Andrew Jackson's Life

Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767 in a log cabin in the Waxhaw settlement of South Carolina, a few days after his father's death. He lived with his mother and two older brothers. He attended school enough to learn how to read. Jackson left home to fight in the Revolutionary War when he was 13; he was taken prisoner by a British officer. Shortly after he was released, his mother died. He practiced law in Salisbury, North Carolina and passed the bar exam. He traveled west with a group of pioneers and ended up in Tennessee where he married Rachel Donelson Robards in 1794; the first President to marry a divorced woman. They adopted a son in 1808. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1796 and served one year in the Senate as the first representative from Tennessee. He had to return home when his farm failed. In 1802 he was was elected major general of the Tennessee militia.  In 1814 he defeated the Creek Indians during the War of 1812; he was promoted to major general of the United States Army.  In 1815 he successfully fought off the British attack on New Orleans protecting the Louisiana Territory. Andrew Jackson was elected Governor of the new territory of Florida in 1821. He served two years and returned to his home in Tennessee where he was elected to the Senate. Jackson ran for President in 1824 but lost to John Quincy Adams. In 1829 he was elected President of the United States and served two terms. He returned to his home in Nashville where he lived until he died on June 8, 1845. Note: Andrew Jackson was President from 1829 through 1837 and the Vice Presidents were John Caldwell Calhoun and Martin Van Buren.

John Quincy Adams' Life

John Quincy Adams was born on July 11, 1767 in Quincy, Massachusetts. He attended a village school until the headmaster went off to war. He was the son of President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Adams. His father signed the Declaration of Independence when John Quincy was eight. His parents were determined to see him elected President.  He was tutored by his mother, attended schools in Paris, and attended the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. John Quincy Adams began a diary that he wrote in for over sixty years. He returned from the Netherlands in 1785 to attend Harvard University. He graduated in 1787 and started to practice law. At age 28 he was appointed minister to the Netherlands by George Washington. John Quincy Adams married Louisa Johnson and they had three sons. He served as the minister to Prussia in 1797 through 1801, the time his father was President of the United States. He often traveled with his father. Adams was elected to the United States Senate in 1803 where he served until 1808. In 1809 President James Madison appointed Adams the first American minister to Russia. In 1812 war broke out between the United States and Great Britain. Adams served on the delegation that brought about the Peace Treaty of Ghent in 1814. He later became minister to Great Britain until 1817 when President James Monroe appointed Adams Secretary of State.  He negotiated the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819 with Spain, which gave the United States access to the Pacific Ocean. Adams ran for President in 1825 and won; he served one term. Adams was frustrated by the politics of the presidency, because he believed he was the people's representative. He ran for Congress in 1831 where he was an active legislator. He died two days after he collapsed on the floor of the House of Representatives on February 23, 1848. Note; John Quincy Adams was President from 1825 through 1829 and the Vice President was John Caldwell Calhoun.

James Monroe's Life

James Monroe was born on April 28, 1758 in Westmoreland County, Virginia.  He left home to attend William and Mary College when he was 16. He joined the Third Virginia Regiment two years later to fight in the American Revolution. In 1782 he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1783 he became a member of the Congress of the Confederation and served until 1786. James Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright. In 1790 he was elected Us senator and served for four years, until he was appointed minister to France by George Washington. He retired from that position and two years later he was elected Governor of Virginia. In 1803 Monroe went on a diplomatic mission to France to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase.  President Jefferson appointed Monroe minister to Great Britain and a year later minister to Spain. In 1810 he was elected to the Virginia Legislature. He served one year and left when he was elected Governor again in 1811. The same year he was appointed Secretary of State and also served under James Madison as the Secretary of War between 1814-1815. In 1817 Monroe was elected President of the United States. During his administration he bought Florida from Spain and established the Canadian border. He authored the Monroe doctrine that warned nations in Europe not to take over or set up colonies in North America and South America. His presidency was known as the Era of Good Feeling; a period of national optimism, expansion and growth. He left office in 1825 after serving two terms. He moved to Loudon County, Virginia with his wife. After she died in 1830 Monroe moved to New York City with his daughter until he died a year later on July 4, 1831, the fifty-fifth approval of the Declaration. His death followed those of John Adam's and Thomas Jefferson by exactly five years. He was the last President to die on the fourth of July. Note: James Monroe was President from 1817 through 1825 and the Vice President was Daniel Tompkins.

