36. See also: 

Jackson asked Congress to pass a "Force Bill" explicitly authorizing the use of military force to enforce the tariff, but its passage was delayed 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. On May 1, 1833, Jackson wrote, "the tariff was only the pretext, and disunion and southern confederacy the real object. The next pretext will be the negro, or slavery question." 

Foreign affairs

When Jackson took office in 1829 spoliation claims, or compensation demands for the capture of American ships and sailors, dating from the Napoleonic era, caused strained relations between the U.S. and French governments.  The French Navy had captured and sent American ships to Spanish ports while holding their crews captive forcing them to labor without any charges or judicial rules. According to Secretary of State Martin Van Buren, relations between the U.S. and France were "hopeless". Jackson's Minister to France William C. Rives, however, through diplomacy was able to convince the French government to sign a reparations treaty on July 4, 1831 that would award the U.S. ₣ 25,000,000 ($5,000,000) in damages. The French government became delinquent in payment due to internal financial and political difficulties. The French king Louis Philippe I and his ministers blamed the French Chamber of Deputies.  By 1834, the non-payment of reparations by the French government drew Jackson's ire and he became impatient. In his December 1834 State of the Union address, Jackson sternly reprimanded the French government for non-payment, stating the federal government was "wholly disappointed" by the French, and demanded Congress authorize trade reprisals against France. Feeling insulted by Jackson's words, the French people demanded an apology. In his December 1835 State of the Union Address, Jackson refused to apologize, stating he had a good opinion of the French people and his intentions were peaceful. Jackson described in lengthy and minute detail the history of events surrounding the treaty and his belief that the French government was purposely stalling payment. The French government accepted Jackson's statements as sincere and in February 1836, American reparations were finally paid. 

In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain. Jackson's state department was active and successful at making trade agreements with Russia, Spain, Turkey, Great Britain, and Siam. Under the treaty of Great Britain, American trade was reopened in the West Indies.  The trade agreement with Siam was America's first treaty between the United States and an Asiatic country. As a result, American exports increased 75% while imports increased 250%. 

Jackson, however, was unsuccessful in opening trade with China and Japan. Jackson was unsuccessful at thwarting Great Britain's presence and power in South America. Jackson's attempt to purchase Texas from Mexico for $5,000,000 failed.  Jackson's agent in Texas, Colonel Anthony Butler, suggested to take Texas over militarily, but Jackson refused. Butler was later replaced toward the end of Jackson's presidency. 

Bank veto and Election of 1832

In 1816 the Second Bank of the United States was chartered by President James Madison to restore the United States economy devastated by the War of 1812.  In 1823 President James Monroe appointed Nicholas Biddle, the Bank's third and last executive, to run the bank. In January 1832 Biddle, on advice from his friends, submitted to Congress a renewal of the Bank's charter four years before the original 20-year charter was to end.  Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832. Jackson, believing that Bank was fundamentally a corrupt monopoly whose stock was mostly held by foreigners, vetoed the bill. Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy. Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful". The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue, attempting to undermine Jackson's popularity. Jackson's political opponents castigated Jackson's veto as "the very slang of the leveller and demagogue", claiming Jackson was using class warfare to gain support from the common man.

During the 1832 Presidential Election the rechartering of the Second National Bank became the primary issue. The election also demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period. The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, in May 1832 nominated Jackson of Tennessee and Martin Van Buren of New York. The National Republican Party, who had held their first convention in Baltimore earlier in December 1831, nominated Henry Clay, senator from Kentucky and former Speaker of the House, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania.  The Anti-Masonic Party, which had earlier held its convention also in Baltimore in September 1831, nominated William Wirt of Maryland and Amos Elmaker of Pennsylvania; both Jackson and Clay were Masons. The two rival parties, however, proved to be no match for Jackson's popularity and the Democratic Party's strong political networks known as Hickory Clubs in state and local organization.  Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity. Jackson himself made numerous popular public appearances on his return trip from Tennessee to Washington D.C. Jackson won the election decisively by a landslide, receiving 55 percent of the popular vote and 219 electoral votes. Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes. Wirt received only 8 percent of the popular vote and 7 electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party folded. Jackson believed the solid victory was a popular mandate for his veto of the Bank's recharter and his continued warfare on the Bank's control over the national economy. 

