Jackson's earlier years,
nevertheless, contained little promise of his future distinction. He
grew up amidst a rough people whose tastes ran strongly to
horse-racing, cockfighting, and heavy drinking, and whose ideal of
excellence found expression in a readiness to fight upon any and all
occasions in defense of what they considered to be their personal
honor. In young Andrew Jackson these characteristics appeared in a
superlative degree. He was mischievous, willful, daring, reckless.
Hardly an escapade took place in the community in which he did not
share; and his sensitiveness and quick temper led him continually into
trouble. In his early teens he swore like a trooper, chewed tobacco
incessantly, acquired a taste for strong drink, and set a pace for
wildness which few of his associates could keep up. He was
passionately fond of running foot races, leaping the bar, jumping,
wrestling, and every sort of sport that partook of the character of
mimic battle--and he never acknowledged defeat. "I could throw him
three times out of four," testifies an old schoolmate, "but he would
never _stay throwed_.
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