Andrew Jackson Essay: A Legendary Figure

Not that many of us have an understanding of what kind of man is hiding behind the title of the 7th President of the United States. For that reason, this essay on Andrew Jackson was created in a hope that someone will learn something new about the American statesman and his life story. The best custom writing service on the internet will write Andrew Jackson essays just like this one for you or even better, adjusting to your needs and desires.

Orphan

Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in South Carolina. His father Andrew and mother Elizabeth were both of Scottish – Irish descent. They emigrated from Ireland to North America two years after the birth of their son Andrew. Andrew senior and Elizabeth already had two children – Hugh, who was born in 1763 and Robert, born in 1764, whom they brought with them from Boneybefore, County Antrim (in our days it’s Northern Ireland).  Jackson’s father died three weeks before his third son was born in a tragic accident at the age of 29. Elizabeth raised her children in the Waxhaws area – a region of North and South Carolina.

Young Andrew went to the local school and in 1781 he started working as a saddle-maker in a shop. Later, Jackson junior decided to study law in Salisbury, North Carolina. After his admission to the bar in 1787, Andrew was moved to the Western District of North Carolina – Jonesborough.

When the Revolutionary War began from 1778 to 1781, Andrew Jackson informally provided the services of a courier in order to help the local military force when he was only thirteen years old. During the Battle of Stono Ferry his eldest brother Hugh died from heat exhaustion in June 1779. Some time after that, Andrew and his other brother Robert were captured by the British soldiers and nearly starved to death. At the time that they spent in captivity, a British officer slashed at Andrew with a sword because the latter refused to clean his boots. This incident left Jackson with scars on his head and left hand, as well as a strong dislike for British. During their time in prison, the Jackson brothers contracted smallpox – highly infectious diseases caused by the virus and were very ill when their mother arranged a prisoner exchange and released them. Shortly after their release in 1781, Robert Jackson died from the disease, but Andrew managed to survive. Elizabeth Jackson was nursing injured and sick soldiers in Charleston harbor and in 1781 she died of cholera that she contracted there. At the age of fourteen, Andrew Jackson became an orphan, blaming the British for his personal tragedies.

Lawyer

At the age of seventeen Jackson began his career as an attorney. His legal education allowed him to become a country lawyer. In 1788, Andrew was appointed Solicitor – a prosecuting attorney, by John MacNairy, who was a Superior Court Judge and his mentor. In 1796, Andrew was elected as a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention and its US Representative. The year after, Jackson held a post of U.S. Senator as a Democratic-Republican, but he decided to resign during the same year. Andrew Jackson became a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1798 and stayed in that position until 1804.

Jackson had always had a reputation of a hot-tempered man. His famous duel with Charles Dickinson stained his reputation in addition to many other duels and scandals that he took part in.

General

In 1812 a war began and the War Department made a decision to send Jackson team wise with the Tennessee Militia. A year after, a conflict between state militias and “The Red Stick” Creek Indians turned into a regional war that took place in Alabama and along the Gulf Coast. The Red Stick war, also known as a Creek war, was a part of Indian Wars and also considered to be a part of the war that started in 1812.  In 1814, commanding the Tennessee Militia, Andrew Jackson beat the Red Sticks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Shortly after, he was promoted Major General and took charge of the Seventh Military District. Following Jackson’s severe terms that he made to the Upper Creek enemies and Lower Creek allies, in August 1814 the Treaty of Fort Jackson was signed by 35 Indian elder leaders.

In the time of War of 1812, Andrew commanded the defenses, when British forces threatened New Orleans. It was at that time, when he got a nickname “Old Hickory” because his troops described him being as tough as an old hickory wood. Andrew Jackson’s soldiers won a crucial victory in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. In the same year, Andrew accepted a Congressional Gold Medal.

In 1817, Jackson was ordered by President James Monroe to serve in the military during the First Seminole War in Georgia and lead a campaign against the Seminole and Creek Indians. Also, he needed to prevent Spanish Florida from becoming a refuge for the slaves who ran away. Later, he found out that the Indians were assisted by Spanish and British, making him believe that as long as these two countries fostered Indians to fight, the United States could not be safe. And he took actions of capturing Pensacola in Florida and removing the Spanish governor. After that, Jackson tried and executed two Brits, who were Indian advisers. By invading the territory that belonged to Spain – a country, which was not in the state of war with the United States, Jackson created an International Incident. A lot of people, working in the Monroe administration wanted him to be censured, but Jackson received strong support from John Quincy Adams, The Secretary of State, who used Andrew’s conquest to get Spain to concede Florida to the United States. Jackson was named Florida’s military governor and continued his services as such till December 1821.

President

Because of Andrew Jackson’s glory of a great military man, in 1822 he got a nomination for the United States President from the Tennessee Legislature. His winning election for the U.S. Senate boosted his chances greatly. His opponents – Henry Clay, who was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and John Quincy Adams, were thought of having a backroom deal, lately named the “Corrupt Bargain”, because, after winning the election, John Quincy Adams made Henry Clay the Secretary of State. This event caused in the re-nomination of Jackson’s candidacy in 1825 and in the splitting of Democratic-Republican Party. In 1828 Andrew Jackson won the election, becoming the 7th American President and the first frontier President. After his victory, Jackson did something that earned a lot of popularity among the common people. He invited the public to the White House in order to attend his inauguration.

President Andrew Jackson did a lot for his country, but his main achievements on the post were:

1. The spoil system. He lifted the country’s economy by giving governmental jobs to the political bakers.
2. The Second Bank. Jackson shot down the Second Bank, seeing it as a corrupt institution, which held too much power over the country’s economy and manipulated money.
3. National Debt. Andrew Jackson is the only President who managed to pay off the whole national debt.

Till these days, Andrew Jackson is thought to be one of the most influential and controversial Presidents of the United States. His passionate fight for individual liberty and a great number of political policies that are still being used nowadays, helped to foster governmental change that the United States needed at that time.

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