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Andrew Jackson

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{{Infobox Politician
| subject_name =Andrew Jackson
| image_name =AndrewJackson-Jett.jpg
| image_size =280px
| image_caption =
| office =Territorial governor of Florida
| district =
| in_office =[[March 10]], [[1821]] - [[November 12]], [[1821]]
| office_2 =[[Wikipedia:President of the United States|President of the United States]]
| district_2 =
| in_office_2 =March 4, 1829 - March 4, 1837
| date_of_birth =[[March 15]], [[1767]]
| place_of_birth =[[Wikipedia:Waxhaws|Waxhaws]] area
| date_of_death =[[June 8]], [[1845]]
| place_of_death =[[Wikipedia:Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville, Tennessee]]
| occupation =Soldier & poltician
| religion =[[:Category:Presbyterians|Presbyterian]]
| spouse =[[Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson]]
| parents =[[Wikipedia:Andrew Jackson, Sr.|Andrew]] and [[Wikipedia:Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson|Elizabeth Jackson]]
| children =Andrew Jackson Jr. (adopted)<br/>Lyncoya Jackson (adopted)<br/>Guardian of eight other children
| signature =AndrewJacksonSignature.png
| signaturesize =280px
}}
'''Andrew Jackson''' ([[1767]]-[[1845]]) was an American military hero who twice captured Pensacola, then capital of [[Third Spanish period|Spanish West Florida]], during military campaigns — first in the [[1814]] [[Battle of Pensacola]] (part of the [[War of 1812]]) and [[Capture of Pensacola, 1818|again]] in [[1818]] (part of the [[Seminole Wars]]), after which he established an [[American provisional government]] in the city. He returned to Pensacola in [[1821]] to oversee the [[Transfer of Spanish West Florida to the United States|transfer of Florida to the United States]] and serve as the new territory's first governor.

Jackson's military accomplishments made him a popular figure, and he was elected in [[1828]] as the seventh [[Wikipedia:President of the United States|President of the United States]] and served two terms in office, from [[1829]] to [[1837]].

==Early life & career==
Andrew Jackson was born to Presbyterian Scots-Irish immigrants [[Wikipedia:Andrew Jackson, Sr.|Andrew]] and [[Wikipedia:Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson|Elizabeth Jackson]] on [[March 15]], [[1767]], approximately two years after they had emigrated from Northern Ireland.<ref name="birthplace">{{cite web |title=Andrew Jackson |work=Information Services Branch, State Library of North Carolina |url=http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/bio/public/jackson.htm}}</ref> The youngest of the Jacksons' three sons, Andrew was born in the [[Wikipedia:Waxhaws]] area (near the border between North and South Carolina) three weeks after his father's death. He received a sporadic education in the local "old-field" school.

[[Image:Andrew-Jackson-disobeys-British-officer-1780.png|thumb|left|Jackson refusing to clean a British officer's boots (1876 lithograph)]]
During the [[American Revolution]], Andrew and his brother Robert Jackson were captured by the British and held as prisoners of war; they nearly starved to death in captivity. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the irate redcoat slashed at him with a sword, giving him scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British.<ref name="Tread">{{cite book|last=Crocker III|first=H. W.|title=Don't Tread on Me|publisher=Crown Forum|year=2006|location=New York|pages=105|isbn=9781400053636}}</ref> While imprisoned, the brothers contracted [[Wikipedia:smallpox|smallpox]]. Robert died a few days after their mother secured their release. Jackson's entire immediate family died from war-related hardships which Jackson blamed on the British, and he was orphaned by age 14.

From 1781, Jackson worked for a time in a saddle-maker's shop<ref name=Paletta>{{cite book |last=Paletta|first=Lu Ann |coauthors=Worth, Fred L |title=The World Almanac of Presidential Facts |publisher=World Almanac Books |year=1988 |isbn=0345348885}}</ref> then taught school and studied law in [[Wikipedia:Salisbury, North Carolina|Salisbury]]. In 1787, he was admitted to the bar, and moved to [[Wikipedia:Jonesboro, Tennessee|Jonesboro]], in what was then the Western District of North Carolina and later became Tennessee.

Though his legal education was scanty, Jackson knew enough to practice law on the frontier. Most of the actions grew out of disputed land-claims, or from assaults and battery. In 1788, he was appointed Solicitor of the Western District and held the same position in the territorial government of Tennessee after 1791.