James Madison's Life

James Madison was born on March 15, 1751 in Port Conway, Virginia. He grew on a family-owned tobacco farm called Montpelier, where his mother and grandmother taught him how to read and write.  When he turned 11 he went off to a boarding school in King and Queen County, Virginia. He loved to read. He attended Princeton University and graduated.  In 1776, when he was 25,  he was elected to the Virginia Revolutionary Convention. He served in the Virginia legislature for one year before he lost in the re-election bid. He was appointed a member of the Governor's Council, which managed the Revolutionary War efforts. In 1784 he was elected to the Virginia legislature. He married Dolley Payne Todd; they did not have any children. Madison attended the Annapolis Convention as a delegate and then the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, in 1787. His understanding of government made him the leader in creating the Constitution;  he advocated a republican form of government in which  the people are sovereign but rule through elected representatives. In 1789 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives at the end of his term in 1801, he was appointed Secretary of State by Thomas Jefferson. In 1809 he was elected President of the United States. At this time British and French were at war.  After Britain attacked American ships, Madison reluctantly led our nation into war against Britain.  During the War of 1812 the White House was burned by the British. Madison left Washington D.C. in 1817 after serving two terms as President. He lived on his farm developing new methods of agriculture until he died on June 28, 1836. Note: James Madison was President from 1809 through 1817 and the Vice Presidents were George Clinton and Elbridge Gerry.

Thomas Jefferson's Life

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia. He was born into a wealthy family and tutored at home. When he was 17 he attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia; he learned to speak French, Italian, and Spanish. Jefferson studied law for five years; he was admitted to the bar when he was 24 and practiced law until the American Revolution closed the courts. On January 1, 1772 Thomas Jefferson married Martha Wayles Skelton. Together they had six children, but four died in infancy and two daughters lived to adulthood. In 1776, when he was 33, he was chosen to write the Declaration of Independence. The same year he became a member of the United State House of Delegates. He introduced  the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in 1779 and it which passed seven years later. Jefferson served two terms as Governor of Virginia. In 1782 his wife died; he never remarried.  He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1783 where he presented the concept of the dollar and decimal system of money.  In 1785 George Washington appointed Jefferson, Ben Franklin's successor as minister to France; he lived there for five years. Jefferson left France at the start of the French Revolution in 1789. Jefferson ran against Adams to the presidency and lost by three electoral votes. He became the Vice President. In 1800 he ran against Adams again and won the office of President; he served two terms. As President he bought the Louisiana Territory for $15,000,000 doubling the size of the United States. In 1819 he chartered the University of Virginia. He died at his home, Monticello, on July 4, 1826, the same day as the death of President John Adams, the fiftieth approval of the Declaration of Independence. Note: Thomas Jefferson was President from 1801 through 1809 and the Vice Presidents were Aaron Burr and George Clinton.

John Adams' Life

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 in Quincy, Massachusetts. He attended school at a local academy. When he was 16 he attended Harvard University and graduated in 1755. Adams began practicing law three years later. He married Abigail Smith in 1764. Together they had four children. In 1765 Adams wrote letters in the Boston Gazette protesting the Stamp Act imposed by the British Government that would tax public newspapers, playing cards, documents, licenses, and insurance policies. Adams was elected to the Congress in 1774 and served in that capacity until 1777. He established his reputation as a champion of individual rights. He was one of the first to favor independence from Great Britain and in 1775 he recommended George Washington to be commander-in-chief of the new Continental Army. He was appointed minister to the Netherlands in 1780. he successfully arranged loan and trade agreements between France, the Netherlands, and America. Adams traveled to Paris, France in 1782  to negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain, ending the Revolutionary War. He served as minister to Great Britain in 1785 until 1788 when he was elected Vice President.  Adams served as Vice President for two terms until he was elected President of the United States in 1797 at the age of 61. John and Abigail Adams were the first ones to occupy the White House. It was undecorated and littered with building debris. Adams served as President for only one term. He lost the re-election bid to Thomas Jefferson. He returned to Quincy, Massachusetts where he enjoyed reading and writing essays. He died there on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth approval of the Declaration of Independence. Note: John Adams was President from 1797 through 1801 and the Vice President was Thomas Jefferson.

George Washington's Life

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His father was a prosperous farmer and his grandparents emigrated from England to Virginia in the 1650s.  Washington did not have formal schooling and started his first job as a surveyor when he was 16 in 1748. He inherited Mount Vernon at age 21 when his Uncle Lawrence died. At the same time Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia sent Washington on a mission to keep the French out o the Ohio Valley. In 1755 he became commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces and led them to victory in the French and Indian War. George Washington married Martha Custis, a young and wealthy widow. They did not have any children, but they had two stepchildren from Washington's wife's first marriage. In 1774 he served as a delegate to the first Continental Congress. He was unanimously elected commander-in-chief of the American forces. He helped write the peace treaty ending the American Revolution that was signed in 1783. George Washington was named president of the Federal Convention in 1783 and in 1789 he was unanimously elected President at age 57. As the first president, he had to decide how to carry out the duties of the executive branch of government. Washington felt this position should be devoid of politics and represent all of the Americans. The first Cabinet was made up of Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State; Edmund Randolf, Attorney General; Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, and Henry Knox, Secretary of War. Washington stayed in office for two terms and declined to serve a third term. He died at his home of a strep infection at his home, Mount Vernon, on December 14, 1799, the end of the eighteenth century. Note: George Washington was President from 1789 through 1797 and the Vice President was John Adams.