Andrew Jackson was born in 1767 in Western South Carolina.
Jackson’s life would be marked by tragedy from an early age; his father died
while Jackson’s mother, Elizabeth, was still pregnant with him. In 1779,
Jackson’s older brother died at the Revolutionary War Battle of Stono Ferry.
Shortly thereafter, Andrew, and his remaining brother Robert, were captured by
British soldiers and imprisoned. Andrew was beaten badly for refusing to polish
a soldier’s boots and both boys were exposed to smallpox. During an exchange of
prisoners, Elizabeth secured the release of her sons and five neighbors. On
just two horses, they made the 45-mile journey home. Unfortunately Robert
succumbed to smallpox two days after returning. Once Andrew had recovered,
Elizabeth made the long trip to the Charleston harbor, where she would help
nurse two nephews, and others, who were being held prisoner aboard boats by the
British. Elizabeth would contract cholera and die in Charleston. At 14 years
old Andrew Jackson had lost his entire family.
Two years of law apprenticeship and Jackson was ready to
practice, he headed west and settled in Nashville. The rudimentary and corrupt
legal system gave Jackson ample opportunity to build a practice. At times
Jackson was responsible for half of the cases being tried in the county.
It was in Nashville where Jackson began to build his
reputation. He served on the Constitutional Committee formed to win Tennessee’s
statehood. He went on to serve one term as Tennessee’s first representative in
Washington. Next, he was elected to the US Senate, a post he was unprepared for
and would quickly resign. Jackson’s election to the state’s Superior Court
allowed him to begin to shine. Despite a lack of formal legal education,
Jackson became known for being a fair, effective, typically correct, and swift
judge (he once heard 50 cases in 15 days).
Jackson yearned for military glory, and wanted the
generalship of Tennessee’s militia. This was an elected position that local
Revolutionary War hero, John Sevier, also wanted. The two ultimately tied, with
the Governor breaking the tie in Jackson’s favor. Jackson and Sevier would
become lifelong enemies and the Governor’s decision caused a political break
between Eastern (Sevier) & Western (Jackson) Tennessee.
Jackson’s time in the military was eventful. Early on he
aided Aaron Burr, evidently ignorantly, in Burr’s infamous plot to divide the
union. As the War of 1812 broke out, Jackson was called on to defend New
Orleans, however he received orders from Secretary of War John Anderson, the
man who almost cost the US Washington DC later in the war, to disband prior to
reaching New Orleans. Jackson ignored the order and marched his men 450 miles
back to Nashville, in doing so he earned the nickname Old Hickory.
Jackson soon led his men to fight the Creek Indians, in what
would be known as the Creek War. The Creek War was a civil war among the Creeks
that Jackson used to the US’s advantage. Jackson routed the Creek’s leading
many flee to Florida; the Creek’s who stayed behind had been friendly to the
Americans and Jackson took advantage of them. He negotiated a treaty that turned
over 3/5 of present day Alabama and 1/5 of Georgia to the Americans. Jackson
had turned an Indian civil war in to an enormous land grab for the United
States.
Jackson’s men had been campaigning for about a year after
the Creek War, but instead of returning home Jackson led his men to occupied New
Orleans with designs to take it from the British. The battle would be another
decisive American victory with around 70 American casualties comparing to well
over 1,500 for the British. The Battle of New Orleans would cement Jackson’s
status as living legend, however there were a couple of wrinkles in the New
Orleans story. The Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812, had already
been signed when the Battle of New Orleans was fought, and even if it hadn’t it
was likely that New Orleans would have ended the war. However, Jackson kept the
city under martial law until official word of the war’s end arrived two months
later. This strange decision rankled residents and it led to Jackson’s arrest
and a guilty verdict for which Jackson paid a fine of $1,000. Supporters raised
the money to cover his expenses, but ever the politician, Jackson donated the
money to the families of deceased soldiers.
After New Orleans, Jackson was instructed to execute Article
IX of the Treaty Of Ghent. The article called for the return of property taken
from peaceful Indians after 1811. Whether Jackson didn’t believe that any
Indians would be peaceful toward settlers or he just outright ignored the
order, it is clear that Jackson did not return any land. In fact, he continued
to sign treaties with Indians, usually under the direct or implied threat of
force, to secure land in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. At the
end of this time was the First Seminole War in which Jackson used the threat of
the Seminole Indians as justification to invade and ultimately take Florida
from the Spanish.
