Andrew Jackson is one of those presidents that I’ve always found amusing and interesting. Partially because he’s a bit rough and tumble, and partially because one of the big things he was famous for happened after the War of 1812 was over. So this makes a great US history lesson to add into your history lesson.
I love this song; it totally cracks me up. The sound quality on this particular version isn’t great, but there is some truth to it. Andrew Jackson fought a superior army with superior armament, and his army was composed of every person he could force or trick into his army, but he won in the end. TWO months after the war was over.
Jackson was also known for his long-time spent feuding with Congress and other members of the government. At one point, he became so frustrated with his official cabinet that he created an unofficial cabinet called the “Kitchen Cabinet.” This very much amused me as an 8th grader learning about this.
A lot of things amuse me.
Information for a more official Andrew Jackson history lesson
Okay, you’ve read my bits and pieces and amusement of Andrew Jackson, now let’s get some official information about him.
First, I have some videos I used when I taught my kids about him for our last time through for history.
This first video is for AP US history.
Next, a humorous video on why he’s the most terrifying president ever, which has a few historical inconsistencies…
And finally, I’ll add in the Crash Course History video on Andrew Jackson. Never mind, I won’t do that because I can’t embed it, for some reason.
And, here are the many links I used for my research to write my lesson:
What our Andrew Jackson history lesson looked like
Well, after talking for a while, there was nothing to do but figure out who we would include in our “kitchen cabinet” if we were ever in the presidency.
And I was SO incredibly sad, NONE of my kids chose me to advise them. They chose their Dad, their Granddad, their Nana, their Mimi, friends, but NOT ME!
One of the other kids said,“The former president, because he knows what I’m going through.” I thought that was insightful.
Poor me, nobody likes me.
Okay, Future Ticia 2025 is going to make this into a bit more of a formal assignment. When we did this back in 2012, they literally just wrote down names. Now, let’s look at what that might look like, broken down by age groups.
- Early elementary- Write a sentence or a list. Writing a list is a good skill to learn
- Upper elementary students write a paragraph with a short explanation of why people are chosen.
- Middle school and high school students can write a short essay given a more detailed essay of why the people were chosen.
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