Life was hard, in Andrew Jackson’s view. His ancestors had been driven from Scotland and then northern Ireland by economic distress. His father had died before he was born. At the age of fourteen he was taken prisoner by the British during the American Revolutionary War. His mother died effecting his release, leaving him an orphan. Jackson taught himself the law in North Carolina and started a law practice in Nashville when that western village was still surrounded by hostile Indians. He distinguished himself as an Indian fighter and eventually was elected commanding general of the Tennessee militia.
The native Americans around here were the Susquehannocks. The last of them were massacred by the Paxton Boys in 1763. None left to own casinos. The Nations got a raw deal but Jackson's judgement seems correct to me.
If I remember correctly, another factor in the removal option was his view of national security. As long as the native American's had tribal 'nations' inside US States, there would be the potential for meddling on the part of the spanish and french. I think one tribe's chief was actually in communication with one of those european powers.
One of the causes of the War of 1812 was American anger at the British for arming Indians on the frontier. And one reason Jackson and others forced Spain out of Florida was similar activity by the Spanish.
Is there a more complicated President than Andrew Jackson? People seek to pigeonhole him, but that orn’y old cuss refuses to be pigeonholed. He’s almost a perfect subject for historiography. He’s a hero, he’s a villain. He’s neither.
Jackson wrote: "What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization, and religion?”
Sadly, that was probably the rationalization every conqueror in the past had. One never knows, of course, but left to their own devices, would the indigenous populations of the Western Hemisphere have eventually achieved a high degree of civilization?
Your biography of Andrew Jackson has caused trouble for me with my liberal friends. Nobody wants to hear context when it comes to Trail of Tears.
Yeah, that context stuff can be really annoying.
The native Americans around here were the Susquehannocks. The last of them were massacred by the Paxton Boys in 1763. None left to own casinos. The Nations got a raw deal but Jackson's judgement seems correct to me.
If I remember correctly, another factor in the removal option was his view of national security. As long as the native American's had tribal 'nations' inside US States, there would be the potential for meddling on the part of the spanish and french. I think one tribe's chief was actually in communication with one of those european powers.
One of the causes of the War of 1812 was American anger at the British for arming Indians on the frontier. And one reason Jackson and others forced Spain out of Florida was similar activity by the Spanish.
Is there a more complicated President than Andrew Jackson? People seek to pigeonhole him, but that orn’y old cuss refuses to be pigeonholed. He’s almost a perfect subject for historiography. He’s a hero, he’s a villain. He’s neither.
His nickname, "Old Hickory", was undoubtedly derived from the stoic toughness he displayed throughout his life, as you show.
Jackson wrote: "What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization, and religion?”
Sadly, that was probably the rationalization every conqueror in the past had. One never knows, of course, but left to their own devices, would the indigenous populations of the Western Hemisphere have eventually achieved a high degree of civilization?
Very interesting post. Gonna pick up your book on Jackson.