By 1822, Jackson was ready to return home. He was physically exhausted, suffering from
both dysentery and malaria. His name was again put forward for a Senate seat, a
post for which he was now more prepared and a role that would strengthen his
now inevitable presidential bid. In his first presidential bid, the election of
1824, Jackson won the popular vote but the Electoral College was split throwing
the decision to the House of Representatives. Henry Clay delivered Kentucky and
thus the presidency to John Quincy Adams despite Kentucky not giving Adams a
single electoral vote. Clay then accepted Secretary of State in Adams’
administration. Jackson’s supporters deemed this “the corrupt bargain” and it
effectively ended Clay’s political ambitions.
The Election of 1824 convinced many that there was a major
corruption problem in the federal government and the Democratic Party grew out
of a desire to return to Jeffersonian republicanism, reclaiming the government
for the people. Jackson won in 1828 and there was mandate for change. What opponents began to call the “spoils
system,” Jacksonians called rotation. This was the practice of replacing
officeholders in an attempt to root out corruption, entitlement to office, and
lack of accountability. Over his two terms, it is estimated that about 8% of
the federal workforce was replaced.
Jackson’s eight years in office were eventful. Despite his
numerous accomplishments prior to the presidency, my opinion is that Jackson is
the first president, save perhaps Jefferson, whose most impactful days came during
his presidency. The three most impactful and controversial events of his
presidency were the Indian Removal Act of 1830, his veto of the 2nd
Bank of the US, and the nullification crisis.
The Indian Removal Act passed the Senate on party lines, but
barely passed the House. A section of the country didn’t support removal,
however the majority of Americans either quietly or vocally supported removal.
The legislation would force all Indians living within state boundaries to move
into pre-designated territories in Oklahoma. The horrors of removal are
undeniable, at least 45,000 Indians were removed during Jackson’s presidency
and thousands died along the way. While not a defense of removal, it is
important to note the support of removal by a majority of Americans, who viewed
Indians as terrorists. Also, removal likely prevented Southeastern tribes from
annihilation that would have come at the hands of settlers. This is the
reasoning Jackson used to justify his actions.
The 2nd Bank of the US was a federally chartered
bank that held the government’s money. Jackson believed it to be an
undemocratic monopoly benefitting only the rich, so when its charter for
renewal passed through the Senate and House he vetoed it. This veto was
extremely important as it fundamentally redefined the presidency. Never before
had a president vetoed something for reasons other than constitutionality. The
bank veto effectively redefined the executive branch as paramount to the
legislative and judicial. Jackson had a weak grasp of financial matters, as did
many of the men he surrounded himself with, while he understand many of the
negative aspects of the bank he couldn’t grasp its importance to the American
economy. The bank’s dismantling had a predictably negative effect made worse by
the Bank’s tightening of credit in an attempt to stir up support. Jackson never
wavered saying of those lobbying against the veto, “If they send ten thousand
of them…I will not relax a particle from my position.” The Whig Party grew out
of the Democratic Party’s split following the veto.
The nullification crisis was the first real sign of the coming
Civil War. South Carolina passed a law nullifying federal tariffs, thus raising
the question of whether federal laws could be invalidated within a state’s
boundaries. Jacksons’ response was clear and forceful, stating that the United
States superseded the states themselves. Jackson’s proclamation against
nullification is one of the most important presidential documents in American
history as it would form the basis for Lincoln’s actions against secession 30
years later.
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| Portrait of an elderly Jackson by the prolific George Peter Alexander Healy |
This the most I’ve written on any one president and it still
feels incomplete to me. I’ve said nothing about Jackson’s duels, the first
assassination attempt on a president, the scandal surrounding his marriage(s)
to Rachel or her subsequent death, the John Eaton affair, his efforts to bring Texas into the union, or
slavery. Jackson was a complicated man, one whose positive impact on his
country’s development has been greatly overshadowed by his mistreatment of the
Indians. I will end with what I found to be the greatest irony in Jackson’s
legacy: Jackson despised paper money, he called it “ragg money” and believed it
weakened society and benefitted the rich at the expense of the poor. Ironic
then that his face has been immortalized on the $20 bill.