Andrew Jackson Research

The People’s President
      What Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States of America, did during his term in office is one of the most significant accomplishments in the history of American government. Most historians do not consider his policies and decisions as president outstanding but he changed how the American government is run and enhanced the image of the American dream. Because of his frontiersman background, work ethic, and belief in universal rights Jackson was able to reform the American government system to help every citizen instead of just the rich and educated. Jackson was not a very admirable man but he devoted his life to fight for all Americans and make sure everybody had a place in government. Andy Dixon explained it best when he said, “Jackson made farmers feel like diplomats and diplomats mad to feel like farmers”
Unlike the previous six presidents, Andrew Jackson was born in a humble backwoods settlement. Jackson was born in the Waxsaws, an area close to the border of North Carolina and South Carolina, in 1767 (Whitehouse 1). He was the first president to be born in a log cabin. Jackson grew up in a bad region compared to the norm in America at that time. He was raised on a farm by his mother (his father died only two weeks before his birth) and four older siblings. In this small town is where Jackson’s natural intelligence first was discovered. After only two years of schooling, at age eleven, at a low end frontier school, where it is well known that Jackson spent more time fighting and gambling on horse races, he became one of two people in his area to read and write. The other person with that ability was the teacher who taught him. The rest of the town often relied on Jackson to read the newspaper to them (eNCyclopedia 1). It is because of these humble beginnings that when Jackson finally was elected president all the other Americans in his situation immediately embraced him. However at age thirteen he decided to stop...