Removal of deposits and censure

In 1833, Jackson removed federal deposits from the bank, whose money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that materialized across America, thus drastically increasing credit and speculation.  Three years later, Jackson issued the Specie Circular, an executive order that required buyers of government lands to pay in "specie" (gold or silver coins). The result was a great demand for specie, which many banks did not have enough of to exchange for their notes, causing the Panic of 1837, which threw the national economy into a deep depression. It took years for the economy to recover from the damage, but the bulk of the damage was blamed on Martin Van Buren, who took office in 1837.  Whitehouse.gov notes, 

The U.S. Senate censured Jackson on March 28, 1834, for his action in removing U.S. funds from the Bank of the United States.  The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Jackson-rival Senator Henry Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson. During the proceedings preceding the censure, Jackson called Clay "reckless and as full of fury as a drunken man in a brothel", and the issue was highly divisive within the Senate; however, the censure was approved 26–20 on March 28. When the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate, the censure was expunged after years of effort by Jackson supporters, led by Thomas Hart Benton, who though he had once shot Jackson in a street fight, eventually became an ardent supporter of the president.  

Attack and assassination attempt

The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. Jackson had 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, Randolph appeared and struck the President. He fled the scene chased by several members of Jackson's party, including the well-known writer Washington Irving. Jackson decided not to press charges.

On January 30, 1835, what is believed to be the first attempt to kill a sitting President of the United States occurred just outside the United States Capitol. When Jackson was leaving through the East Portico after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter from England, aimed a pistol at Jackson, which misfired. Lawrence pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians believe the humid weather contributed to the double misfiring. Lawrence was restrained, and legend says that Jackson attacked Lawrence with his cane. Others present, including David Crockett, restrained and disarmed Lawrence.

Lawrence told doctors later his reasons for the shooting. He blamed Jackson for the loss of his job. He claimed that with the President dead, "money would be more plenty" (a reference to Jackson's struggle with the Bank of the United States) and that he "could not rise until the President fell". Finally, he told his interrogators that he was a deposed English King—specifically, Richard III, dead since 1485—and that Jackson was his clerk. He was deemed insane and was institutionalized.

Afterwards, due to public curiosity concerning the double misfires, the pistols were tested and retested. Each time they performed perfectly. Many believed that Jackson had been protected by the same Providence that they believed also protected their young nation. The incident became a part of the Jacksonian mythos.

Slavery controversies

Anti-slavery tracts

During the summer of 1835, controversy over slavery was rekindled throughout the nation, as had similarly taken place during the divisive 1819–1820 Missouri Compromise debates. Northern abolitionists were sending anti-slavery tracts through the U.S. Postal system into the South. Pro slavery Southerners objected believing the tracts were "incendiary literature" and demanded that the postal service unconditionally ban the sending of any anti-slavery tracts into the South. On July 29, a pro-slavery mob of 300 people led by former governor Robert Y. Hayne broke into the Post Office in Charleston, South Carolina and proceeded to seize and destroy abolitionist tracts. Jackson and his Administration largely had Southern sympathies over slavery and were hostile to abolitionism. However, Jackson, who demanded sectional peace, desired to placate Southerners; at the same time resisting antislavery demands without ignoring the interests of Northern Democrats. Jackson's Postmaster General Amos Kendall gave Southern postmasters discretionary powers to either send or detain the anti-slavery tracts. Jackson angrily denounced Northern abolitionists and suggested that the names of abolitionist authors should be published. Jackson, who wanted the matter quickly resolved, also suggested the tracts be mailed only to subscribers. In February 1836, Senator John C. Calhoun, Jackson's former Vice President, authored a bill that would prohibit the sending of any anti-slavery tracts via the federal mail service. The bill however failed to gain enough votes to pass in the House. Many Southern postmasters, however, disregarded matters of federal law and simply refused to send the anti-slavery tracts.

Anti-slavery Congressional petitions

In the same year another controversy took place, when abolitionists sent the U.S. House of Representatives petitions to end the slave trade and slavery in Washington, D.C. This infuriated pro-slavery Southerners, who attempted to prevent acknowledgement or discussion of the petitions. On December 18, 1835 South Carolina congressman James H. Hammond strongly denounced abolitionists as "ignorant fanatics". Northern Whigs objected that anti-slavery petitions were constitutional and should not be forbidden.  Jackson wanted the issue of these petitions resolved quickly. South Carolina Representative Henry L. Pinckney drafted and introduced a resolution that denounced the petitions as "sickly sentimentality", declared that Congress had no right to interfere with slavery, and tabled (gag rule) all further anti-slavery petitions. Southerners in Congress, including many of Jackson's supporters, favored the measure, which was passed quickly and without any debate; temporarily suppressing pro-abolitionist activities in Congress.

