Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson
Daguerreotype of Andrew Jackson, taken in the 1840s
7th President of the United States
In office March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837
Vice President	John C. Calhoun (1829–1832) None (1832–1833) Martin Van Buren (1833–1837)
Preceded by	John Quincy Adams
Succeeded by	Martin Van Buren
United States Senator from Tennessee
In office March 4, 1823 – October 14, 1825
Preceded by	John Williams
Succeeded by	Hugh L. White
In office September 26, 1797 – April 1, 1798
Preceded by	William Cocke
Succeeded by	Daniel Smith
Military Governor of Florida
In office March 10, 1821 – December 31, 1821
Appointed by	James Monroe
Preceded by	José María Coppinger (Spanish East Florida)
Succeeded by	William P. Duval
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's at-large district
In office December 4, 1796 – September 26, 1797
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	William Claiborne
Personal details
Born	March 15, 1767 Waxhaw Settlement between North Carolina and South Carolina, British America
Died	June 8, 1845 (aged 78) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S
Resting place	The Hermitage
Political party	Democratic-Republican (Before 1828) Democratic (1828–1845)
Spouse(s)	Rachel Donelson (m. 1794; d. 1828)
Children	10, including Daniel and Andrew
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Rank	Major General (Army) Major general (Militia)
Unit	Tennessee Militia
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War  • Battle of Hobkirk's Hill Creek War  • Battle of Talladega  • Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek  • Battle of Horseshoe Bend War of 1812  • Battle of Pensacola  • Battle of New Orleans First Seminole War Conquest of Florida  • Battle of Negro Fort  • Siege of Fort Barrancas
Awards	Thanks of Congress

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837 and is considered the founder of the Democratic Party.^[1] 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. 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 ran 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.^[2][3] Jackson's father was born in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, in current-day Northern Ireland, around 1738.^[4] Jackson's parents lived in the village of Boneybefore, also in County Antrim. His patrilineal family line originated in Killingswold Grove, Yorkshire, England.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[7]

Revolutionary War service

Young Jackson Refusing to Clean Major Coffin's Boots (1876 lithograph)

During the Revolutionary War, Jackson, at age thirteen, informally helped the local militia as a courier.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10] Following the deaths of his brothers and mother during the war, he blamed the British for his losses.

Legal and political career

Jackson received a sporadic education in the local "old-field" school.^[11] In 1781 he worked for a time in a saddle-maker's shop.^[12] 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.

Though his legal education was scanty, Jackson 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.)^[13] In 1798 he was appointed a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court, serving until 1804.^[14]

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.^[15] 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.^[16]

Hermitage plantation

Escaped slave notice placed by Andrew Jackson offering a $50 reward, plus expenses, for the return of an enslaved mulatto man who escaped from Jackson's plantation. In a move unusual for the time, the notice offers "ten dollars extra, for every hundred lashes any person will give him, to the amount of three hundred".^[17]

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 (259 ha) plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. He later added 360 acres (146 ha) to the plantation, which eventually grew to 1,050 acres (425 ha). 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.^[18][19]

African American men, women, and children were kept as slave workers by Jackson on three sections of the Hermitage plantation.^[19] 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.^[19] 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.^[19]

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.^[20]

War of 1812

Portrait by Ralph E. W. Earl, c. 1837

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.

Treaty of Fort Jackson, 1814. Jackson specified peace terms on the Creek Indians. Treaty with the Creeks (1847)

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.^[21] 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.^[21] 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.^[21]

According to author Gloria Jahoda, the Creeks coined their own name for him, Jacksa Chula Harjo or "Jackson, old and fierce".^[22]

Battle of New Orleans

The Battle of New Orleans. General Andrew Jackson stands on the parapet of his makeshift defenses as his troops repulse attacking Highlanders, by painter Edward Percy Moran in 1910.

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.^[23]

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.^[24] 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.^[25] Jackson had claimed the authority to declare martial law over the entire City of New Orleans, not merely his "camp".^[26] 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.^[27]

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.^[28] By a resolution on February 27, 1815, Jackson received the Thanks of Congress as well as a Congressional Gold Medal.^[29] 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."^[30]

First Seminole War

Trial of Robert Ambrister during the Seminole War. Ambrister was one of two British subjects executed by General Jackson. (1848)

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".^[31] 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."^[32]

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."^[33] 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

Jackson in 1824, painted by Thomas Sully

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".^[34] 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".^[35]

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

"Some account of the bloody deeds of General Andrew Jackson" c. 1828

Jackson denounced the "corrupt bargain" that put Adams in the White House and laid plans for a crusade to oust Adams from office.^[36] 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.^[37] Jackson, with Calhoun as his running mate, 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 later in the century.^[38]

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.^[39] 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."^[40] 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.)^[41]

Presidency 1829–1837

President Andrew Jackson
New York: Ritchie & Co. (1860)

