[5] In addition to practicing law, Jackson was involved in several businesses, including a cotton manufacturing company.

Jackson's ventures proved successful, and he later expanded into firearms as operator of the Burnside Rifle Works and a company that manufactured railroad equipment.

Jackson was active in politics as a Whig, served several terms in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, and was Speaker from 1841 to 1842.

He was elected as a Whig identified with the Liberation movement, which advocated freedom for those imprisoned as a result of the Dorr Rebellion.

Jackson signed a bill freeing rebellion leader Thomas Wilson Dorr and all others who had been convicted.