History is usually written in stone, but for the seventh President of the United States, it’s written in a swampy, contested borderland.
If you drive down to the Waxhaws region today—a stretch of land straddling the Carolinas—you’ll find two different historical markers. Both claim to be the spot. Both look official. One is in North Carolina; the other is in South Carolina.
When Was Andrew Jackson Born?
Let's get the easy part out of the way first. Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767. The timing was honestly tragic. His father, also named Andrew, had died just three weeks earlier in a logging accident. His mother, Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, was left alone with two small boys and a third on the way. She was an Irish immigrant who had only been in the colonies for a couple of years, trying to carve a life out of the wilderness.
Basically, Jackson entered a world that was already stacked against him. He was born into the "Age of Enlightenment," but his reality was one of dirt floors and frontier survival.
Where Was Andrew Jackson Born? The Great Carolina Tug-of-War
Now, this is where things get messy. If you ask a local from Union County, North Carolina, they’ll tell you he was born at his uncle George McKemey’s cabin. If you walk a few miles south into Lancaster County, South Carolina, they’ll swear he was born at his other uncle’s place—the James Crawford plantation.
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So, who's right? Honestly, both states have been fighting over this like a couple of siblings for over 150 years.
The Case for South Carolina
Jackson himself was pretty vocal about this. In an 1824 letter to James H. Witherspoon, he wrote, "I was born in So. Carolina, as I have been told at the plantation whereon James Crawford lived."
He even approved a map during his presidency that clearly placed his birthplace in South Carolina. For a guy who was famous for dueling anyone who called him a liar, people tended to take his word for it.
The North Carolina Rebuttal
North Carolina historians aren't buying it. They point to a strong oral tradition from neighbors and relatives who were actually there. A woman named Sarah Lathen, whose mother was a midwife at the birth, claimed the labor happened at the McKemey cabin in North Carolina.
According to this version, Elizabeth Jackson was traveling back from her husband's funeral when she went into labor. She allegedly stopped at the closest house—the McKemey cabin—which happened to be on the North Carolina side of the line.
Why the Confusion?
Back in 1767, the border between the two Carolinas wasn't exactly a high-tech laser line. It was a vague idea in a thick forest. The "Waxhaws" was a community, not a government district with clear-cut GPS coordinates.
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The state line wasn't even officially surveyed in that area until years later. By the time anyone cared enough to check where the cabin stood, the cabin was long gone and the borders had shifted.
Some cynical historians think Jackson only claimed South Carolina for political reasons. During the Nullification Crisis, he needed to show he had "South Carolina blood" to help keep the state from seceding. It’s kinda the ultimate "relatable candidate" move, right?
The Hard Reality of the Waxhaws
Whether he was born 100 yards North or South of a line doesn't change the fact that his childhood was brutal. By 14, he was an orphan. His brothers and mother died during the Revolutionary War—mostly from disease caught while nursing prisoners or serving in the militia.
He famously carried a scar on his head for the rest of his life from a British officer's sword. Why? Because the teenage Jackson refused to clean the officer's boots.
That fiery, stubborn streak defines him. It's the same energy he brought to the White House. He was the first president born in a log cabin, the first from the "West" (which was Tennessee at the time), and the first to truly act like he didn't care what the elites in D.C. thought of him.
Fast Facts to Keep Straight:
- Date: March 15, 1767.
- Region: The Waxhaws (named after the Waxhaw Indians who lived there first).
- Parents: Andrew and Elizabeth Jackson (Scots-Irish immigrants).
- The Dispute: North Carolina (McKemey cabin) vs. South Carolina (Crawford plantation).
Actionable Insights for History Buffs
If you're planning to visit the area to see for yourself, you don't have to pick a side. You can visit both.
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- Visit Andrew Jackson State Park (South Carolina): This is the "official" tourist spot. It has a great museum, a cool statue of "Old Hickory" as a young boy, and it’s where most of the commemorative events happen.
- Find the North Carolina Marker: It’s a bit more "off the beaten path" in Union County. Look for the historical marker on Highway 75 near the state line. It’s less flashy, but for the "North Carolina side," it’s the holy grail.
- Check Primary Sources: If you want to dive into the letters yourself, the Library of Congress has digital archives of Jackson’s papers. Reading his own handwriting about his birth is a trip.
The debate over where Andrew Jackson was born probably won't ever be "solved." There are no birth certificates from 1767 backwoods cabins. But in a way, being born on a disputed border is the most "Andrew Jackson" thing possible. He lived his whole life on the edge of a fight.
To truly understand the man, you have to look at the Waxhaws. It was a place of immigrants, hard labor, and zero room for weakness. Whether he was a North Carolinian or a South Carolinian, he was a product of the American frontier through and through.