Andrew Jackson's Formal Education

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Due to the type of environment that Jackson was in, he was often quoted as not being educated and as being an ignorant individual, but he did gain some experiences that taught him more than a formal education could. At the age of thirteen, Andrew Jackson was confronted with a terrible tragedy: his brother Hugh, who fought with the rebel militia, was killed by British allied forces. This prompted Andrew to join the rebels despite any danger to himself. Although he was not allowed to fight directly with the British for a time, he was allowed to “serve as a scout and courier” (Brands 20). Jackson and his brother Robert did eventually end up fighting the British forces, and Brands retells a momentous account where Jackson refuses to submit to …show more content…

The following year, Jackson moved to Nashville, Tennessee. When Jackson moved to Nashville, he lodged with a woman named Rachel Donelson. Rachel was recently separated from her husband Lewis Robards, so she moved to Nashville. After Jackson moved in, since he needed a place to stay, Lewis wanted to get back together with his wife, and seeing that Jackson lived there, developed suspicions. Eventually, Robards left his wife permanently on account of his continued insults towards Jackson and Rachel. Afterwards, Andrew Jackson and Rachel Donelson got married, even though the marriage was not completely legal considering the fact that Rachel’s divorce was not finalized due to Robards’ opposition. Their legal marriage took place in 1794. In the meantime, Jackson became a wealthy landowner and took part in the creation of the constitution of Tennessee in 1796. The same year, Jackson was elected to be the first state representative of Tennessee in the House of Representatives. After becoming a senator for a short while, Jackson served as a state court judge for six years until 1804. In 1804 Jackson also acquired a plantation called “the Hermitage,” and the number of slaves expanded exponentially on the plantation since Jackson assumed ownership. This may hint toward his views on slavery since he “didn’t second-guess the Creator regarding those existential evils…who, on Jackson’s reading of the Bible, allowed bound labor-regarding slavery” (Brands 72). This showed that Jackson was largely influenced by religion, and he did not oppose slavery, which showed his stance on issues regarding race. In fact, this was also reinforced by Jackson’s “acquiring” of slaves. Back to Jackson’s political and military career, Jackson was given the position as the main leader of the Tennessee militia. Perhaps his biggest and most influential role as a military figure started with

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