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. ^[42] Jackson's philosophy as President followed much in the same line as Thomas Jefferson, advocating Republican values held by the Revolutionary War generation.^[43] 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.^[43] 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.^[43] When selecting his Cabinet, instead of choosing party favorites, Jackson instead selected "plain, businessmen" whom he intended to control.^[43] Jackson chose Martin Van Buren of New York as Secretary of State, John Eaton of Tennessee as Secretary of War, Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania as Secretary of Treasury, John Branch of North Carolina as Secretary of Navy, John Berrien of Georgia as Attorney General, and William T. Barry of Kentucky as Postmaster General.^[44] Jackson's first choice of Cabinet proved to be unsuccessful, full of bitter partisanship and gossip, especially between Eaton, Calhoun, and Van Buren.^[44] By the spring of 1831, only Barry remained, while the rest of Jackson's cabinet had been discharged.^[45] Jackson's following cabinet selections worked better together.^[44]

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.^[46] 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 affair

Mrs Calhoun, a leader of the Petticoat affair

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".^[47] 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!"^[48] Jackson believed that the dishonorable people were the rumormongers who questioned and dishonored Jackson himself.^[49]

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.^[50][51]

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." ^[52] 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.^[53]

Indian removal policy

Jackson's Indian Removal Act and subsequent treaties resulted in the forced removal of several Indian tribes from their traditional territories, including Trail of Tears

Since the presidency of James Madison when Jackson was a military commander, Jackson had played a prominent role in Indian relations.^[54] Although there are scant details, Madison often met with Southeastern and Western Indians who included the Creek and Osage.^[55] Madison would meet with the Indians and would often encourage them to give up their lives as hunter-gatherers and instead take up farming.^[55][54] 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.^[56] Jackson's presidency marked a new era in Indian-Anglo American relations initiating a policy of Indian removal. ^[52] 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.^[57] The Second Seminole War, started in December 1835, lasted over six years, finally ending in August 1842 under President John Tyler.^[57]

Though relations between Europeans (and later Americans) and Indians were always complicated, they grew increasingly complicated once American settlements began pushing farther 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.^[52] 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.^[52] Jackson's presidency thus took place in a new era in Indian-Anglo American relations, marked by federal action and a policy of relocation.^[52] During Jackson's presidency, Indian relations between the Southern tribes and the state governments had reached a critical juncture.^[56]

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 farther west, outside of existing U.S. state borders.^[56] The passage of the bill was Jackson's first legislative triumph and marked the Democratic party's emergence into American political society.^[56] 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.^[58][59] 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.^[60] 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.^[61]

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.^[62] 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".^[61] 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.^[63]

Jackson's initiatives to deal with the conflicts between Indians and American settlers has been a source of controversy^[64][65] on and off over the years,^[66] especially among his political opponents at the time and ideological opponents since.^[67][68] Modern historians,^[69] such as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., often note the history of American conflicts with Indians^[70][71] 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.^[72][73] 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.^[74][75]

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 ^[76]

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

BEP engraved portrait of Jackson as President.

In an effort to purge the government of corruption of previous administrations, Jackson launched presidential investigations into all executive Cabinet offices and departments. ^[77] 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. ^[77] 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. ^[78]

Jackson repeatedly called for the abolition of the Electoral College by constitutional amendment in his annual messages to Congress as President.^[79][80] 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."^[81]

Jackson's time in the presidency also 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",^[82] while an Act of July 1836 enabled widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who met certain criteria to receive their husband's pensions.^[83] In 1836, Jackson established the ten-hour day in national shipyards.^[84]

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. ^[85] 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. ^[85] Jackson declared that rotation of appointments in political office was "a leading principle in the republican creed".^[79] 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."^[86] 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.^[87] 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. ^[88] 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." ^[89]

Jackson's theory regarding rotation of office generated what would later be called the spoils system, a practice that Jackson, ironically, didn't justify. ^[85] The political realities of Washington, however, ultimately forced Jackson to make partisan appointments despite his personal reservations.^[90] Historians believe Jackson's presidency marked the beginning of an era of decline in public ethics. ^[91] 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.^[91] 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. ^[92] 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. ^[92]

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!"^[93]

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.^[94]

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.^[95] 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.^[94]

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."^[96]

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."^[97]

Foreign affairs

Jackson's Minister to France William C. Rives successfully negotiated a reparations treaty with France in 1831.

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. ^[98] 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".^[98] 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.^[99] 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. ^[98] 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.^[98] 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. ^[98]

In addition to France, the Jackson administration successfully settled spoliation claims with Denmark, Portugal, and Spain.^[100] 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. ^[100] 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%. ^[100]

Jackson, however, was unsuccessful in opening trade with China and Japan.^[100] 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. ^[100] 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. ^[100]

Bank veto and election of 1832

1833 Democratic cartoon shows Jackson destroying the Devil's bank.

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. ^[101] 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. ^[102] Biddle's recharter bill passed the Senate on June 11 and the House on July 3, 1832.^[102] Jackson, believing that Bank was fundamentally a corrupt monopoly whose stock was mostly held by foreigners, vetoed the bill.^[102] Jackson used the issue to promote his democratic values, believing the Bank was being run exclusively for the wealthy.^[102] Jackson stated the Bank made "the rich richer and the potent more powerful".^[102] The National Republican Party immediately made Jackson's veto of the Bank a political issue, attempting to undermine Jackson's popularity.^[103] 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.^[102]

