Andrew Jackson's legacy regarding the status of Indians in American society is one of devastation, racism, and death. Known colloquially as the "Indian Killer" and "Sharp Knife" by the Cherokee people, Jackson waged a relentless war against the indigenous populations—one that even predated his presidency.
After being appointed by President Jefferson to appropriate Cherokee and Creek lands, Jackson essentially ordered the extermination of Indian woman and children and stripped the Creeks of 23 million acres...
Andrew Jackson's legacy regarding the status of Indians in American society is one of devastation, racism, and death. Known colloquially as the "Indian Killer" and "Sharp Knife" by the Cherokee people, Jackson waged a relentless war against the indigenous populations—one that even predated his presidency.
After being appointed by President Jefferson to appropriate Cherokee and Creek lands, Jackson essentially ordered the extermination of Indian woman and children and stripped the Creeks of 23 million acres of land in Georgia and Alabama in order to make room for settlers and plantation slavery.
Once he became the president, Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act, which essentially legalized the ethnic cleansing of the Indians. Approximately 46,000 Indians were removed from their land east of the Mississippi by 1837, with 25 million acres of land formerly belonging to Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole people being offered to white settlers and slave owners. This paved the way for the Trail of Tears, which killed 4,000 Cherokee people who were being forced to migrate west.
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