American Indian Killer Andrew Jackson
By James Donahue
It has been said that if the South had won the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln would have been tried and executed as a war criminal instead of an American Hero. So would Harry Truman, Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower if the Axis forces had won World War II. Historical figures like Hitler and Southern Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson might be remembered as great leaders of their time.
It all involves historical perspective. There also is an old saying that history is written by the winners and they decide who is evil. Because we were always winners of the wars we fought, Americans have thought of themselves as shining beacons of goodness. It is in the propaganda our children have been hearing since the day they were born.
American historians know, however, if they want to admit the reality of our situation, that we have had some deadly leadership over the years. Among the worst of them might have been President Truman, who chose to drop atomic bombs on Japan during the final days of the Pacific War.
Then there was President Andrew Jackson, who lead the campaign against the Native American people east of the Mississippi River and brought about the mass killings of thousands of men, women and children of the Creek, Cherokee and Seminole tribes, forcing them off their land and seizing millions of acres to be handed over to the white slave aristocracy of that day.
Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that forced 46,000 Native Americans to be removed from their homes and marched to reservations established in western territories. One such march, still bitterly remembered among the Cherokee people was the Trail of Tears when an estimated 4,000 people perished along the way.
Jackson became an Indian killer while serving as commander of the Tennessee militia. He led his troops into the Battle of Horseshoe Bend during the Creek War of 1813-14. This led to the Creek Nation’s surrender of lands that are now the states of Alabama and Georgia. He became a national hero during the War of 1812 when his forces won the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. After this he led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War which resulted in the annexation of Florida from Spain. He won the title “Old Hickory” and his popularity carried him to the Presidential office in 1828.
While he obviously hated the American Indian culture, Jackson was dedicated to the service of the new nation. He was a frontier lawyer, served in both the U.S. House and Senate representing his home state of Tennessee, served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court and eventually got elected as the nation’s seventh president. During his two-time battle to win the presidential seat, Jackson founded the Democratic Party.
He used his presidential powers to promote and then sign the Indian Removal Act in 1930 and then forced over 46,000 Native Americans from their homes and lands east of the Mississippi. He did this even though the Supreme Court ruled what he was doing unconstitutional. In response the court’s decision, Jackson said: “John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it.”
Nobody stopped him.
By James Donahue
It has been said that if the South had won the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln would have been tried and executed as a war criminal instead of an American Hero. So would Harry Truman, Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower if the Axis forces had won World War II. Historical figures like Hitler and Southern Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson might be remembered as great leaders of their time.
It all involves historical perspective. There also is an old saying that history is written by the winners and they decide who is evil. Because we were always winners of the wars we fought, Americans have thought of themselves as shining beacons of goodness. It is in the propaganda our children have been hearing since the day they were born.
American historians know, however, if they want to admit the reality of our situation, that we have had some deadly leadership over the years. Among the worst of them might have been President Truman, who chose to drop atomic bombs on Japan during the final days of the Pacific War.
Then there was President Andrew Jackson, who lead the campaign against the Native American people east of the Mississippi River and brought about the mass killings of thousands of men, women and children of the Creek, Cherokee and Seminole tribes, forcing them off their land and seizing millions of acres to be handed over to the white slave aristocracy of that day.
Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 that forced 46,000 Native Americans to be removed from their homes and marched to reservations established in western territories. One such march, still bitterly remembered among the Cherokee people was the Trail of Tears when an estimated 4,000 people perished along the way.
Jackson became an Indian killer while serving as commander of the Tennessee militia. He led his troops into the Battle of Horseshoe Bend during the Creek War of 1813-14. This led to the Creek Nation’s surrender of lands that are now the states of Alabama and Georgia. He became a national hero during the War of 1812 when his forces won the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. After this he led U.S. forces in the First Seminole War which resulted in the annexation of Florida from Spain. He won the title “Old Hickory” and his popularity carried him to the Presidential office in 1828.
While he obviously hated the American Indian culture, Jackson was dedicated to the service of the new nation. He was a frontier lawyer, served in both the U.S. House and Senate representing his home state of Tennessee, served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court and eventually got elected as the nation’s seventh president. During his two-time battle to win the presidential seat, Jackson founded the Democratic Party.
He used his presidential powers to promote and then sign the Indian Removal Act in 1930 and then forced over 46,000 Native Americans from their homes and lands east of the Mississippi. He did this even though the Supreme Court ruled what he was doing unconstitutional. In response the court’s decision, Jackson said: “John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it.”
Nobody stopped him.