Andrew Jackson of his subordinates friends and enemies alike In the White House Jackson over came a domestic crisis with South Carolina over the nullification of federal laws drove Native American tribes farther west vetoed the federal bank charter to eliminate banking corruption and influenced the growth of the Democratic party that stimulated the revival of two-party politics Childhood and Youth Andrew Jackson was born on March 15 1767 in Waxhaw a settlement bordering North and South Carolina His parents were Andrew Jackson for whom he was named and Elizabeth Jackson The couple lived on a farm in the north of Ireland now Northern Ireland near Belfast Their first two sons Hugh and Robert were born in Ireland The family immigrated to North America in 1765 where the elder Jackson built a home in the forested region of the western Carolinas The hard pioneer life exhausted him and he died a few weeks before Andrew’s birth leaving Elizabeth to raise their three sons on her own 12
Early Life Drawing of the purported birthplace of Andrew Jackson in North Carolina Hulton Archive Getty Images 13
Andrew Jackson The Question of Jackson’s Birthplace The exact location of Andrew Jackson’s birthplace has been debated Some historians believe he was born at the home of Elizabeth Jackson’s sister Mrs George McKemy in the southern part of North Carolina Others say he was born a few miles farther south across the state border at the home of another of Elizabeth’s sisters Mrs James Crawford in South Carolina In 1824 Andrew Jackson wrote I was born in South Carolina as I have been told at the plantation whereon James Crawford lived about one mile from the Carolina Road and of the Waxhaw Creek Elizabeth and her three sons made their home with the Crawfords and she worked as housekeeper for her sister to support the boys Life in rural Waxhaw was diffi cult for the fatherless Andrew He developed into a quick-tempered youth sensitive to teas ing and willing to pick a fi ght with any of his peers who pestered him He always defended the smaller boys and taught them how to shoot rifl es fi sh race and wrestle Elizabeth who wanted her youngest son to become a Presbyterian minister provided him with what little schooling existed around their 14
Early Life The fighting during rural frontier home Starting at age 8 Andrew attended school and learned the basic funda mentals but he showed little interest in his studies and had no desire to enter the clergy the American Revolution shifted to the South and inter rupted Jackson’s early education He was only 13 years old when the war swept into the Waxhaw region In May 1780 British raiders won a savage victory over the Waxhaw mili tia Andrew and his brother Robert helped their mother tend the wounded in the nearby church Their elder brother Hugh a volun teer in a colonial light-horse company had died after fighting in a battle a few months earlier Shortly after the Waxhaw slaughter Andrew and Robert picked up their muskets and joined the colonial militia at the Battle of Hanging Rock S C in August 1780 The two brothers worked in the Waxhaw militia primarily as mounted orderlies and messengers The next year Andrew and Robert fought in several backwoods skir mishes against the British In the spring of 1781 British soldiers captured the boys but failed to break their spirit When a British officer pointed to his muddied jackboots and commanded Andrew to clean them the boy 15