Recognition of Republic of Texas

In 1835, the Texas Revolution began when pro-slavery American settlers in Texas fought the Mexican government for Texan independence; by May 1836, they had routed the Mexican military for the time being, establishing an independent Republic of Texas.  The new Texas government legalized slavery and demanded recognition from President Jackson and annexation into the United States. However, Jackson was hesitant with recognizing Texas, unconvinced that the new republic could maintain independence from Mexico, and not wanting to make Texas an anti-slavery issue during the 1836 election.  The strategy worked; the Democratic Party and national loyalties were held intact, while Democratic candidate Van Buren was elected President. Jackson formally recognized the Republic of Texas, nominating a chargé d'affaires on the last day of his Presidency, March 3, 1837. 

U.S. Exploring Expedition

Jackson initially opposed any federal exploration scientific expeditions during his first term in office.  The last scientific federally funded exploration expeditions took place from 1817 to 1823 led by Stephen H. Harriman on the Red River of the North. Jackson's predecessor John Q. Adams attempted to launch a scientific oceanic exploration expedition in 1828, but Congress was unwilling to fund the effort. When Jackson assumed office in 1829 he pocketed Adam's expedition plans. However, wanting to establish his presidential legacy, similar to Thomas Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Jackson finally sponsored scientific exploration during his second term. On May 18, 1836 Jackson signed a law creating and funding the oceanic United States Exploring Expedition. Jackson put Secretary of Navy Mahlon Dickerson in charge, to assemble suitable ships, officers, and scientific staff for the expedition; with a planned launch before Jackson's term of office expired. Dickerson however proved unfit for the task, preparations stalled and the expedition was not launched until 1838, under the next President, Martin Van Buren. One brig ship, , later used in the expedition; having been laid down, built, and commissioned by Secretary Dickerson in May 1836, circumnavigated the world, explored and mapped the Southern Ocean, confirming the existence of the Antarctica continent.

Panic of 1837

The national economy during the 1830s was booming and the federal government through duty revenues and sale of public lands was able to pay all bills. In January 1835, Jackson paid off the entire national debt, the only time in U.S. history that has been accomplished.   However, reckless speculation in land and railroads caused what became known as the Panic of 1837. Contributing factors included Jackson's veto of the Second National Bank renewal charter in 1832 and subsequent transfer of federal monies to state banks in 1833 that caused Western Banks to relax their lending standards. Two other Jacksonian acts in 1836 contributed to the Panic of 1837, the Specie Circular, that mandated Western lands only be purchased by money backed by gold and silver, and the Deposit and Distribution Act, that transferred federal monies from Eastern to western state banks which in turn led to a speculation frenzy by banks. Jackson's Specie Circular, although designed to reduce speculation and stabilize the economy, left many investors unable to afford to pay loans backed by gold and silver. The same year there was a downturn in Great Britain's economy that stopped investment in the United States. As a result, the U.S. economy went into a depression, banks became insolvent, the national debt (previously paid off) increased, business failures rose, cotton prices dropped, and unemployment dramatically increased. The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841 when the economy began to rebound. 

Administration and cabinet

Judicial appointments

In total Jackson appointed 24 federal judges: six Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States and eighteen judges to the United States district courts.

States admitted to the Union

* Arkansas – June 15, 1836.
* Michigan – January 26, 1837.

Later life and death

After serving two terms as president, Jackson retired to his Hermitage plantation in 1837. He immediately began putting the Hermitage in order as it had been poorly managed in his absence by his adopted son, Andrew Jr. Although he suffered ill health, Jackson remained influential in both national and state politics. He was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states and rejected any talk of secession, insisting, "I will die with the Union."  Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement. Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Martin Van Buren to repudiate the Specie Circular.

Jackson's strong position in favor of the annexation of the Republic of Texas led him to support James K. Polk for the Democratic nomination in the 1844 presidential election against Calhoun and Van Buren.  Jackson's support played an important role in Polk winning the nomination and the general election.

