Backstabber Report

President Andrew Jackson Backstabs Indian Nations

Andrew Jackson, today still exalted by many for his defeat of the British at New Orleans in the War of 1812 went on to become President of the United States and a backstabber to Indian nations that stood in the way of expansion and his own personal wealth.

In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, effectively voiding all indigenous land claims with respect to the five tribes of the east—Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole. The act further provided for their resettlement into a designated Indian Territory, located in present day Oklahoma. Those treaties he did claim to have in which some agreed to move, pursuant to some removals of tribes, were questionable since some who signed were not the true leadership for the entire Indian nation, but only a segment that claimed leadership.

For Jackson, the removal of Native American tribes from the southeast was more than just a matter of internal security—he also had a personal financial stake in some of the territory in question. With each treaty signed by a Native American state in the east (notably Florida, in which as Governor of a bordering area Jackson almost sparked a war in 1821 with Spain), white investors were able to purchase the ceded lands for their own use. Jackson saw no conflict in partaking in this massive buyout. Throughout this experience, Jackson urged a policy of removal of Indian tribes and encouraged white investment westward. This was now possible with the Indian Removal Act.

In 1831, The Trail of Tears began. The phrase originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831. Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their destinations, and many died, including 4,000 of the 15,000 relocated Cherokee. Many do not realize the trail of tears did not involve the movement of only one tribe. It has become synonymous with an ordeal that lasted years and involved many tribes put on forced marches without adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical provisions, or humanity.

By 1837, 46,000 Native Americans from these southeastern nations had been removed from their homelands thereby opening 25 million acres for settlement. The exact number of dead is unknown. Many were left unburied where they fell, or were murdered as they passed populated areas. Everywhere there were those who died of disease and starvation, coupled with the brutal conditions.

In one of the first uses of the Supreme Court by Native Americans, they brought their case before the court, counting on the white mans law to give them justice. The Cherokee Nation, which engaged in a long border dispute with Georgia, continued its legal efforts and even scored a significant victory in 1832 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the individual states had no jurisdiction within tribal lands. Jackson, who argued that Indian removal was in the national interest, ignored the ruling. Congress made no effort to reign in Jackson as he continued the removal process.

In the winter of 1838 the Cherokee began the thousand mile march with scant clothing and most on foot without shoes or moccasins. The march began in Red Clay, Tennessee, the location of the last Eastern capital of the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee were given used blankets from a hospital in Tennessee where an epidemic of small pox had broken out. Because of the diseases, the Indians were not allowed to go into any towns or villages along the way; many times this meant traveling much farther to go around them.

Not alone as a backstabbing President, he may be the most loathsome when it comes to the treatment of Native Americans.