Andrew Jackson Essays (268 words) - Andrew Jackson, Rachel Jackson

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, to a family of immigrants in the Waxhaw settlement on the western frontier of South Carolina. Jackson's parents died when he was 14, and was brought up by an uncle who was a slave owner. He became a lawyer at the age of 20 and as a prosecuting attorney in Nashville, Tennessee. He married Rachel Donelson Robards on January 17,1794, whose father was very trusted and well known. This helped Jackson's career and social standing. Jackson and his wife were unaware, however, at the time of their marriage that her divorce from her first husband was not technically over, and his political enemies referred to the couple as adulterers. After helping to draft the Tennessee constitution in 1796, Jackson was elected the state's first congressman, serving one year in the U.S. House of Representatives and then for a year in the U.S. Senate. In 1798 he was appointed judge of the superior court in Tennessee. In 1802 Jackson was elected major general of the Tennessee militia. He became the seventh president of the United States in 1828, and served two successful terms. Jackson left office in 1837. In 1845, Rachel Jackson was insulted by one of Jackson's political enemies. Jackson, being the ?Man of steel? that he was, challenged the man to a duel. Jackson was shot, yet did not fall, he then raised his pistol, and laid out his opponent. His honor was eon, but his life was lost. He died that day, June 8,1848, in Nashville, Tennessee. American History