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Jacksons Birth
Andrew Jackson was born in the Garden of the Waxhaws, South Carolina. Jackson was a son of Irish immigrants and he spent much of his early life in the frontier regions of South Carolina and Tennessee. His father died from injuries that he got while lifting a heavy log, and his mother was left with few resources to support their family. Jackson received minimal formal education, but he learned a lot about the frontier life by mixing with the frontiersmen around him. -
Jackson Enlists in Revolutionary Army
The Revolutionary War ended Jackson's childhood and wiped out his remaining family. Jackson's oldest brother Hugh enlisted in a patriot regiment and died at Stono Ferry, from a heatstroke. Andrew was too young for formal soldiering and his brother Robert fought with American irregulars. In 1781, they were captured and they caught smallpox, of which Robert died shortly after their release. While trying to retrieve some nephews from a British prison ship, Andrew's mother also fell ill and died. -
Battle of Horseshoe Bend
In the early 1800s, the Upper Creek Indians of present day Georgia and Alabama were deeply troubled by the continuing intrusion of white settlers onto their lands. Tribal leaders counseled restraint and also urged neutrality in the developing rift between the United States and Britain. In 1811, however, the great Shawnee leader Tecumseh visited the southern tribes and urged formation of a confederation to end the diminishment of Indian lands and ways of life. -
Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army determined on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory America had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase. The Treaty of Ghent had been signed on December 24, 1814 but news of the peace would not reach their enemies until February. The battle is often regarded as the greatest American land victory of the war. -
Election of 1824
The Election of 1824 clearly showed that the "Era of Good Feelings" had come to an end. All the candidates were Democratic-Republicans, but personal and sectional interests outweighed political belief. The candidates included: John Quincy Adams, son of a Federalist president, represented the interests of the Northeast and was the leading contender. Henry Clay of Kentucky shared political views with Adams. Andrew Jackson, a Senator from Tennessee and military hero, drew Western support from Clay. -
Election of 1828
The Election of 1828 was unique in that nominations were no longer made by Congressional caucuses, but by conventions and the state legislatures. John Quincy Adams was re-nominated by forces then calling themselves the National Republicans; his running mate was Secretary of the Treasury Richard Rush. The Democratic Republican opposition was posed by Jackson and his vice-presidential candidate, John C. Calhoun. The campaign was the first true complicated contest. -
Indian Removal Act
After demanding both political and military action on removing Native American Indians from the southern states of America in 1829, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law on May 28, 1830. Although it only gave the right to negotiate for their withdrawal from areas to the east of the Mississippi river and that relocation was supposed to be voluntary, all of the pressure was there to make this all but unavoidable. -
Worcester vs. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia deals with Georgia state laws that were passed in the middle of the 1800s. These laws were passed following an agreement reached between the Cherokee tribe and the state government of Georgia. The laws instituted a prohibition of non-Indians from living in Indian territories. Only Non-Native Americans with special permission from the government were allowed to live on these lands. -
Bank War
The Bank War was the name given to the campaign begun by President Andrew Jackson in 1833 to destroy the Second Bank of the United States, after his reelection convinced him that his opposition to the bank had won national support. The Second Bank had been established in 1816, as a successor to the First Bank of the United States, whose authority had been permitted to expire in 1811. -
Nullification Crisis
Those in support of nullification were gaining momentum and were well organized by the time of the elections. Only the merchants of Charleston and the small farmers of the up country supported the Unionist side. A special session of the state legislature was called, and an ordinance of nullification was adopted. In turn, the federal tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 were denounced and labeled unconstitutional.