During the 1832 Presidential Election the rechartering of the Second National Bank became the primary issue.^[102] The election also demonstrated the rapid development and organization of political parties during this time period.^[102] The Democratic Party's first national convention, held in Baltimore, in May 1832 nominated Jackson of Tennessee and Martin Van Buren of New York.^[102] 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.^[102] 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.^[103] 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.^[104] Democratic newspapers, parades, barbecues, and rallies increased Jackson's popularity.^[104] 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.^[104] Clay received 37 percent of the popular vote and 49 electoral votes.^[104] Wirt received only eight percent of the popular vote and seven electoral votes while the Anti-Masonic Party folded.^[104] 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.^[105]

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.^[106] 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.^[107] Whitehouse.gov notes,

Basically the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of "boom and bust", which was following its regular pattern, but Jackson's financial measures contributed to the crash. His destruction of the Second Bank of the United States had removed restrictions upon the inflationary practices of some state banks; wild speculation in lands, based on easy bank credit, had swept the West. To end this speculation, Jackson in 1836 had issued a Specie Circular requiring that lands be purchased with hard money—gold or silver. In 1837 the panic began. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed. Thousands lost their lands. For about five years the United States was wracked by the worst depression thus far in its history.

— Whitehouse.gov official biography of Martin Van Buren^[108]

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.^[109] The censure was a political maneuver spearheaded by Jackson-rival Senator Henry Clay, which served only to perpetuate the animosity between him and Jackson.^[110] 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.^[110] 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.^[110][111]

Attack and assassination attempt

Richard Lawrence's attempt on Jackson's life, as depicted in an 1835 etching

The first recorded physical attack on a U.S. president was directed at Jackson. He 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.^[12]

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.^[112] 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

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.^[100] 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.^[100] 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.^[100]

U.S. Exploring Expedition

USS Porpoise, a brig ship laid down in 1835 and launched in May 1836 by Secretary of Navy Dickerson; used in the U.S. Exploring Expedition

Jackson initially opposed any federal exploration scientific expeditions during his first term in office.^[113] 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, President 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.^[113] 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.^[113] One brig ship, USS Porpoise, 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.^[114]

Panic of 1837

A New York newspaper blamed the Panic of 1837 on Andrew Jackson, depicted in spectacles and top hat

The national economy following the withdrawal of the remaining Funds from the Bank 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.^[115][116] However, reckless speculation in land and railroads caused what became known as the Panic of 1837.^[117] 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.^[117] 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.^[117] 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.^[117] The depression that followed lasted for four years until 1841 when the economy began to rebound.^[115][118]

Administration and cabinet

The Jackson Cabinet
Office	Name	Term
President	Andrew Jackson	1829–1837
Vice President	John C. Calhoun	1829–1832
	None	1832–1833
	Martin Van Buren	1833–1837
Secretary of State	Martin Van Buren	1829–1831
	Edward Livingston	1831–1833
	Louis McLane	1833–1834
	John Forsyth	1834–1837
Secretary of Treasury	Samuel D. Ingham	1829–1831
	Louis McLane	1831–1833
	William J. Duane	1833
	Roger B. Taney	1833–1834
	Levi Woodbury	1834–1837
Secretary of War	John H. Eaton	1829–1831
	Lewis Cass	1831–1836
Attorney General	John M. Berrien	1829–1831
	Roger B. Taney	1831–1833
	Benjamin F. Butler	1833–1837
Postmaster General	William T. Barry	1829–1835
	Amos Kendall	1835–1837
Secretary of the Navy	John Branch	1829–1831
	Levi Woodbury	1831–1834
	Mahlon Dickerson	1834–1837

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

Photographic copy of an 1845 daguerreotype

After serving two terms as president, Jackson retired to his Hermitage plantation in 1837.^[119] 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.^[119] 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."^[120] Blamed for causing the Panic of 1837, he was unpopular in his early retirement.^[119] Jackson continued to denounce the "perfidy and treachery" of banks and urged his successor, Van Buren, to repudiate the Specie Circular as president.^[119]

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. Polk eventually was able to win both the nomination and the general election.^[121]

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."^[122]

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.^[123]

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.^[124] 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.^[125] 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.^[126] 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.^[127]

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".^[128] After struggling for three days, Rachel finally died; a distraught Jackson had to be pulled from her so the undertaker could prepare the body.^[128] 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.^[129]

Jackson had three adopted sons: Theodore, an Indian about whom little is known,^[130] 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.^[131]

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.^[132]

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.^[133]

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."^[128] 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.^[134]

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.^[135]

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."^[136]

Physical appearance

Tennessee Gentleman, portrait of Jackson, c. 1831, from the collection of The Hermitage.