Jackson died at his plantation on June 8, 1845, at the age of 78, of chronic tuberculosis, dropsy, and heart failure. According to a newspaper account from the Boon Lick Times read, "[he] fainted whilst being removed from his chair to the bed ... but he subsequently revived ... Gen. Jackson died at the Hermitage at 6 o'clock P.M. on Sunday the 8th instant. ... When the messenger finally came, the old soldier, patriot and Christian was looking out for his approach. He is gone, but his memory lives, and will continue to live." 

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. 

Family and personal life

Shortly after Jackson first arrived in Nashville in 1788, he lived as a boarder with Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of John Donelson. Here Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. At the time, Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain Lewis Robards; he was subject to fits of jealous rage.  The two were separated in 1790. According to Jackson, he married Rachel after hearing that Robards had obtained a divorce. However, the divorce had never been completed, making Rachel's marriage to Jackson bigamous and therefore invalid. After the divorce was officially completed, Rachel and Jackson remarried in 1794.  To complicate matters further, evidence shows that Rachel had been living with Jackson and referred to herself as Mrs. Jackson before the petition for divorce was ever made.  It was not uncommon on the frontier for relationships to be formed and dissolved unofficially, as long as they were recognized by the community.

The controversy surrounding their marriage remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. By May 1806, Charles Dickinson had published an attack on Jackson in the local newspaper, and it resulted in a written challenge from Jackson to a duel. Since Dickinson was considered an expert shot, Jackson determined it would be best to let Dickinson turn and fire first, hoping that his aim might be spoiled in his quickness; Jackson would wait and take careful aim at Dickinson. Dickinson did fire first, hitting Jackson in the chest. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it was never safely removed. Under the rules of dueling, Dickinson had to remain still as Jackson took aim and shot and killed him. Jackson's behavior in the duel outraged men of honor in Tennessee, who called it a brutal, cold-blooded killing and saddled Jackson with a reputation as a violent, vengeful man. As a result, he became a social outcast. 

Rachel died of a heart attack on December 22, 1828, two weeks after her husband's victory in the election and two months before Jackson took office as President. Jackson described her symptoms as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast".  After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died; a distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body. She had been under extreme stress during the election, and she never did well when Jackson was away at war or work. Jackson blamed John Quincy Adams for Rachel's death because the National Republican campaign of 1828 had repeatedly attacked the circumstances for Jackson's wedding to Rachel. He felt that this had hastened her death and never forgave Adams. 

Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known,  Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek Indian orphan adopted by Jackson after the Creek War. Lyncoya died of tuberculosis in 1828, at the age of sixteen. 

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 used Rip Raps as a retreat, visiting between August 19, 1829 through August 16, 1835. 

Temperament

Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Brands says, "His audacity on behalf of the people earned him enemies who slandered him and defamed even his wife, Rachel. He dueled in her defense and his own, suffering grievous wounds that left him with bullet fragments lodged about his body." However, Remini is of the opinion that Jackson was often in control of his rage, and used it (and his fearsome reputation) as a tool to get what he wanted in his public and private affairs. 

Brands also notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper:
Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt.... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record – in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings – listeners had to take his vows seriously. 

On the last day of the presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." 

Physical appearance

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 that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.

Religious faith

About a year after retiring the presidency, Jackson became a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville. 

Jackson was a Freemason, having been initiated at Harmony Lodge No. 1 in Tennessee; he also participated in chartering several other lodges in Tennessee. He was the only U.S. president to have served as Grand Master of a state's Grand Lodge until Harry S. Truman in 1945. His Masonic apron is on display in the Tennessee State Museum. An obelisk and bronze Masonic plaque decorate his tomb at The Hermitage.  

Legacy and memory

Jackson remains one of the most studied and most controversial Americans of the 19th century.   Historian Charles Sellers says "Andrew Jackson's masterful personality was enough by itself to make him one of the most controversial figures ever to stride across the American stage."  His most controversial presidential actions included removal of the Indians from the southeast, the dismantling of the Bank of the United States, and his threat to use military force against the state of South Carolina to make it stop nullifying federal laws. Not at all controversial was his great victory over the British at New Orleans in the last battle of the War of 1812. He was the main founder of the modern Democratic Party and became its iconic hero; he was always a fierce partisan, with many friends and many enemies. 

