A Blog Exploring American History and Politics
In the midst of President Andrew Jackson’s presidency, white supremacy was becoming a prominent principle in American society, facilitating confrontation between whites and blacks but also between whites and Native Americans. Just months into Jackson’s first term, David Walker published a controversial and incendiary pamphlet: An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, But in […]
MoreIn the first year of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the removal of Native Americans from their lands became a top priority.
MoreIn the face of the removal of Native Americans, the Cherokees turned to the federal courts for help.
MoreFollowing the Election of 1828, Andrew Jackson was preparing to move into the White House, newly a widower and introducing a change in leadership.
MorePresident John Quincy Adams and his administration faced a serious challenge in dealing with the Native Americans.
MoreNew York politics after the War of 1812 had ended “became a microcosm of the future of national politics.” Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: Transformation of America, 1815-1848, 237.
MoreFollowing the War of 1812, Americans had at their disposal a new 14 million acres that General Andrew Jackson acquired from the Creek tribe in the South. Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: Transformation of America, 1815-1848, 125. The expansion of territory, particularly in the South, would have massive ramifications in the coming decades.
MoreFor centuries prior to the War of 1812, the Native Americans were able to manipulate the British, French, Spanish, and Americans to sustain themselves. After the War of 1812, the entirety of the land east of the Mississippi River was owned by America, effectively ended the Native Americans’ strategy. Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: […]
MoreBy 1815, the Native Americans had been pushed mostly out of the New England area and into territories just east of the Mississippi River and the entirety of the territory west of the Mississippi River. The Native Americans were a significant obstacle to expanding American territory.
MoreThe friction between the Native Americans and colonizing settlers is well documented and known. However, the general policy underlying that friction is perhaps best captured by Thomas Jefferson’s perspective on the subject: “let the natural demographic growth and movement of white Americans take their course.” Gordon Wood, Empire of Liberty, 398. Jefferson believed that this would […]
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