Most historians view Jackson's "Indian Removal" policies as a shameful episode in America's past, but in its time the policy was welcomed by many.
Hardscrabble Beginnings
Andrew Jackson's parents were among the thousands of Irish immigrants arriving in the United States in the early 1700s. The Jacksons built a small cabin and settled in a valleyin the Appalachian Mountains of South Carolina, about 160 miles northwest of Charleston. The couple was expecting their third son when Andrew Jackson senior died (of unknown causes); that son, named Andrew Jackson after his father, was born on March 15, 1767. Unable to care for the family on her own, Jackson's mother moved in with her sister and her large family, who lived nearby.
Jackson's mother, Elizabeth Hutchinson, was a pious woman who wanted her son to become a Presbyterian minister. But from an early age, Jackson had other ideas. Though his mother sent him to decent schools, Jackson proved better at fighting than he did at school. He gathered only a basic knowledge of history, geography, and literature, and never learned to spell correctly or write a proper sentence. But he excelled at footraces, jumping matches, and wrestling, and became known as a fierce competitor.
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