Andrew Jackson has appeared on U.S. banknotes as far back as 1869, and extending into the 21st century.  His image has appeared on the $5, $10, $20 and $10,000 note. Most recently, his image appears on the U.S. $20 Federal reserve note, Series 2004-2006, with a redesigned, larger portrait. In 2016, Treasury Security Jack Lew announced his goal that by 2029 an image of Harriet Tubman would replace Jackson's depiction on the front side of the $20 banknote, and that an image of Jackson would be placed on the reverse side, though the final decision will be made by his successors.  

Andrew Jackson is one of the few American presidents ever to appear on U.S. Postage more than the usual two or three times. He died in 1845, but the U.S. Post Office did not release a postage stamp in his honor until 18 years after his death, with the issue of 1863, a 2-cent black issue, commonly referred to by collectors as the 'Black Jack'. In contrast, the first Warren G. Harding stamp was released only one month after his death, Lincoln, one year exactly. As Jackson was a controversial figure in his day, there is speculation that officials in Washington chose to wait a period of time before issuing a stamp with his portrait. In all, Jackson has appeared on thirteen different U.S. postage stamps, more than that of most U.S. presidents; only Washington, Lincoln, and Franklin (who was not a president) have appeared more often.   During the American Civil War the Confederate government also issued two Confederate postage stamps bearing Jackson's portrait, one a 2-cent red stamp and the other a 2-cent green stamp, both issued in 1863. 

Andrew Jackson2 1862 Issue-2c.jpg|Issue of 1863
Jackson44 1870-2c.jpg|Issue of 1870
Andrew Jackson 1903 Issue-3c.jpg|Issue of 1903

Memorials

* Jackson's portrait currently appears on the United States twenty-dollar bill; however, on April 20, 2016, United States Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that Jackson's face will be replaced by that of slave leader Harriet Tubman, with Jackson's portrait relegated to the reverse side. Lew expects the new design to be ready by 2020.  Jackson has also 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 Black Jack and many other postage stamps. These include the Prominent Americans series (1965–1978) 10¢ stamp.
* Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including the city of Jacksonville in Florida and North Carolina; the city of Jackson in Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee; Jackson County in Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Oregon; and Jackson Parish in Louisiana. 
* Memorials to Jackson include a set of four identical equestrian statues by the sculptor Clark Mills: in Jackson Square in New Orleans; in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol; in Washington, D.C. near the White House; and in Jacksonville, Florida. Other equestrian statues of Jackson have been erected elsewhere, as in the State Capitol grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina.
* Andrew Jackson State Park is located on the site of his birthplace in Lancaster County, South Carolina.
* Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville is named for him.
* Two suburbs in the eastern part of Nashville are named in honor of Jackson and his home: Old Hickory and Hermitage.
* A main thoroughfare in Hermitage is named Andrew Jackson Parkway. Several roads in the same area have names associated with Jackson, such as Andrew Jackson Way, Andrew Jackson Place, Rachel Donelson Pass, Rachel's Square Drive, Rachel's Way, Rachel's Court, Rachel's Trail, and Andrew Donelson Drive.
* Old Hickory Lake is located in north central Tennessee.
* Andrew Jackson High School, in Lancaster County, South Carolina, is named after him and 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.
* 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.
* , 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.
* Andrew Jackson Centre, the Andrew Jackson Cottage and US Rangers Centre in Northern Ireland, is a "traditional thatched Ulster–Scots farmhouse built in 1750s" and includes the home of Jackson's parents", which has been restored.
* Andrew Jackson Masonic Lodge No. 120, in the Jurisdiction of Virginia, is named for him. 

Popular culture depictions

Jackson and his wife Rachel were the main subjects of a 1950 historical novel by Irving Stone, The President's Lady, which told the story of their lives up until Rachel's death. The novel was the basis for the 1953 film of the same name starring Charlton Heston as Jackson and Susan Hayward as Rachel.

Jackson has been a supporting character in a number of historical films and television productions. Lionel Barrymore played Jackson in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton starring Joan Crawford. The Buccaneer (1938), a fictionalized version of the Battle of New Orleans, included Hugh Sothern as Jackson, and was remade in 1958 with Heston again playing Jackson. Basil Ruysdael played Jackson in Walt Disney's 1955 Davy Crockett TV miniseries and subsequent film release. Wesley Addy appeared as Jackson in some episodes of the 1976 PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles.

Jackson is the protagonist of the comedic historic rock musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (2008) with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers.

Jackson was also featured in the 4th episode of the history podcast, The Broadsides.
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Andrew Jackson
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