Years afterward, when he had risen to be a noted man, people would sometimes praise him because he was never afraid to say and do what he believed to be right; then Jackson would answer, “That I learned from my good old mother.”

214.  Andrew begins to learn a trade; he studies law and goes west; Judge Jackson; General Jackson.—­Andrew set to work to learn the saddler’s trade, but gave it up and began to study law.  After he became a lawyer he went across the mountains to Nashville, Tennessee.  There he was made a judge.  There were plenty of rough men in that part of the country who meant to have their own way in all things; but they soon found that they must respect and obey Judge Jackson.  They could frighten other judges, but it was no use to try to frighten him.  Seeing what sort of stuff Jackson was made of, they thought that they should like to have such a man to lead them in battle.  And so Judge Andrew Jackson became General Andrew Jackson.  When trouble came with the Indians, Jackson proved to be the very man they needed.

215.  Tecumseh and the Indians of Alabama; Tecumseh threatens to stamp his foot on the ground; the earthquake; war begins.—­We have already seen how the Indian chief Tecumseh[10] went south to stir up the red men to make war on the white settlers in the west.  In Alabama he told the Indians that if they fought they would gain a great victory.  I see, said Tecumseh to them, that you don’t believe what I say, and that you don’t mean to fight.  Well, I am now going north to Detroit.  When I get there I shall stamp my foot on the ground, and shake down every wigwam you have.  It so happened that, shortly after Tecumseh had gone north, a sharp shock of earthquake was felt in Alabama, and the wigwams were actually shaken down by it.  When the terrified Indians felt their houses falling to pieces, they ran out of them, shouting, “Tecumseh has got to Detroit!”

These Indians now believed all that Tecumseh had said; they began to attack the white people, and they killed a great number of them.

[Footnote 10:  Tecumseh:  see paragraph 203.]

216.  Jackson conquers the Indians; the “Holy Ground”; Weathersford and Jackson; feeding the starving.—­General Jackson marched against the Indians and beat them in battle.  The Indians that escaped fled to a place they called the “Holy Ground.”, They believed that if a white man dared to set his foot on that ground he would be struck dead as if by a flash of lightning.  General Jackson and his men marched on to the “Holy Ground,” and the Indians found that unless they made peace they would be the ones who would be struck dead by his bullets.

[Illustration:  GENERAL JACKSON AND THE INDIAN CHIEF.]

Not long after this, a noted leader of the Indians, named Weathersford, rode boldly up to Jackson’s tent.  “Kill him! kill him!” cried Jackson’s men; but the general asked Weathersford into his tent.  “You can kill me if you want to,” said he to Jackson, “but I came to tell you that the Indian women and children are starving in the woods, and to ask you to help them, for they never did you any harm.”  General Jackson sent away Weathersford in safety, and ordered that corn should be given to feed the starving women and children.  That act showed that he was as merciful as he was brave.