It’s almost impossible to talk or write about Andrew Jackson’s presidency without someone asking questions about the Indian Removal and the Trail of Tears, especially here in Southeast Tennessee, where the Trail of Tears began. The shadow of “Indian Removal” and its subsequent impact on the Cherokee and other native nations hangs over Jackson’s legacy like a death shroud.

“The present policy of the Government is but a continuation of the same progressive change by a milder process. The tribes which occupied the countries now constituting the Eastern States were annihilated or have melted away to make room for the whites. … We now propose to acquire the countries occupied by the red men of the South and West by fair exchange and, at the expense of the United States, to send them to land where their existence may be prolonged or perhaps made perpetual… Our children by thousands yearly leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions… Can it be cruel in this Government, when, by events it cannot control, the Indian is made discontented in his ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a new and extensive territory…? How many thousands of our own people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to the West on such conditions!”

With these words in an address to Congress in 1830, President Jackson announced his support of the Indian Removal Act.

When one views Jackson’s comments and actions regarding native people over his lifetime, he appears more complex. He had been the hero of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, where the Creeks had been defeated — with aid from Jackson’s friends, the Cherokee Brigade. He had “adopted” a Creek child and took him home to become his adopted white son’s best friend — a friend who was considered a member of Jackson’s family. He had formed friendships with and entertained native delegations while in the White House and earlier governmental postings. However, he consistently refused to believe that the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Creek were actual sovereign nations within the United States. He spoke of their status as “wards” and “tenants-at-will,” and therefore, the U.S. government possessed the right to move them for the common good — to improve their own existence and that of citizens desiring to move into the lands then occupied by the native peoples.

It was the Cherokee who posed the greatest threat to this idea of a people incapable of governing itself and existing as a “ward” of the U.S. government.

By the time of the Jackson administration, the Cherokee lived lives that were not unlike those of their European-American neighbors. They farmed and resided in homes often as well-constructed and appointed — or better. Their children were often taught both English and the written Cherokee language. Their own newspaper, the Phoenix, printed national news and the local news impacting their people. Their written constitution was based on the United States Constitution, and, in many cases, they had allied with “white missionary” friends to complete projects that improved both their lives and the community.

However, they did claim sovereign authority over sections of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, and those claims thwarted Jackson’s belief that the land belonged to the citizens of the United States and that the Cherokee and others should vacate the lands and willingly move west to land provided by the U.S. government. How strongly did Jackson believe this? During his eight years as president, the Indian Removal Act was the only major legislation that was passed at his request. Indeed, he actually returned home to Tennessee to negotiate in person the two options proposed: 1) submit to the authority of the state in which they resided, or 2) leave their ancient lands and move west with governmental support.

Two nations, the Chickasaw and Choctaw, quickly accepted. The Creek were resistant but were “forced” to remove. The Cherokee stubbornly refused. Cherokee Nation leader Chief John Ross, who had served alongside Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and had maintained a relationship with him in the following years, traveled five times to Washington, DC, in an attempt to persuade his “friend” to allow the Cherokee to retain their lands. It is interesting to note that Ross was 1/8 Cherokee and 7/8 Scottish and well-educated in both English and the ways of his mother’s people. He had risen through the ranks to become Principal Chief and would serve in that capacity until he died in 1866.

But President Jackson continued to support Georgia’s position, and the Cherokee simply refused to acknowledge Georgia’s authority over their lives and lands.

It would quickly come to a showdown.