Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets The War of 1812

Tough Guy - Andrew Jackson and the Battle for the South The War of 1812

---

Tough Guy - Andrew Jackson and the Battle for the South
Print Tough Guy - Andrew Jackson and the Battle for the South Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Tough Guy - Andrew Jackson and the Battle for the South Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	5.58

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		iron-hard, roughhewn, tight-lipped, unyielding, hostility, tradesman, largely, disband, squabble, dealing, clout, alliance, cede, incident, militia, hatred
	content words:		Andrew Jackson, Revolutionary War, Continental Army, Tennessee Supreme Court, Louisiana Purchase, New Orleans, Native American, In Alabama, Red Sticks, Creek Nation

---

Tough Guy - Andrew Jackson and the Battle for the South By Toni Lee Robinson

---

¹     Andrew Jackson had to be tough right from the start. He never knew his father. A few weeks before Andrew was born, his father was killed in an accident. Andrew's mother Elizabeth worked hard to raise him and his two older brothers.
 
²     Andrew Jackson was ten years old as the Revolutionary War began. At thirteen, he worked as a courier in the Continental Army. He was captured by the enemy. As a prisoner, Jackson was ordered to clean a British officer's boots. He refused. Enraged, the officer raised his sword and struck the boy with it. The blade sliced his cheek open and cut his hand to the bone. All his life, Jackson bore the scars from this incident.
 
³     Andrew's brother Robert was also a prisoner of war. While in the hands of the British, both the brothers were struck by smallpox, a deadly disease. Robert died shortly after the two were freed. Andrew's mother caught the disease from her sons and died. His oldest brother had been killed early in the war. At fourteen, Andrew Jackson was alone in the world. His anger toward the British hardened into hatred.
 
⁴     Though he was an orphan, the young Jackson made a life for himself. First, he tried working as a tradesman. Finally, he settled on the study of law. Later, he was elected to Congress for the new state of Tennessee. He moved on to serve as a Tennessee Supreme Court judge. In 1802 he became major general of the state's militia.
 
⁵     During this time, Jackson was involved in a dispute arising from a duel. The squabble escalated into a gunfight. A bullet shattered the bone in Jackson's left arm. Doctors said the arm would have to be cut off, but Jackson refused. The bullet and bone shards remained in his arm. They would stay there through the next twenty years.

Paragraphs 6 to 12:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Feedback on Tough Guy - Andrew Jackson and the Battle for the South

Leave your feedback on Tough Guy - Andrew Jackson and the Battle for the South   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

The War of 1812

The War of 1812

---

United States

United States

American Government         Black History and Blacks in U.S. History         Children in History         Government Careers         Hispanic Heritage         How Can I Help?

Immigration         National Parks and Monuments         Native Americans         Presidents of the United States         Women's History

---

United States History

A Nation Divided (1840-1861)         A New Nation (1776-1830)         After the Civil War (1865-1870)         American Revolution         Cold War (1947-1991)         Colonial America (1492-1776)         Lewis and Clark (1804-1806)         Pearl Harbor         Spanish American War (1898)         The 1890's         The 1900's         The 1910's         The 1920's         The 1930's

The 1940's         The 1950's         The 1960's         The 1970's         The 1980's         The 1990's         The 2000's         The Civil War (1861-1865)         The Great Depression (1929-1945)         The United States Grows (1865-1900)         The War of 1812         Wild, Wild West         World War I (1914-1918)         World War II

---

50 States

Fifty States Theme Unit

---

Document Based Activities

Document Based Activities

Copyright © 2025 edHelper