Andrew Jackson's Indian Policies: Unbridled Aggression or Pragmatic Solution?
"It seems not to be an established fact that they can not live in contact with a civilized community and prosper." Andrew Jackson believed that Indians were savages, incapable of any "civilized" intercommunication between themselves and whites. Through this belief Jackson declared that Indians need not be in contact with white settlers. Throughout Jackson's life he had fought Indians, beginning with his campaign against the Northern Creek Indians of Alabama and Georgia. He led the Tennessee militia to fight Seminoles in Florida in a war known as the "First Seminole War" just seven years before his election into the presidency . Jackson's land policies, which he wrote out in the form of ordinances and acts took land away from Indians. The only reason why many Indians accepted the terms of Jackson's land policies was because of his skillful rhetoric and good speaking skills, as well as the Indian's disorganization in terms of making highly influential decisions. Jackson's land policies eventually only benefited whites, in the form of taking all land from Indians, rendering his policies unfair to the Indians who signed them. Andrew Jackson, who had been fighting Indians for all his life,
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expressed his aggressive attitude towards them through land policies that were unfair and destructive to their societies.
Jackson's aggressions towards the Indians began long before his presidency. The beginning of his military career took place in the Tennessee militia, which, during Jackson's time, battled and killed many Indians. He was the colonel of the Tennessee militia at the beginning of his military career. Jackson commanded the campaign against the Northern Creek Indians of Alabama and Georgia, also known as the "Red Sticks." In 1813, Northern Creek Band chieftain Peter McQueen massacred 400 men, women, and children at Fort Mims (in what is now Alabama). Jackson led the campaign against these "Red Stick" Indians, with a fierce disgust and hatred toward them. Jackson conveyed his outright hatred to William Meadows before launching his attack on the "Red Sticks",
These horrid scenes bring fresh to our recollection the influence during the Revolutionary War that raised the scalping knife and tomahawk against our innocent women and children
The blood of our innocent citizens must not flow with impunity. Justice forbids it
and a final check [is needed] of these hostile murdering Creeks.
When Jackson was within un-settled Indian territory he had the intuition that Indians were always around him, waiting for the perfect opportunity to fight him when he least expected.
Throughout Jackson's two terms as President, Jackson used his power unjustly. As a man from the Frontier State of Tennessee and a leader in the Indian wars, Jackson loathed the Native Americans. Keeping with consistency, Jackson found a way to use his power incorrectly to eliminate the Native Americans. In May 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act. This act required all tribes east of the Mississippi River to leave their lands and travel to reservations in the Oklahoma Territory on the Great Plains. This was done because of the pressure of white settlers who wanted to take over the lands on which the Indians had lived. The white settlers were already emigrating to the Union, or America. The East Coast was burdened with new settlers and becoming vastly populated. President Andrew Jackson and the government had to find a way to move people to the West to make room. In 1830, a new state law said that the Cherokees would be under the jurisdiction of state rather than federal law. This meant that the Indians now had little, if any, protection against the white settlers that desired their land. However, when the Cherokees brought their case to the Supreme Court, they were told that they could not sue on the basis that they were not a foreign nation. In 1832, though, on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokees were a "domestic dependent nation," and therefore, eligible to receive federal protection against the state. However, Jackson essentially overruled the decision. By this, Jackson implied that he had more power than anyone else did and he could enforce the bill himself. This is yet another way in which Jackson abused his presidential power in order to produce a favorable result that complied with his own beliefs. The Indian Removal Act forced all Indians tribes be moved west of the Mississippi River. The Choctaw was the first tribe to leave from the southeast.
As the author of Andrew Jackson and the Search for Vindication, James C. Curtis seems to greatly admire Andrew Jackson. Curtis pointed out that Jackson was a great American general who was well liked by the people. As history shows, Andrew Jackson had his flaws; for example, he thought the National Bank of the United States was going to kill him but he was determined to kill it first. He resented the Bank because he thought it was the reason for the Panic of 1819. Andrew Jackson was elected to the presidency in 1824 after first being nominated in 1822. He was sixty-one when he was elected the seventh president of the United States.
