The Beginner's American HistoryMontgomery, D. H. (David Henry)
History
The Beginner's American History
Montgomery, D. H. (David Henry)
United States -- History
Where was a great battle fought with the Indians in 1811? How did
the Indians feel about the west? Tell the story of the log. What did
Tecumseh determine to do? Tell about the "Prophet." Who was William
Henry Harrison? Tell about the battle of Tippecanoe. Tell about the
sacred beans. What did the Indians say about the "Prophet" after the
battle? What good did the battle of Tippecanoe do? What did Tecumseh
do when he got back? Where did he then go? What happened in 1812?
Why did we fight the British? What did General Harrison do in Canada?
What did the people of the west say? How long did General Harrison
live after he became President?
GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON
(1767-1845).
206. Andrew Jackson and the War of 1812; his birthplace; his school;
wrestling-matches;[1] firing off the gun.--The greatest battle of
our second war with England--the War of 1812--was fought by General
Andrew Jackson.
He was the son of a poor emigrant who came from the North of Ireland
and settled in North Carolina.[2] When Thomas Jefferson wrote the
Declaration of Independence in 1776, Andrew was nine years old, and
his father had long been dead. He was a tall, slender, freckled-faced,
barefooted boy, with eyes full of fun; the neighbors called him
"Mischievous little Andy."
He went to school in a log hut in the pine woods; but he learned more
things from what he saw in the woods than from the books he studied
in school.
He was not a very strong boy, and in wrestling some of his companions
could throw him three times out of four; but though they could get
him down without much trouble, it was quite another thing to keep
him down. No sooner was he laid flat on his back, than he bounded
up like a steel spring, and stood ready to try again.
He had a violent[3] temper, and when, as the boys said, "Andy got
mad all over," not many cared to face him. Once some of his playmates
secretly loaded an old gun almost up to the muzzle, and then dared
him to fire it. They wanted to see what he would say when it kicked
him over. Andrew fired the gun. It knocked him sprawling; he jumped
up with eyes blazing with anger, and shaking his fist, cried out,
"If one of you boys laughs, I'll kill him." He looked as though he
meant exactly what he said, and the boys thought that perhaps it would
be just as well to wait and laugh some other day.
[Illustration: ANDY AND THE GUN.]
[Footnote 1: Wrestling (res'ling).]
[Footnote 2: He settled in Union County, North Carolina, very near
the South Carolina line. See map in paragraph 140. Mecklenburg Court
House is in the next county west of Union County.]
[Footnote 3: Violent: fierce, furious.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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