Andrew Jackson Racist Ideology Essay

Andrew Jackson was like no other president before him. The previous presidents had one thing in common, they were all part of the founding fathers or in John Quincy Adam’s case was the son of a founding father. However Jackson was a plantation owner from the west who had no connections with the government. He also had different views from other presidents that made his presidency unique. Two things that separated Andrew Jackson’s presidency from previous presidencies were he reached out to the common people and he was disapproving of the Bank of United States.

After the War of 1812 Andrew Jackson would invade Spanish Florida in pursuit of Seminole Indians that were thought to be attacking and stealing from Georgia settlers. Jackson’s orders were not to invade Spanish Florida, but to stop the Indian attacks. Jackson did not listen to the orders and invaded Florida capturing the Spanish posts at St Marks and Pensacola. Spain would ultimately give up, and offer to sell Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1821.

The essential question of the Jacksonian period in American history should not be focused on slavery, nor on western migration of native tribes (as important, relevant, and controversial as these topics are). It is true that his administration did try to hide and dismiss slavery, and it is also true that in the manner of its execution the policy of Indian removal was a horror. However, the fundamental question surrounding his presidency revolves around how the doctrines of democracy replaced the doctrines of republicanism. Indeed, Jackson had a powerful contribution to American political history. The Jacksonian Era actually changed the goal of the Founding Fathers to put more power into the presidency rather than in congress. His commitment to the federal structure, states’ rights, and a severely limited central government, all accounted for in his policy of Indian removal are Jackson’s greatest contributions and resulted in the development of modern democracy in the United States.

Jackson's early military career consists mainly of his involvement in the War of 1812, followed by the Creek War in 1813-1814, and then culminating in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. This string of military victories for Jackson was later supplemented by brutal victories in the First Seminole War in 1818. Having had a meager role to play in the War of 1812, Jackson hungered for glory and led the West Tennessee Militia in the Creek War of 1813-1814. This led to promotions for Jackson. Jackson's military career reached its pinnacle, though, during the Battle of New Orleans.

In the early 19th Century, the Manifest Destiny led many White Americans to conquer new territories and force Native Americans out of their homeland. The growing population caused the need for people to move to have more space for farms and crops. The religious groups were also wanting to sweep God’s word across the nation by going west. The Native Americans were unwilling to give up their land and fought to keep it. Outmatched by the U.S. Military, the Indians were forced to leave and settle in a territory that was not claimed by Whites. Andrew Jackson, the 8th President of the United States, participated in some of the battles with the Natives Americans and the removal of 5 different tribes from their homeland into what is now Oklahoma.1 This research paper is to study about Andrew Jackson, his battles with the Natives, and what led to the Trail of Tears.

Jackson not only menaced the Native American community, but defied the nation he served. On several occasions, Andrew Jackson acted rebellious to United States laws and orders. In 1813, Jackson disregarded Article IX of the treaty of Ghent , which demanded the return of Creek territory acquired in the treaty of Fort Jackson 2. Andrew Jackson, a general at the time, existed in no position to dismiss treaties that the U.S. claimed as “laws of the land”. Fueled with the American hatred toward Native Americans, Jackson stubbornly refused to acknowledge Creek ownership of any land. Jackson 's unruly attitude brought him close to making hazardous international mistakes. Believing British officers were assisting local natives, Jackson “without any specific orders” invaded Spanish Florida and killed every Spanish-British officer at a central military fort 1. His actions angered President Monroe because Jackson created tension between the U.S. and Western Europe . Exhibiting disobedience to his superiors, Jackson 's actions served as a precursor to his oppressive authority.

In order to understand the significance of the events preceding the Second Seminole War, one must first examine the First Seminole War. Frustrated with Seminole protection of runaway slaves, Andrew Jackson and more than three thousand men entered northern Florida in 1816 and began to decimate Seminole populations. Despite most of these campaigns being unsanctioned by the United States government and protested by the British and the Spanish, Jackson was received as a war hero throughout the nation and protected from punitive measures. The refusal of the government to punish Jackson for the injustices led to foreign hostilities with both Britain and Spain. The Adam-Onis Treaty of 1819

The second incident where Jackson stood by his solicitude for state rights was in the removal of the Indian tribes. Jackson has been associated mainly with his decision to support Georgia in its efforts to remove the Cherokee from their land, despite a Supreme Court ruling against the state. However his enthusiastic support for Indian removal was "undoubtedly one of the reasons he swept the southern states in the 1828 election" . Jackson had Native Indian policy on his mind from the beginning as he saw that Indians were subject to American sovereignty and that national security demanded they be removed. Removal to the West would increase the security of the US from outside attacks. Upon

