It isn't discussed much in history classes, but Andrew Jackson was indirectly responsible for the genocide of the American Indian.When Jackson became president in 1829, one of the first laws he enacted was the Indian Removal Act. Basically, it gave the U.S. government the right to "negotiate" treaties with the Indians and to relocate them to territories west of the then-currently organized states.
One of the deadly results of the Indian Removal Act was the Trail of Tears, when 7,000 Indians were force to relocate out of Georgia at gunpoint, resulting in the deaths of 4,000 Cherokees. The Trail of Tears occurred under Martin Van Buren's presidency, but it was a direct result of the Indian Removal Act.
While the Trail of Tears alone would earn Jackson his place on RoadRage's Top Ten Suckiest People List, the Indian Removal Act set a precedent for U.S.-Indian relations from that point forward -- a precedent that enabled the stealing of their lands and the development of treaties that would never be honored.
Jackson's actions have been rationalized by historians, who say that these actions were needed to squelch the bloody battles between white Americans and Indians. Call me crazy, but if someone was threatening to take over my land after my family had been on it, uninterrupted, for centuries, that might raise my ire as well. The battles could have ended a lot sooner had Americans treated the Indians as they should have been -- first and foremost as people, and, secondly, as the rightful property owners of this land -- not a problem that had to be resolved with forced relocation.
It's time to take Jackson off the $20 bill and replace him with a more deserving president, like Theodore Roosevelt.
1 comment:
Don't take Andy off the Jumbo Jack. How else would we enjoy the irony of millions of people forking over millions of bills bearing his likeness to Indian casinos every year? In fact, Indian casino marketers could stage a craps tournament for compulsive gamblers. (Surely, non-Indian gaming corps. could share their mailing lists - if they haven't already.) I bet lining up 4000 sick individuals to throw away all their money would be fairly easy. Probably doubling that number is no stretch. Sure, these dupes wouldn't die as a consequence of the craps tournaments. But they would suffer for a very long time in all aspects of their lives, as the Cherokee suffered. And their families would be forever scared by the experience, as the Cherokee's relatives and descendants have. Because it's a craps tourney, let's call it "The Rail of Tears" event. Man, I'm in the wrong business.
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