Elizabeth

1. Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He served from 1829-
1837. But what did he do before he was president? And how did he get to be president?
Andrew Jackson was born around Waxhaw, South Carolina close to border of North
Carolina. Both states claim that he was born in their state. He was born very poor and had to
work very hard as a child. His father died the year he was born and his mother died when he was
14. After that he was raised by two of his uncles. He grew up with the Revolutionary War in the
background.
When Andrew Jackson was 13, he fought in the battle of Hanging Rock against the
British. During this battle, he was captured and held prisoner of war. One of the soldiers asked
Jackson to clean his shoe. When Jackson refused, the soldier took a swipe at him with his sword
and ending up badly cutting his arm. Both of Andrew Jackson’s brothers died in the war. This
may have been a major reason Jackson grew up to hate the British.
Jackson had a fairly good education when he was younger from private tutors. When he
was 15, he decided to go back to school. After the war, Jackson went to Salisbury, North
Carolina to study under a very wealthy lawyer named Spruce Macay. Jackson first became a
lawyer in 1787, when he was only 20.
Andrew Jackson became a general for the colonies’ militias in 1802. However, he didn’t
actually see battle until the War of 1812. He was our general when we fought at Horse Shoe
Bend against the Indians.

2. Jackson first ran for president in 1824. He won the popular vote, but didn’t have the
majority of electoral votes and he lost to John Quincy Adams. Jackson ran again in 1828.
Andrew Jackson became our president in 1829.