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. Much of his trouble was caused by a musket ball in his lung that was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes made his whole body shake.^[137]

Religious faith

About a year after retiring the presidency, Jackson became a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Nashville.^[138]

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.^{[139][140][141]}

Legacy and memory

Controversies

Jackson remains one of the most studied and most controversial Americans of the 19th century.^[142][143] Historian Charles Grier 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."^[144] 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.^[145]

Andrew Jackson portrait on obverse $20 bill 2006

Jackson was mentioned and criticised by his contemporary Alexis de Tocqueville, in Democracy in America for flattering the dominant ideas of his time, notably the mistrust over the federal power, for sometimes enforcing his view by force and disrespect towards the institutions and the law:

“	Far from wishing to extend the Federal power, the President belongs to the party which is desirous of limiting that power to the clear and precise letter of the Constitution, and which never puts a construction upon that act favorable to the government of the Union; far from standing forth as the champion of centralization, General Jackson is the agent of the state jealousies; and he was placed in his lofty station by the passions that are most opposed to the central government. It is by perpetually flattering these passions that he maintains his station and his popularity. General Jackson is the slave of the majority: he yields to its wishes, its propensities, and its demands--say, rather, anticipates and forestalls them. (...) General Jackson stoops to gain the favor of the majority; but when he feels that his popularity is secure, he overthrows all obstacles in the pursuit of the objects which the community approves or of those which it does not regard with jealousy. Supported by a power that his predecessors never had, he tramples on his personal enemies, whenever they cross his path, with a facility without example; he takes upon himself the responsibility of measures that no one before him would have ventured to attempt. He even treats the national representatives with a disdain approaching to insult; he puts his veto on the laws of Congress and frequently neglects even to reply to that powerful body. He is a favorite who sometimes treats his master roughly.	”
	— Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Volume I, Chapter XVIII

Portrayal on banknotes and stamps

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.^[146][147]

Jackson has appeared on 13 different U.S. postage stamps. Only George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin have appeared more often.^[148][149] He first appeared on an 1863 2-Cent stamp, which is commonly referred to by collectors as the Black Jack due to the large portraiture of Jackson on its face printed in pitch black.^[150] 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.^[151]

• 

  U.S. issue of 1863
• 

  U.S. issue of 1870
• 

  U.S. issue of 1903

Memorials

Equestrian statue of Gen. Jackson, Jackson County Courthouse, Kansas City, Missouri, commissioned by Judge Harry S Truman.

The tomb of Andrew and Rachel Donelson Jackson located at their home, The Hermitage.

• 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.^[152] 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.^[153]
• 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.
• USS Andrew Jackson (SSBN-619), 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.^[3]
• Andrew Jackson Masonic Lodge No. 120, in the Jurisdiction of Virginia, is named for him.^[154]

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.^[155]

See also

• Presidency of Andrew Jackson
• List of Presidents of the United States
• List of Presidents of the United States, sortable by previous experience
• List of United States Presidents on currency
• U.S. presidents on U.S. postage stamps