In 1796, Jackson was a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention. When Tennessee achieved statehood that same year, Jackson was elected its congressman. In 1797 he was elected U.S. Senator as a [[Wikipedia:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)|Democratic-Republican]]. He resigned within a year. In 1798, he was appointed a judge of the [[Wikipedia:Tennessee Supreme Court|Tennessee Supreme Court]], serving until 1804.<ref>{{citation |title=JACKSON, Andrew, (1767{{ndash}} 1845), |publisher=[[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]]}}</ref>

Besides his legal and political career, Jackson prospered as a planter and merchant. In 1803 he owned a lot, and built a home and the first general store in [[Wikipedia:Gallatin, Tennessee|Gallatin]]. In 1804, he acquired [[Wikipedia:The Hermitage (Tennessee)|the "Hermitage]]", a 640-acre plantation in Sumner County, near Nashville. Jackson later added 360 acres to the farm. The primary crop was cotton, grown by enslaved workers. Jackson started with nine slaves, by 1820 he held as many as 44, and later held up to 150 slaves.<ref>Remini (2000), p.51 cites 1820 census; mentions later figures up to 150 without noting a source.</ref>

==Military campaigns==
===War of 1812 & Creek War===
Jackson was appointed commander of the Tennessee militia in 1801, with the rank of colonel. During the [[War of 1812]], [[Wikipedia:Tecumseh|Tecumseh]] incited the "[[Red Stick]]" [[Creek]] Indians of northern Alabama and Georgia to attack white settlements. Four hundred settlers were killed in the [[Fort Mims Massacre]] on [[August 30]], [[1813]]. In the resulting [[Creek War]], Jackson commanded the American forces, which included Tennessee militia, U.S. regulars, and Cherokee, Choctaw, and Southern Creek Indians.

Jackson defeated the Red Stick Creeks at the [[Wikipedia:Battle of Horseshoe Bend|Battle of Horseshoe Bend]] on [[March 27]], [[1814]]. Eight hundred "Red Sticks" were killed, but Jackson spared chief [[William Weatherford]]. After the victory, Jackson imposed the [[Wikipedia:Treaty of Fort Jackson|Treaty of Fort Jackson]] upon both the Northern Creek enemies and the Southern Creek allies, wresting twenty million acres from all Creeks for white settlement. Jackson was appointed Major General after this action.

[[Image:JacksonPensacola1814.jpg|thumb|right|Jackson at the [[Battle of Pensacola]], [[November 7]], [[1814]]]]
Knowing that British forces were using [[Third Spanish period|Spanish West Florida]] as a staging ground for their attacks, Jackson established a force at [[Mobile]] in August 1814 in preparation to march on Pensacola. They arrived at the city on [[November 6]] and initiated communication with the Spanish governor, [[Mateo Gonzáles Manrique]]. The first messenger Jackson sent, Major [[Heri Peire]], was fired upon by the garrison at [[Fort San Miguel]] despite Peire's white flag of truce. Next Jackson sent a Spanish prisoner to the fort bearing the same demand to surrender, insisting he was not making war on Spain, but Manrique refused. As Jackson's forces [[Battle of Pensacola|advanced upon the city]] the [[November 7|next morning]], Manrique surrendered within minutes — though the commanders stalled for several hours in vain hope of British reinforcement. Before Jackson could move on the remaining British forces at [[Fort San Carlos de Barrancas]], they organized a hasty retreat on [[November 8]], blowing up the harbor defenses as they evacuated.

Jackson's actions at Pensacola were precarious for American diplomacy, and Secretary of State [[Wikipedia:James Monroe|James Monroe]] wrote with instructions to "withdraw your troops from the Spanish Territory, declaring that you had entered it for the sole purpose of freeing it from the British violation."<ref>David Stephen Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. ''Old Hickory's War: Andrew Jackson and the Quest for Empire''. LSU Press, 2003.</ref> Even before receiving this correspondence, Jackson had returned the city to Manrique's control on [[November 9]], saying that the "enemy having disappeared and the hostile creeks fled to the Forest, I retire from your Town, and leave you again at liberty to occupy your Fort."<ref>Robert V. Remini. ''The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory''. Penguin, 2001.</ref>

Jackson returned to Mobile on [[November 19]], and thence to [[Wikipedia:New Orleans|New Orleans]]. In the [[Wikipedia:Battle of New Orleans|Battle of New Orleans]] on [[January 8]], [[1815]], Jackson's 5,000 soldiers won a victory over 7,500 British. At the end of the day, 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.<ref>Remini, Robert V. (1999). The battle of New Orleans, New York: Penguin Books. p. 285</ref> The war, and especially this victory, made Jackson a national hero.

===Seminole Wars===
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==Transfer of Florida==
{{main|Transfer of Spanish West Florida to the United States}}
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==Governorship==
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==Presidency==
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==Later life==
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==References==
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