The Andrew Jackson Papers is one of twenty-three presidential collections in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. The Jackson archival collection contains more than 26,000 items dating from 1767 to 1874. Included are memoranda, journals, speeches, military records, land deeds, and miscellaneous printed matter, as well as correspondence reflecting Jackson’s personal life and career as a politician, military officer, president, slave holder and property owner. The bulk of the materials date from 1785, in the era when Jackson moved to North Carolina to study law, to Jackson's death at the Hermitage in Tennessee in 1845. The original collection was acquired by the Library of Congress through the generous gift of Woodbury Blair, Minna Blair Richey, Gist Blair, and Montgomery Blair in 1903, with additional acquisitions from 1901 to present.

This web presentation is a portal to the materials contained in the Jackson Papers collection only, not to all documents by, about, or related to Jackson in the Manuscript Division. The Manuscript Division holds many additional Jackson and Jackson-related documents located in the collections of other individuals, including Jackson's friends and/or colleagues Willie Blount, Amos Kendall, and Francis P. Blair and the Blair family. Additional Jackson-related resources can be found in other presidential papers collections, including the papers of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk.

About the Collection

The Andrew Jackson Papers collection documents Jackson's life in its several phases, including Jackson's military career in the War of 1812, the Creek War, and Florida; his transactions as a land-holder and Tennessee businessman; his personal and family life, including correspondence with his wife, Rachel Jackson, and other family members and wards associated with the Hermitage; and his controversies with associates and strangers, which sometimes came to confrontation. Prominent is documentation related to his complex two-term presidency, during which the nation debated issues of nullification, tariff rates, banking procedures, Indian policy, public improvements, and the relative power and sovereignty of the individual states in the Union in relation to the federal government. The collection also contains information on military orders and court martial proceedings, diplomatic and Indian treaty negotiations, and the experiences and/or opinions of those Jackson led in battle, collaborated with or opposed in politics, or trusted as cabinet members, allies and friends.

Notable correspondents represented in the Andrew Jackson Papers include Francis Preston Blair, Willie Blount, John C. Calhoun, William C. C. Claiborne, John Coffee, Andrew Jackson Donelson, John Henry Eaton, Andrew Jackson Jr., Rachel Donelson Jackson, Amos Kendall, Henry Lee, James Monroe, Franklin Pierce, James K. Polk, John Randolph, John C. Rives, John Ross, John Sevier, Roger Brooke Taney, and Levi Woodbury.  For a listing of correspondents represented in documents in this collection as acquired by the Library of Congress up to 1967 see the Index to the Andrew Jackson Papers (page view at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/scd0001.20101123002aj.2 ).  For a fuller description of the current collection see the Andrew Jackson Papers online finding aid  http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms009180.

The physical collection of Andrew Jackson Papers is arranged at the Library of Congress into twelve series and oversize. Series 1-9 and 11 were microfilmed in 1967. In addition to images from that microfilm edition, this online presentation of Jackson materials includes Series 12, composed of items acquired since the microfilm edition was prepared. These items were newly scanned for inclusion in this project. You may access the Andrew Jackson Papers from the finding aid, or from the series list, below.

The Series

A summary list of the series in the Andrew Jackson Papers at the Library of Congress is as follows:

• Series 1. General Correspondence and Related Items, 1775-1885.  (119 volumes, Reels 1-60)
  Letters received and drafts of letters sent, arranged chronologically.
• Series 2. Letterbook. 1829-31. (1 volume, Reel 60)
  Copies of letters of President Jackson and his ward and personal secretary Andrew Jackson Donelson, and related items.
• Series 3. Letters and Orders. 1813-22.  (15 volumes, Reels 61-63)
  Letterbooks of orders in general chronological order (labeled "A" through "O") (1812-1816), journals of Indian treaty negotiations (1816, 1818), and documents relating to the transfer of West Florida (1821).
• Series 4. Record Books. 1800-37.(10 volumes, Reel 64)
  Record books with a variety of content, from regimental orders (1800-1801) and court martial records (1814), an account of the Battle of New Orleans (1815), a Creek War order book (1812-13), letters to William J. Duane (1833), Henry Lee's manuscript Life of Jackson, memorandum books (1829-32 and 1831-35) and Jackson's Farewell Address of 1837.
• Series 5. Military Papers. 1781-1832.(13 volumes. Reels 65-70).
  Please note that in this online presentation the bibliographic records for images of the pages in these military papers are prepared per volume. The material is arranged generally chronologically and includes muster rolls, military returns, general and brigade orders, and other records.
• Series 6. Additional Correspondence. 1779-1855 and undated. (8 volumes. Reels 71-74).
  Arranged chronologically including letters and related documents, some photostats.
• Series 7. Miscellaneous Correspondence. 1789-1845 and undated. (3 boxes. Reel 75).
  Included are some 600 fragments acquired by the Library in 1943, which may be identified by researchers as portions of particular or dated documents.
• Series 8. Messages and Speeches, ca. 1829-36. (4 boxes. Reels 76-77).
  Reports and drafts of Jackson's annual messages, miscellaneous speeches, including his Bank of the United States and Maysville Road vetoes.
• Series 9. Miscellaneous Manuscripts. 1795-1856.(1 box. Reel 78)
  Record books, financial and bank records, a list of gifts to Andrew Jackson, Jr., and copies of biographical work on Jackson.
• Series 10. Non-manuscript Material (Reproductions and Transcripts). 1788-1898.(Not filmed. Not available online)
  Contains reproductions and transcripts, including photocopied correspondence and other miscellaneous materials. Items in Series 10 have not been scanned or microfilmed, and are not included in this online edition.
• Series 11. Jackson-Kendall Letters. 1827-45.  (1 box. Reel 78)
  60 letters acquired by the Library in 1964, chronologically arranged.
• Series 12. Addenda. c. 1806-1874. (Not filmed. Available online).
  Materials acquired by the Library for the collection since 1966 that have been archivally processed. Organized in sub-series according to the years in which the materials were processed.
  1979 Addition. (62 items of correspondence. 1806-1856)
  1998 Addition. (4 items. 1815-1874)

Newer Jackson acquisitions accessioned by the Library of Congress as additions to the Andrew Jackson Papers are to date unprocessed. It is anticipated that those materials will be added to the online offerings in future updates after they are archivally processed and scanned. Some Jackson materials in the above series are stored in oversize containers in the physical collection. These oversize items are included in this online edition.

Transcriptions Included on this Website

Some of Jackson’s documents are accompanied here by full or partial transcripts.  These come from the Correspondence of Andrew Jackson edited by John Spencer Bassett, 7 vols. (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution, 1926-1935).  The modern published edition of Jackson’s papers is the multi-volume The Papers of Andrew Jackson ed. Daniel Feller et al (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1980- ). This edition is available online as part of The American Founding Era, a subscription database from the University of Virginia Press, which is accessible onsite at the Library of Congress at eresources.loc.gov/record=e1000688.  There are some discrepancies in date and text between documents in these published editions and the manuscript images.

Acknowledgments

This online presentation of the Andrew Jackson Papers at the Library of Congress was the work of many people, including digital specialists Timothy Stutz, Christopher Copetas, Margaret Mason, and Glenn Gardner and manuscript specialist Barbara Bair. Technical expertise and assistance were provided by Christa Maher, Barak Stussman, Laura Graham, and Mary Lacy.