Notes

1. Brands, H.W. (2005). Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 1400030722.
2. "Andrew Jackson". Information Services Branch, State Library of North Carolina.
3. "Andrew Jackson Cottage and US Rangers Centre". Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
4. Gullan, Harold I. (2004). First fathers: the men who inspired our Presidents. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. pp. xii, 308. ISBN 0-471-46597-6. LCCN 2003020625. OCLC 53090968. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
5. Jackson, Elmer Martin (1985). Keeping the lamp of remembrance lighted: a genealogical narrative with pictures and charts about the Jacksons and their allied families. Maryland: Hagerstown Bookbinding and Printing Co. p. 9.
6. Booraem, Hendrik (2001) Young Hickory : The Making of Andrew Jackson p.9
7. Collings, Jeffrey (March 7, 2011). "Old fight lingers over Old Hickory's roots". The Washington Post.
8. Remini 1:15–17
9. Remini 1:21
10. Remini 1:13
11. In the antebellum South, rural schools were often built in exhausted cotton or tobacco fields, hence the name.
12. Paletta, Lu Ann; Worth, Fred L (1988). The World Almanac of Presidential Facts. World Almanac Books. ISBN 0-345-34888-5.
13. Ostermeier, Eric (December 4, 2013). "Bob Smith and the 12-Year Itch". Smart Politics.
14. United States Congress. "Andrew Jackson (id: j000005)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
15. Walter T. Durham, Before Tennessee: The Southwest Territory; Piney Flats, TN: Rocky Mount Historical Association, 1990; pp. 218–19. "In the Mero District, two young attorneys, John Overton and Andrew Jackson, entered into a formal partnership on May 12, 1794, 'for the purpose of purchasing lands as well as those lands without as within the military bounds.' Theirs was a frank avowal; they, like many of their contemporaries, would deal with lands within Indian territory. Most of the transactions involved grants made under the 'land grab' act of 1873 that briefly opened to claim by North Carolinians all of the Indian lands in that state's transmontane west. While the act was in force, citizens had staked claims to two or three million acres of Chickasaw and Cherokee land."
16. Blythe Semmer, "Jackson Purchase", Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
17. Cumfer, Cynthia (2007). Separate peoples, one land: The minds of Cherokees, Blacks, and Whites on the Tennessee frontier. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-8078-3151-9.
18. Remini (2000), p.51 cites 1820 census; mentions later figures up to 150 without noting a source.
19. "The Hermitage Slavery". thehermitage.com. 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
20. Buchanan, John. (2001). Jackson's Way: Andrew Jackson and the People of the Western Waters. New York: John Wiley & Son, Inc. p. 165–166.
21. DSHeidler_JTHeidler 1997, p. 192.
22. Jahoda, Gloria. The Trail of Tears: The Story of the American Indian Removals 1813–1855. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. New York. 1975 ISBN 0-03-014871-5.
23. Remini, Robert V. (1999). The Battle of New Orleans. New York: Penguin Books. p. 285
24. Martin, François-Xavier The History of Louisiana, from the Earliest Period, Vol. 2 p. 387–495 (New Orleans, 1829).
25. Warshauer, Matthew, Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law, Univ. of Tenn. Press, 2006, p. 32 ff.
26. The Appeal of Louis Louaillier, Sen., Against the Charge of High Treason. New Orleans. 1827. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
27. Eaton, Fernin F. "For Whom the Drone Tolls or What if Andrew Jackson had Drones at the Battle of New Orleans, A Bit of Bicentennial Mischief". Academia.edu. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
28. "Some account of some of the bloody deeds of General Jackson". Prints & Photographs Reading Room. Library of Congress. 1828. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
29. "JACKSON, Andrew – Biographical Information". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Congress of the United States. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
30. Leeden, Michael A. (2001). Tocqueville on American Character. New York: Macmillan. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-312-27451-1. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
31. Remini, 118.
32. Ogg, 66.
33. Johnson, Allen (1920). "Jefferson and His Colleagues". Retrieved October 11, 2006.
34. Rutland, Robert Allen (1995). The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton. University of Missouri Press. pp. 48–49. ISBN 0-8262-1034-1.
35. Adams, Henry. The Life of Albert Gallatin (1879), 599.
36. Cheathem, Mark R. (2013). Andrew Jackson, Southerner. LSU Press ch 12.
37. Rutland, Robert Allen (1995). The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton. University of Missouri Press. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0-8262-1034-1.
38. Nickels, Ilona (September 5, 2000). "How did Republicans pick the elephant, and Democrats the donkey, to represent their parties?". Capitol Questions. C-SPAN. Archived from the original on October 21, 2000. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
39. First Lady Biography: Rachel Jackson National First Ladies Library. Web. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
40. Paul F. Boller Jr. (2004). Presidential Campaigns : From George Washington to George W. Bush. Oxford University Press. p. 46.
41. Mark Cheathem, "Frontiersman or Southern Gentleman? Newspaper Coverage of Andrew Jackson during the 1828 Presidential Campaign", The Readex Report (2014) 9#3 online
42. Latner 2002, p. 101.
43. Latner 2002, p. 104.
44. Latner 2002, p. 105.
45. Latner 2002, pp. 105, 108.
46. Inaugurals of Presidents of the United States: Some Precedents and Notable Events. Library of Congress.
47. Latner 2002, p. 107.
48. Jon Meacham (2009). American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Random House. p. 115.
49. "When he defended the honor of Peggy Eaton, Jackson was also defending the honor of his recently deceased wife", says Christopher G. Bates (2015). The Early Republic and Antebellum America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History. Routledge. p. 315.
50. Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought? (2007) pp 337-39
51. Kirsten E. Wood, 'One Woman so Dangerous to Public Morals': Gender and Power in the Eaton Affair". Journal of the Early Republic (1997): 237-275. in JSTOR
52. Latner 2002, p. 108.
53. Meacham, pp. 171–75;
54. Rutland (1990), pp. 199–200
55. Rutland (1990), p. 37.
56. Latner 2002, p. 109.
57. Latner 2002, p. 110.
58. Robert V. Remini, The Life of Andrew Jackson (1988), p. 216
59. Cave (2003).
60. "Historical Documents – The Indian Removal Act of 1830". Historicaldocuments.com. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
61. "Indian Removal". Judgment Day. PBS. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
62. "Andrew Jackson Speaks: Indian Removal". The Nomadic Spirit. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
63. "Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians – History". Cherokee-nc.com. Retrieved September 6, 2010.
64. In the 2015 debate on removing Jackson from the $20 bill, Indian removal was often mentioned as a good reason for doing that.
65. By Abby Ohlheiser, "This group wants to banish Andrew Jackson from the $20 bill", Washington Post 3 March, 2015. Slate blogger Jillian Keenan said, "The seventh president engineered genocide. He should be vilified, not honored."Slate 3 March 2014
66. Steve Inskeep, "Jackson's Reputation has Changing Again", History Network News 7 June, 2015
67. Gary Scott Smith (2015). Religion in the Oval Office: The Religious Lives of American Presidents. Oxford UP. p. 151.
68. Jackson historian Steve Inskeep reports: Recent Jackson biographers, such as Jon Meacham and H.W. Brands, candidly described the human cost of Jackson's policy while keeping it in the perspective of his broader career. Sean Wilentz, in The Rise of American Democracy, believed that while Jackson was a "paternalist", telling Indians what was best for them, paternalism was not the same as genocide.
69. Jon Meacham, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House (2008)
70. H.W. Brands, Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times (2006)
71. Sean Wilentz (2006). The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. Norton. p. 324.
72. Zinn called him "exterminator of Indians". Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States (1980) p 130
73. See also Barbara Alice Mann (2009). The Tainted Gift: The Disease Method of Frontier Expansion. ABC-CLIO. p. 20.
74. Francis Paul Prucha, "Andrew Jackson's Indian policy: a reassessment". Journal of American History (1969) 56#3 pp 527-539. in JSTOR
75. Paul R. Bartrop and Steven Leonard Jacobs argue that Jackson's policies did not meet the criterion for genocide or cultural genocide.Paul R. Bartrop; Steven Leonard Jacobs (2014). Modern Genocide: The Definitive Resource and Document Collection. ABC-CLIO. p. 2070.
