Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was born on March 15, 1767, just south of the border between North and South Carolina. His birth marked the beginning of an extraordinarily eventful life. As a teenager, he was taken prisoner during the Revolutionary War, an experience that left him with a lifelong animosity toward the British. He studied law, and during the 1780s and 1790s he held various judicial and legislative posts, including congressman, senator (a post he held again in the 1820s), and justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. In the early decades of the nineteenth century he embarked on a military career, gaining a reputation for heroism during the War of 1812, particularly at the Battle of New Orleans. He also served as military governor of Florida after leading a controversial expedition against the Seminole Indians. Meanwhile, he was the owner of a plantation worked by slaves. The injuries he received in battle and in at least thirteen duels rendered him one of the nation’s sickliest presidents. Nevertheless, his frontier toughness earned him the nickname “Old Hickory.”