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Andrew Jackson--Great US President or Mass Murderer? - Page 2

© Lisa Perkins

In 1824, Jackson ran for President but was narrowly defeated by John Quincy Adams. In 1828, Jackson ran once again, this time winning the presidential office. He lost his wife, Rachel Robards, however, to a heart attack in the time between his election and inauguration. Because of the death, the blame he placed squarely on the shoulders of his opposing party, he created the “spoils system,” a system where federal jobs were given based on loyalty and not ability or merit. By the end of 1829, many battles over Jackson’s appointments were fought, especially when he started following through with his “rotation in office” platform.

Although most Native Americans used many means to keep their lands, by 1830, they were loosing their battle quickly. Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which was supposed to provide a peaceful and voluntary removal of the Indians from east of the Mississippi to the west. The Cherokee, who were living in Georgia, and had declared themselves to be a sovereign nation in 1827 (based on a policy of the US), tried to keep their lands according to the United States’ laws. However, the state of Georgia did not recognize their status and considered them renters, therefore having no legal rights to the land. After more court battles, Andrew Jackson refused to enforce the laws and the Cherokee lost their lands and many of their people on the infamous Trail of Tears.

In 1835, the Treaty of New Echota was signed, giving the Cherokee 800,000 acres of land in Oklahoma and roughly $15 million for their lands in Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. Most Cherokee, including John Ross and Junaluska, were very much against this treaty. Because he thought Jackson would remember that he had saved his life at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Junaluska went to see President Jackson to plead for protection of the Cherokee. Jackson coldly told him: “Sir, your audience is ended. There is nothing I can do for you.”

By the middle of 1837, approximately 2,000 Cherokee men, women, and children moved “voluntarily” to Oklahoma, while the ones who remained were forced to leave, going on the “Trail of Tears,” a horrendous march which killed thousands of Cherokee by starvation, disease, or abuse at the hands of their “guards.”

In March of 1834, Jackson stepped aside as president, making way for the hand picked Martin VanBuren. Jackson returned to the Hermitage, his home in Tennessee, where he kept his political interests, campaigning for Martin VanBuren in 1840 and then James K. Polk in 1844. Jackson died June 8, 1845 at the age of 78 of tuberculosis and dropsy (edema).

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