76. Andrew Jackson (February 21, 1835). "Treaty between the United States of America and the United Nation of Chippewa, Ottowa, and Potawatamie Indians".Retrieved on November 29, 2014
77. Ellis 1974, pp. 65–66.
78. Ellis 1974, p. 67.
79. "Andrew Jackson's First Annual Message to Congress". The American Presidency Project. Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
80. "Andrew Jackson's Second Annual Message to Congress". The American Presidency Project. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
81. "Andrew Jackson's Third Annual Message to Congress". The American Presidency Project. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2008.
82. Boulton, Mark B. (2013). "Benefits, Veteran". In Piehler, G. Kurt; Johnson, M. Houston, V. Encyclopedia of Military Science. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-1-4129-6933-8.
83. Lewis, J.D. NC Patriots 1775–1783: Their Own Words. 1 – The NC Continental Line. pp. 193–94. ISBN 978-1-4675-4808-3.
84. Allan Nevins; Henry Steele Commager; Jeffrey Morris. "A Pocket History of the United States". Books.google.co.uk. p. 168. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
85. Ellis 1974, p. 61.
86. "The Power of the Presidency: The Spoils System". Andrew Jackson – The Good, Evil & The Presidency – Special Features – PBS.org. Red Hill Productions and Community Television of Southern California. Retrieved January 16, 2014.
87. The Spoils system, as the rotation in office system was called, did not originate with Jackson. It originated with New York governors in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (most notably George Clinton and DeWitt Clinton). Thomas Jefferson brought it to the Executive Branch when he replaced Federalist office-holders after becoming President. The Spoils System versus the Merit System. Retrieved on November 21, 2006.
88. Ellis 1974, pp. 61–62.
89. Sabato, Larry; O'Connor, Karen (2006). "8". American Government: Continuity and Change (Print) (2006 ed.). New York: Pearson Longman. p. 293. ISBN 978-0-321-31711-7.
90. Howe, Daniel W. (2007). What hath God Wrought, The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. Oxford University Press, Inc. pp. 328–34. ISBN 978-0-19-507894-7.
91. Ellis 1974, p. 65.
92. Ellis 1974, p. 62.
93. Ogg, 164.
94. "John C. Calhoun, 7th Vice President (1825–1832)". United States Senate. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
95. Parton, James (2006). Life of Andrew Jackson. 3. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 381–85. ISBN 1-4286-3929-2. First published in 1860.
96. Syrett, 36. See also: "President Jackson's Proclamation Regarding Nullification, December 10, 1832". Archived from the original on August 24, 2006. Retrieved August 10, 2006.
97. Jon Meacham (2009), American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, New York: Random House, p. 247; Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Vol. V, p. 72.
98. Latner 2002, pp. 119–20.
99. Cunningham, Hugo S. (1999). "Gold and Silver Standards France". Retrieved August 28, 2014.
100. Latner 2002, p. 120.
101. Latner 2002, p. 111.
102. Latner 2002, p. 112.
103. Latner 2002, pp. 112–13.
104. Latner 2002, p. 113.
105. Ellis 1974, p. 63.
106. Bogart, Ernest Ludlow (1907). The Economic History of the United States. Longmans, Green, and Company. pp. 219–21. ISBN 978-1-176-58679-6. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
107. W. J. Rorabaugh, Donald T. Critchlow, Paula C. Baker (2004). "America's promise: a concise history of the United States". Rowman & Littlefield. p.210. ISBN 0-7425-1189-8
108. Friedel, Frank; Sidey, Hugh (2006). "Martin Van Buren". Our Presidents – The White House. White House Historical Association. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
109. "Senate Censure President". U.S. Senate: Art & History – Historical Minutes – 1801–1850. United States Senate. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
110. Brands, H. W. (March 21, 2006). "Be Sure Before You Censure". The New York Times. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
111. "Expunged Senate censure motion against President Andrew Jackson, January 16, 1837". Andrew Jackson – National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the U.S. Senate. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
112. Jon Grinspan. "Trying to Assassinate Andrew Jackson". Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
113. Mills 2003, p. 705.
114. "USS Porpoise (1836-1854)". U.S. Navy. 2014. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
115. Smith, Robert (April 15, 2011). "When the U.S. paid off the entire national debt (and why it didn't last)". Planet Money. NPR. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
116. "Our History". Bureau of the Public Debt. November 18, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
117. Olson 2002, p. 190.
118. "Historical Debt Outstanding – Annual 1791–1849". Public Debt Reports. Treasury Direct. Retrieved November 25, 2007.
119. Latner 2002, p. 121.
120. James C. Curtis, Andrew Jackson and the search for vindication (1976) p 145
121. "James K. Polk: 11th President, 1845-1849". U.S. Presidents. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
122. "Death of Gen. Jackson". Boon's Lick Times. Fayette, Missouri. Archived by the Library of Congress. June 21, 1845. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
123. Remini, Robert V. (2013). Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Democracy, 1833–1845 (Volume 3). Baltimore: JHU Press. p. 518. ISBN 978-1-4214-1330-3. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
124. Kathleen Kennedy; Sharon Rena Ullman (2003). Sexual Borderlands: Constructing an American Sexual Past. Ohio State University Press. pp. 99–101. ISBN 978-0-8142-0927-1.
125. Remini, 17–25
126. Meacham, Jon (2008). American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. New York: Random House. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-1-4000-6325-3.
127. H.W. Brands, Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times (2005) pp. 139–43
128. Brands, H. W. (2005). Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-1-4000-3072-9.
129. Robert Remini, John Quincy Adams (2002) p. 119
130. Brands, H.W. (2005). Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times. Random House. p. 198. ISBN 1-4000-3072-2.
131. Remini 1:194
132. The Papers of Andrew Jackson: 1821–1824 ed. Sam B. Smith, (1996) p 71
133. Meacham, page 109; 315
134. Remini, Robert (1969). Andrew Jackson. Harpercollins. ISBN 978-0-06-080132-8.
135. Brands, p 297
136. Borneman, Walter R. Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America. New York: Random House, 2008 ISBN 978-1-4000-6560-8, p. 36.
137. Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Freedom, 1822-1832 pp 1-3
138. Wilentz, Sean (2005). Andrew Jackson. Macmillan. p. 160.
139. Jackson, Andrew. "Tennessee History". Masonic Research. tennesseehistory.com. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
140. Trevor W. McKeown. "Grand Lodge of British Columbia & Yukon's "A few famous freemasons" page". freemasonry.bcy.ca. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
141. "Masonic Presidents, Andrew Jackson". Retrieved July 28, 2012.
142. Mark R. Cheathem, "'The Shape of Democracy': Historical Interpretations of Jacksonian Democracy", in The Age of Andrew Jackson, ed. Brian D. McKnight and James S. Humphreys (2011).
143. Sean Patrick Adams, ed., A Companion to the Era of Andrew Jackson (2013)
144. Charles Grier Sellers, Jr., "Andrew Jackson versus the Historians", Mississippi Valley Historical Review (1958) 44#4, pp. 615-634 in JSTOR
145. Glyndon G. Van Deusen, The rise and decline of Jacksonian democracy (1970)
146. Zeitz, Josh (1945-05-05). "Tubman replacing Jackson on the $20, Hamilton spared". Politico. Retrieved 2016-05-05.
147. Harriet Tubman to Be Added to $20 Bill, by Nick Timiraos, April 20, 2016
148. Scotts US Stamp Catalogue
149. Alexander T. Haimann, National Postal Museum (May 16, 2006). "Smithsonian National Postal Museum". Arago.si.edu. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
150. "2-cent Jackson issue of 1863". Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
151. Patricia Kaufmann (May 9, 2006). "Smithsonian National Postal Museum". Arago.si.edu. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
152. Swanson, Ana (April 20, 2016). "Harriet Tubman to appear on $20 bill, while Alexander Hamilton remains on $10 bill". The Washington Post. Washington, DC. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
153. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p. 167.
154. Virginia, Lodge. "Andrew Jackson No. 120". Lodge listings. Grand Lodge of Virginia. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
155. "The Broadsides". www.podcasts.com. Retrieved 2016-05-17.

