Jackson was a member of the convention which drafted the first constitution of Ten nessee, and in 1796 was chosen representative in Congress from this State. The next summer, 1797, he was chosen senator to fill a vacancy, but resigned in 1798 to become a judge of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, a position which he held until 1804. While in Congress he did not distinguish himself particularly, but showed even so early his opposition to the United States Bank and .to federalistoctniffre" work as a judge Court, since few decisions were recorded, and not one of them was Jackson's. It is generally [ agreed that his knowledge of the law was extremely meagre and that he decided cases on the principles of common sense,. modified, how-, ever, by his own personal feelings and preju dices.
From 1804 to 1811 he was engaged as a planter, trader and merchant. He ran a general country store in partnership with others. , As a trader he was successful, but as a retail mer chant he was nearly a failure, and was glad to sell out at almost a total loss. This was the , period of one of his famous duels, that with i Charles Dickinson, and of numerous quarrels. Though without previous military experience to speak of, he was elected major-general of militia for the western district of Tennessee in 1802. When war was declared against Eng land in 1812, Jackson offered his services with 2,500 volunteers, and in the autumn was ordered to proceed to New Orleans. In March 1813 he was at Natchez, Miss., when orders came from the Secretary of War to dismiss his troops. He refused and marched them back home 500 miles on his own responsibility and partly at his own expense, though later he was reimbursed by the government. In the fall of 1813 and spring of 1814 he was engaged in an expedition against the Creek Intflans, who had massacred the refugees at Fort Minis, Ala., 30 Aug. 1813. He finally over whelmed them at Tohopeka or Horseshoe Bend, Ala., 27 March 1814. This Indian war was ?outside the Federal operations and was carried on by the States of Tennessee, Georgia, Louisi ana and Mississippi, but it had an important bearing on the whole campaign. For with the destruction of the Indian power in this region there could be a concentration of military power at any point where it was needed in the South west, and this really_ made possible the victory _. _ ..
at New DiTeiiii.
31 May 1814, Jackson was appointed major-general in the Regular Army and given command of the Department of the South. His headquarters were established at Mobile, then in dispute between Spain and the United States.
On 6 November, without waiting for orders ,-.. from Washington, he attacked the English, who s , had occupied Pensacola, apparently without ob jections from Spain, and drove them out of Florida. This left him free for the defense of New Orleans, where he arrived 2 Dec. 1814. He declared martial law, impressed soldiers and sailors, and inspired his army of about 6,000 men with his own courage and deter mination to resist attack at any cost. The Eng lish had about 12,000 veteran troops under .eral Pakenham. In the main attack 8 Jan. till) he defeated the British, who lost over , St I in killed, wounded and captured, while Jackson lost the astonishingly small number of only seven killed and six wounded. This vic tory, won when there was great discouragement over the progress of the war, made him a national military hero, and paved the way for his political career. Although the battle oc curred after peace had been concluded, this did not affect Jackson's popularity. He became especially popular in the West, for this felt that he had ended for all time the danger of the control of the Mississippi Valley by a foreign power.
Florida next demanded Jackson's attention. There was great disorder in this Spanish terri tory because the coasts were a haunt for pri vateers and filibusters. It was believed that the Indians got aid and encouragement from the Spanish and that British agents were stirring them up to wage a frontier war on the United States. Massacres of whites occurred and Spain took no vigorous measures to preserve order. In December 1817 Jackson was ordered to the Florida frontier to prepare for a possible invasion of the territory. Without waiting for direct orders, but understanding from the letter of a friend in Congress that President Monroe had approved his plan for the conquest of Florida, Jackson, who had raised troops in Ten nessee and neighboring States, advanced through Georgia. He captured Saint Marks, Florida, in March 1818, and within three months had overthrown the Seminole Indians, arrested two British subjects, Arbuthnot and Ainbrister, had them tried by court martial for inciting the Indians to war and for spying, and, on insufficient evidence, had them executed. This raised delicate diplomatic questions and led to a proposal by Calhoun, then Secretary of War, that Jackson should be censured for his con duct. When Jackson found this out, during his first term as President, he vowed vengeance on Calhoun, and this incident was one of the causes of the break between the two men and the ousting of Calhoun's friends from the Cab inet.