Under the Jackson Administration, the changes made shaped national Indian policy. Morally, Andrew Jackson dismissed prior ideas that natives would gradually assimilate into white culture, and believed that removing Indians from their homes was the best answer for both the natives and Americans. Politically, before Jackson treaties were in place that protected natives until he changed those policies, and broke those treaties, violating the United States Constitution. Under Jackson’s changes, the United States effectively gained an enormous amount of land. The removal of the Indians west of the Mississippi River in the 1830’s changed the national policy in place when Jackson became President as evidenced by the moral, political, constitutional, and practical concerns of the National Indian Policy.
... the unwilling tribes west of the Mississippi. In Jackson’s letter to General John Coffee on April 7, 1832, he explained that the Cherokees were still in Georgia, and that they ought to leave for their own benefit because destruction will come upon them if they stay. By 1835, most eastern tribes had unwillingly complied and moved west. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created in 1836 to help out the resettled tribes. Most Cherokees rejected the settlement of 1835, which provided land in the Indian territory. It was not until 1838, after Jackson had left office, that the U.S. Army forced 15,000 Cherokees to leave Georgia. The hardships on the “trail of tears” were so great that over 4,000 Cherokees died on their heartbreaking westward journey. In conclusion, the above statement is valid and true. The decision the Jackson administration made to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River was a reformulation of the national policy. Jackson, along with past Presidents George Washington, James Monroe, and Thomas Jefferson, tried to rid the south of Indians This process of removing the native people was continuous as the years went on.
Then General, later to become President, Jackson began the later Indian Removal movement when he conquered Tecumseh’s allied Indian nation and began distributing their lands (of which he invested heavily in). Jackson became the leader of the distribution of Indian lands and distributed them in unequal ways. In 1828 when Jackson was running for President his platform was based upon Indian Removal, a popular issue which was working its way through Congress in the form of a Bill. Jackson won a sweeping victory and began to formulate his strategies which he would use in an "Indian Removal campaign". In 1829, upon seeing that his beloved Bill was not being enforced Jackson began dealing with the Indian tribes and offering them "untouchable" tracts of lands west of the Mississippi River if they would only cede their lands to the US and move themselves there. Jackson was a large fan of states rights-ism, hence he vetoed the charter for ...
Growing up on the North/South Carolina border, Jackson’s exact state of birth is debatable. Unlike most historians, Jacksons ascertained that he was from South Carolina. Wherever he actually grew up, it is unequivocal that it was a truculent and violent place to be raised. During his childhood, Jackson became accustomed to the social imperatives of the land; hard work, and military spirit. Specifically, in his hometown, one used “[their ]military spirit to defend yourself, and [their] hands to pull something out of the soil”. Here, Meachem believes the constant exhaustion and threat of violence was “one of the many reasons Jackson became a man who was so prone to violence. He grew up with it, he didn’t know anything else”.
To own land, that is the privilege of whom? To Andrew Jackson the Cherokees current homesteads where on his country’s land. For whatever reason at that time some people living in America weren’t treated as good as there white counterparts. Meanwhile the Cherokees principal chief John Ross felt like that land belonged to his people. If you want to get technical he was speaking on the behalf of a tribe that made up a mere one-eighth of his ancestry. Not exactly a full blooded leader. He also was one of the main reason the “trail of tears” was as hostile and brutal as it was on his people. Its ironic, even as hard as Jackson pushed and deceived the Cherokee, the Cherokee people in turn pushed back, but past the point of being rational.