References

Biographies

• Bassett, John Spencer. The Life of Andrew Jackson (2 vol. 1911). Useful old biography; vol 1 online free; vol 2 online
• Brands, H. W. Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times (2005), scholarly biography emphasizing military career excerpt and text search
• Burstein, Andrew. The Passions of Andrew Jackson. (2003). online review by Donald B. Cole
• Cheathem, Mark R. Andrew Jackson, Southerner (2013), scholarly biography emphasizing Jackson's southern identity
• Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition (1948), chapter on Jackson. online in ACLS e-books
• James, Marquis. The Life of Andrew Jackson Combines two books: The Border Captain and Andrew Jackson: Portrait of a President, 1933, 1937; winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1938.
• Meacham, Jon. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House (2009), excerpt and text search
• Parton, James. Life of Andrew Jackson (1860). Volume I, Volume III.
• Remini, Robert V. The Life of Andrew Jackson. Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume monumental biography, (1988).
  • Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire, 1767–1821 (1977); Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Freedom, 1822–1832 (1981); Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Democracy, 1833–1845 (1984).
• Remini, Robert V. The Legacy of Andrew Jackson: Essays on Democracy, Indian Removal, and Slavery (1988).
• Remini, Robert V. Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars (2001).
• Remini, Robert V. "Andrew Jackson", American National Biography (2000). short summary
• Wilentz, Sean. Andrew Jackson (2005), short biography, stressing Indian removal and slavery issues excerpt and text search

