Samuel Humphreys designed these cutters for roles as diverse as fighting pirates, privateers, combating smugglers and operating with naval forces.

Jackson sailed late in the year to Charleston, South Carolina, to be on hand there to support the Federal Government during the nullification crisis over new tariff laws.

Tension subsided before the advent of spring, but the cutter—which carried the name of the President who had championed the Union cause during the Constitutional crisis—remained in Charleston harbor for regular duty.

Besides observing the activities of the Indians as she cruised along the shore, she inspected other revenue cutters and their stations as well as the lighthouses she passed.

The ship returned north in the summer of 1837 but was directed on 19 September of that year to prepare for more service on the Florida coast under orders of the Secretary of the Navy.

Following the end of the Seminole War, the cutter carried out a similar pattern of activity, alternating duty at Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and New York City with service in Southern climes.