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Andrew JacksonAmerican
Further Reading Andrew Jackson's Call for Volunteers in March 1812 Andrew Jackson Orders Jacques Villere to Block all Waterways Andrew Jackson's Letter to the British After Their Defeat at New Orleans Andrew Jackson's Speech to the Creek Nation in 1816 |
Jackson was an
ardent expansionist who wanted to claim all of Spanish Florida for the Union,
and to secure lands on both sides of the Mississippi River. In 1813, Jackson
took advantage of disagreements in the Creek Nation to achieve these goals.
With little British activity in the South, and the American population clamoring
for someone to deal with the recent Native revolt targeting homesteaders,
the action-hungry Jackson interceded on behalf of the government. After
almost a year of disciplined command of his volunteer forces and ruthless
elimination of any resistance, Jackson succeeded in crushing the Red Stick
Creeks at Horseshoe Bend in spring of 1814. Soon after, he drew up a treaty
which won the U.S. an additional 23 million acres of land from the Creek
Nation, including the Native populations who had aided Jackson in his campaign
against the Red Sticks. Jackson gained national recognition and the government rewarded him with a regular commission of major general in the US Army. Putting Jackson in charge of the Seventh Military District, the war administration hoped he could apply his initiative in defending the important, but militarily weak, southern territories. Jackson lost no time in preparing to meet the British who were already gathering on the Gulf Coast. He completed the reinforcement of Fort Bowyer at Mobile in West Florida only days before the British tried unsuccessfully to take it. Jackson subsequently went on the offensive driving the British out of Spanish Pensacola in early November of 1814. Jackson arrived in New Orleans in December and prepared to defend the city against a major British assault. Wanting to have complete command over all operations, Jackson silenced the bickering city officials with his declaration of martial law. Despite his aggressive authoritarian manner, Jackson pooled the city's diverse resources with his militia units and successfully repelled a larger British advance only a few miles below the New Orleans. He was hailed as a hero throughout the country and was especially revered in the South. After the war, Jackson continued his conquest of southern territories, often without government sanction. He invaded Spanish Florida again in 1818, ostensibly to retrieve renegade Creeks who were wanted by the US government. The fierce resistance he met there by First Nations became known as the First Seminole War. Needless to say, Jackson furthered his reputation among these Natives and their allies as a ruthless thief and butcher. In the end, Jackson crushed all resistance and took possession of the Florida territory in the name of the United States. Only his unprecedented gains saved him from serious reprimand. Many people credit Andrew Jackson as the man who first gave the American South and West power and prestige within the developing Union. He rode his successes of the 1812 War and the Seminole campaigns all the way to the White House when, in 1829, he became the seventh President of the United States. He held that office for eight years and was immensely popular. Andrew Jackson died in 1845.
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