Historiography

• Adams, Sean Patrick, ed. A Companion to the Era of Andrew Jackson (2013) contents
• Bugg Jr. James L. ed. Jacksonian Democracy: Myth or Reality? (1952), excerpts from scholars.
• Cheathem, Mark R. "'The Shape of Democracy': Historical Interpretations of Jacksonian Democracy", in The Age of Andrew Jackson, ed. Brian D. McKnight and James S. Humphreys (2011).
• Mabry, Donald J., Short Book Bibliography on Andrew Jackson, Historical Text Archive.
• Sellers, Charles Grier, Jr. "Andrew Jackson versus the Historians", The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 44, No. 4. (March 1958), pp. 615–634. in JSTOR.
• Taylor, George Rogers, ed. Jackson Versus Biddle: The Struggle over the Second Bank of the United States (1949), excerpts from primary and secondary sources.
• Van Sledright, Bruce, and Peter Afflerbach. "Reconstructing Andrew Jackson: Prospective elementary teachers' readings of revisionist history texts". Theory & Research in Social Education 28#3 (2000): 411-444.
• Ward, John William. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age (1962) how writers saw him.

Specialized studies

• Cave, Alfred A.. Abuse of Power: Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act of 1830 (2003).
• Cheathem, Mark. "Frontiersman or Southern Gentleman? Newspaper Coverage of Andrew Jackson during the 1828 Presidential Campaign", The Readex Report (2014) 9#3 online
• Eaton, Clement (1942). "Mob Violence in the Old South". The Mississippi Valley Historical Review. 29 (3): 351–370. doi:10.2307/1897915. ISSN 0161-391X. JSTOR 1897915.
• Ellis, Richard E. (1974). Woodward, C. Vann, ed. Responses of the Presidents to Charges of Misconduct. New York, New York: Delacorte Press. pp. 61–68. ISBN 0-440-05923-2.
• Gammon, Samuel Rhea. The Presidential Campaign of 1832 (1922).
• Hammond, Bray. Andrew Jackson's Battle with the "Money Power" (1958) ch 8, of his Banks and Politics in America: From the Revolution to the Civil War (1954); Pulitzer prize.
• David Stephen Heidler; Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. (1997). Encyclopedia of the War of 1812. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-362-4.
• Inskeep, Steve. Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab (Penguin, 2015). 421 pp.
• Latner, Richard B. (2002). "Andrew Jackson". In Graff, Henry. The Presidents: A Reference History (7th ed.). pp. 101–123. ISBN 0-684-80551-0.
• Latner Richard B. The Presidency of Andrew Jackson: White House Politics, 1820–1837 (1979), standard survey.
• Meacham, Jon (2008). American Lion. Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4000-6325-3.
• Mills, William J. (2003). Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia. 1. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc. ISBN 1-57607-422-6.
• Ogg, Frederic Austin ; The Reign of Andrew Jackson: A Chronicle of the Frontier in Politics 1919. Short popular survey online at Gutenberg.
• Olson, James Stuart (2002). Robert L. Shadle, ed. Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in America. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30830-6.
• Parsons, Lynn H. The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828 (2009) excerpt and text search
• Ratner, Lorman A. Andrew Jackson and His Tennessee Lieutenants: A Study in Political Culture (1997).
• Rowland, Dunbar. Andrew Jackson's Campaign against the British, or, the Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812, concerning the Military Operations of the Americans, Creek Indians, British, and Spanish, 1813–1815 (1926).
• Schama, Simon. The American Future: A History (2008).
• Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. The Age of Jackson. (1945). Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History. history of ideas of the era.
• Syrett, Harold C. Andrew Jackson: His Contribution to the American Tradition (1953). on Jacksonian democracy

External links

• Works by Andrew Jackson at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Andrew Jackson at Internet Archive
• Andrew Jackson: A Resource Guide at the Library of Congress
• United States Congress. "Andrew Jackson (id: J000005)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Andrew Jackson at the White House
• Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia
• The Papers of Andrew Jackson at the Avalon Project
• The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson
• "Life Portrait of Andrew Jackson", from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits, April 26, 1999
• Jackson letters to Richard K. Call at the "The Call Family and Brevard Family Papers" of the Florida Memory Project
• "The 1828 Campaign of Andrew Jackson and the Growth of Party Politics", lesson plan at the National Endowment for the Humanities
• "Andrew Jackson, Slavery, and Historians", scholarly article on Jackson, his slave communities, and historians' interpretations
• Collection of Andrew Jackson's Personal Manuscripts