Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson, a 2018 Grateful American Book Prize Honorable Mention, tells the story of one of our most controversial presidents. Born in the Carolina backwoods, Jackson joined the American Revolutionary War at the age of thirteen. After a reckless youth filled with gunfights, gambling, and general mischief, he rose to national fame as the general who defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans.

Jackson ran for president as a political outsider, championing the interests of common farmers and frontiersmen. Determined to take down the wealthy, well-educated East Coast "elites," he pledged to destroy the national bank—believing it was an engine of corruption serving the interests of bankers and industrialists. A staunch nationalist, Jackson sought to secure and expand the nation's borders.

Believing that "we the people" included white men only, he protected the practice of slavery and opened new lands for white settlers by pushing Native people westward. Jackson, a polarising figure in his era, ignited a populist movement that remains a powerful force in our national politics.

About the Series: The Making of America series traces the constitutional history of the United States through overlapping biographies of American men and women. The debates that raged when our nation was founded have been argued ever since: How should the Constitution be interpreted? What is the meaning, and what are the limits of personal liberty? What is the proper role of the federal government? Who should be included in "we the people"?

Each biography in the series tells the story of an American leader who helped shape the United States of today.