In order to understand the significance of the Second Seminole War, one must first examine the First Seminole War. Frustrated with Seminole protection of runaway slaves, Andrew Jackson and more than three thousand men entered northern Florida in 1816 and began to decimate Seminole populations. Despite most of these campaigns being unsanctioned by the United States government and protested by the British and the Spanish, Jackson was received as a war hero throughout the nation. The Adam-Onis Treaty of 1819 officially transfesrred ownership of Florida from Spain to the United States (a major political victory for the United States at the time), and the deportation of the Seminoles out of the newly acquired land became of the utmost importance in 1821.

Andrew Jackson knew that to win the 1829 election he had to first win over the votes of the frontier states (North Dakota through Texas). Jackson's main election selling point was to provide free land for the eager settlers. This was especially important in Georgia because new settlers were coming in and greatly desired the land the cherokee had. In order to justify his actions, Jackson stated the Cherokees had fought with the British during the Revolutionary war. However, the Cherokees were actually his allies during that time. One indian even regretted helping Jackson and said if he would have know it was going to be this way he would killed jackson right there. Just a few weeks after he won the election, the Georgia legislature passed a law removing all the Cherokee within the state borders. When the Indians went to the president for help he said, “No protection could be afforded to the Cherokees” unless they moved west of the Mississippi.” Caucasian citizens began to claim the homes of

The American Revolutionary War was now all around him and his two brothers. The effect it had on his life was devastating. He and his brothers joined the war to fight for the cause. Jackson was only thirteen years old. His brother Hugh soon died of heat stroke in Battle of Stono Ferry in 1779.

When we look back into history, we are now able to fully comprehend the atrocities the Indians faced at the hands of the historic general and President, Andrew Jackson. It can be seen as one of the most shameful and unjust series of political actions taken by an American government. However, as an American living almost 200 years later, it is crucial to look at the motives possessed by Andrew Jackson, and ask whether he fully comprehended the repercussions of his actions or if is was simply ignorant to what he was subjection the natives to. We must also consider weather he truly had the countries best interest in mind, or his own.

Both thought of Natives as wards of the state that could be controlled by the government, but had very different ideas on what to do with them. For Jackson, this culminated in the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Though Jackson saw Natives as people, he did not see them as equal to whites, once again showing his conservative Southern ways. To expand the territory of the US, Jackson ordered the four remaining southern tribes to assimilate or move farther westward. His conviction that the Native Americans must be moved drove him to negotiate the terms of the Indian Removal Act himself, the only act Jackson himself pushed for in his eight year presidency. The Cherokees were the only tribe to refuse to go, and gained judiciary backing from the Supreme Court after presenting the cases Cherokee Nation v. Georgia in 1831 and Worcester v. Georgia in 1832. Jackson’s immense support for the Native migration, despite the established unconstitutionality of it, manifested as advising Georgia to slowly move onto Cherokee territory, all the while secretly negotiating a treaty with rebels in the tribe. Jackson’s intense desire to preserve his own ideals of white supremacy and Manifest Destiny, even if it meant ignoring the rights of an entire race, exemplified his conservative nature, can be seen most clearly in his intentional

Jackson strongly hated the Native Americans; just seeing what he did to the two Seminole chiefs in Florida defies his hatred towards this group of people. Jackson claimed that they were in America’s way, causing him to move various tribes of the East Coast. One of them was the well-known Cherokee tribe, who strongly opposed the decision, because they already adapted the American culture. Their opposition was taken to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that the Cherokees can stay. Andrew Jackson showed no sympathy and ignored the court’s decision and exterminated them from the East Coast to the West Coast on a winter season; the journey that we call today the Trail of Tears, because of the death of many during the travel.

Jackson’s removal policy did not sit well with a lot of groups; many were uncomfortable about it but agreed it had to be done. President Jackson showed great leadership apart from everything else, and handled the Indian Removal act when no one else wanted to address the growing issue of Indian problem. Most government officials saw little to gain from addressing this and would do nothing. Some historians believe the president’s motivation was clearly out of concern for the Indians customs, their culture and their language, but his first concern was the safety of the military, Indians occupying the east might jeopardize the defense of the United States.