Biography of President Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was one of the most controversial presidents that has governed the United States, both historically and while he was the leader of the country. Like many Americans during the time he was born, Andrew Jackson was born to Scottish and Irish immigrant parents on March 15, 1767. It is unclear for certain which, but Jackson was born in one of the Carolinas, which at the time were British colonies. Jackson was raised as a child of the frontier, and likewise received the type of sporadic education that most children got at the time, with formal primary education being years away. Jackson would become an orphan in the American Revolution, and gained early experience in battle, foreshadowing his future military career. In the years after the war, Jackson would study law for a time, becoming a traveling lawyer on the frontier. He would also rise in prominence and gain wealth through the purchase of land and slaves, becoming a planter as well as a merchant and lawyer. At the same time as he acquired affluence, Jackson delved into politics, becoming a delegate to the constitutional convention for the state of Tennessee, where he was living. In a quick timeframe, Jackson would go from this position to a representative in the House for his state to becoming a U.S. senator representing Tennessee (Tregle, Joseph G., Jr.).

Jackson’s political career came to a temporary end at the beginning of the 1800s. Longing for adventure and to relive his boyhood life, Jackson entered into military life early in the century, and would slowly become an American war hero. Jackson’s first claim to fame on the battlefield came in 1814 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, where he fought against the Seminoles of Florida, who had massacred a few hundre...

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...that Jackson should be considered a below average president, and his presidency should be considered an unfortunate period in American history (Tregle, Joseph G., Jr.).

Works Cited

“Andrew Jackson.” Presidential Administration Profiles for Students. Ed. Kelle S. Sisung and Gerda-Ann Raffaelle. Detroit: Gale Group, 2003. U.S. History in Context. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.

“The Andrew Jackson Administrations.” Presidential Administration Profiles for Students. Ed. Kelle S. Sisung and Gerda-Ann Raffaelle. Detroit: Gale Group, 2002. U.S. History in Context. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.

“Stock Market Crash of 1929.” Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Ed. Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Detroit: Gale, 1999. U.S. History in Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Tregle, Joseph G., Jr. “Jackson, Andrew (1767–1845).” Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.