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States and was, arguably, the president that caused the most controversy. History shows Andrew Jackson overused his power yet, despite this, he was still well liked by the common men that elected him. Andrew Jackson used more veto power than all of his predecessors combined. He used his law making and veto power according to how he wanted the government to be perceived. At the time, Andrew Jackson was admired by many people. His laws represented the common man and were in line with what the citizens of America wanted, regardless of the actual effect on the economy and government. Despite the voter views, Andrew Jackson only acted according to his wants and how he thought government should
The Indian removal was so important to Jackson that he went back to Tennessee to have the first negotiations in person. He gave the Indians a couple simple alternatives. Alternatives like to submit to state authority, or migrate beyond the Mississippi. Jackson Offered generous aid on one hand and while holding the threat of subjugation in the other. The Chickasaws and Choctaws submitted quickly. The only tribe that resisted until the end was the Cherokees. President Jackson’s presidency was tarnished by the way the U.S. government handled the Native Americans. Although financially, and economically Jackson truly was a good leader, some people view him in a negative way because of the “Indian Removal Act.”
President Jackson singlehandedly led the destruction of the Native Americans with his aggressive actions and hostile decisions. President Jackson shirked his responsibility to protect the Native Americans of the United States by ignoring the Supreme Court’s decision, promoting legislation to bring about the separation of Native Americans and whites, and his decision to involve the United States Armed Forces against Indian Tribes. If it was not for President Jackson’s actions, the future of the Native Americans would have been different, or at least the American settlers wanted Indian land for many reasons. These reasons include geography and terrain, location, resources, and old grudges. First, the geography was perfect for farmers with fertile land.
Andrew Jackson is one of the most controversial presidents. Many regard him as a war hero, the father of the Democratic Party, an inspiring leader, and a spokesman for the common man. While there is plenty to praise about the seventh president, his legacy is tarnished by his racism, disregard for the law of the land, cruelty towards the Native Americans, and ruthless temper. Jackson was an intriguing man who was multi-faceted. One must not look at a singular dimension, and cast judgment on him as a whole. To accurately evaluate one of the most complex presidents, it is crucial to observe Jackson from all possible angles. Prior lifestyle, hardships in life, political ideology, lifestyle of the time, political developments, and his character
On December 23, 1814, Andrew Jackson rode his way into history. His victory over the British on that day made him into a national hero. Jackson used this popularity to ensure his victory over John Quincy Adams in the election of 1828. But who was the real "Old Hickory?" Was Andrew Jackson the courageous, honor bound "man of the people", or, as his opponents liked to think, was he a hot tempered, poorly educated farm boy? This essay will present both sides of the case and try to reach a conclusion.
He was the first president to be born in a log cabin, to be an orphan by the age of fifteen, and to be hardened by decades of military campaigns (195). In his first term he exercised the use of veto power more than all previous presidents combined (196). He ran the government the same way he ran his army (196). Andrew Jackson resolved the issue of breaking up the Union and was able to postpone it for another 30 years (197). He also moved all of the United States deposits from the Second National Bank and put them into state and local banks (198). Another thing he did while in office was to begin to move the Indians to Oklahoma (199). In 1830, the General Removal Act was passed (199). The next act passed was the Removal Act against the Choctaws (200). By 1833 nearly 11,000 were removed, and in 1838 nearly all Chickasaws were removed (200). In December 1985 the Cherokee Nation signed a treaty to move west, and in 1838 they walked the Trail of Tears, where 4,000 out of 18,000 died (201). Andrew Jackson’s policies moved 45,690 Indians across the Mississippi (201). This was his most controversial legacy
... one of the stipulations and had to be settled. The removal of the Natives in an effort to protect the American people on the frontier proceeded, and was all the region of present-day Oklahoma, as shown in document L. These actions are viewed as cruel and unjust, but it was the way that would’ve dealt the least damage. Further delaying the issue would’ve soon set into altercations between the various Native tribes and the United States of America. In retrospect, Jackson served to protect the people.
This chapter provided information from the trial of Captain Thomas Preston. The chapter asked the question, “What really happened in the Boston Massacre”. Chapter four focused on the overall event of the Massacre and trying to determine if Captain Preston had given the order to fire at Boston citizens. The chapter provides background information and evidence from Preston’s trial to leave the reader answering the question the chapter presents. Although, after looking through all the witnesses’ testimonies some might sway in Captain Preston’s favor, just the way the grand jury did.