Editing Andrew Jackson (section)

===Legal career and marriage===
{{Further|Robards–Donelson–Jackson relationship controversy}}
After the American Revolutionary War, Jackson worked as a saddler,{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=27}} briefly returned to school, and taught reading and writing to children.{{sfn|Booraem|2001|pp= 133, 136}} In 1784, he left the Waxhaws region for [[Salisbury, North Carolina]], where he [[reading law|studied law]] under attorney Spruce Macay.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=29}} He completed his training under [[John Stokes (North Carolina judge)|John Stokes]],{{sfn|Brands|2005|p=37}} and was admitted to the [[Bar examination in the United States|North Carolina bar]] in September 1787.<ref name="NC State Library">{{cite web |url=http://www.ncpedia.org/biography/jackson-andrew |title=Andrew Jackson |last=Case |first=Steven |date=2009 |publisher=State Library of North Carolina |access-date=July 20, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618060525/http://www.ncpedia.org/biography/jackson-andrew |archive-date=June 18, 2017}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, his friend [[John McNairy]] helped him get appointed as a [[prosecuting attorney]] in the [[Washington District, North Carolina|Western District]] of North Carolina,{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=34}} which would later become the state of [[Tennessee]]. While traveling to assume his new position, Jackson stopped in [[Jonesborough, Tennessee|Jonesborough]]. While there, he bought his first slave, a woman who was around his age.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=37}} He also fought his first [[duel]], accusing another lawyer, [[Waightstill Avery]], of impugning his character. The duel ended with both men firing in the air.{{sfn|Booraem|2001|pp=190–191}}

Jackson began his new career in the frontier town of Nashville in 1788 and quickly moved up in [[social status]].{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|p=18}} He became a protégé of [[William Blount]], one of the most powerful men in the territory.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|p=19}} Jackson was appointed attorney general of the Mero District in 1791 and [[judge-advocate]] for the militia the following year.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=53}} He also got involved in land speculation,{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=87}} eventually forming a partnership with fellow lawyer [[John Overton (judge)|John Overton]].{{sfn|Clifton|1952|p=24}} Their partnership mainly dealt with claims made under a [[Confederation period#Western settlement|"land grab" act of 1783]] that opened [[Cherokee]] and [[Chickasaw]] territory to North Carolina's white residents.{{sfn|Durham|1990|pp=218–219}} Jackson also became a [[Andrew Jackson and the slave trade in the United States|slave trader]],{{sfn|Cheathem|2011|p=327}} transporting enslaved people for the [[Slave trade in the United States|interregional slave market]] between Nashville and the [[Natchez District]] of [[Spanish West Florida]] via the [[Mississippi River]] and the [[Natchez Trace]].{{sfn|Remini|1991|p=[https://www.proquest.com/openview/1a72861ea0a0473316e0d956124c4e31/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2029886 35]}}

While boarding at the home of Rachel Stockly Donelson, the widow of [[John Donelson]], Jackson became acquainted with their daughter, Rachel Donelson Robards. The younger Rachel was in an unhappy marriage with Captain [[Lewis Robards]], and the two were separated by 1789.{{sfn|Owsley|1977|pp=481–482}} After the separation, Jackson and Rachel became romantically involved,{{sfn|Brands|2005|p=63}} living together as husband and wife.{{sfn|Meacham|2008|pp=22–23}} Robards petitioned for divorce, which was granted in 1793 on the basis of Rachel's infidelity.{{sfnm|Howe|2007|1p=277|Remini|1977|2p=62}} The couple legally married in January 1794.{{sfn|Brands|2005|p=65}} In 1796, they acquired their first plantation, [[Hunter's Hill (Tennessee)|Hunter's Hill]],{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=68}} on {{convert|640|acres|ha|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} of land near Nashville.{{sfn|Brands|2005|p=73}}