How did the Indians fare under President Jackson's administration?

For Native Americans in the South and the Midwest, Andrew Jackson's presidency (and indeed his entire career in public life) was a total disaster. Jackson made a name for himself as an Indian fighter during the War of 1812 and the Creek and Seminole Wars, and when he became President, a major priority of his was removing the Native peoples of the Southeast to "Indian Territory" in modern-day Oklahoma. He authorized the states to conclude...

For Native Americans in the South and the Midwest, Andrew Jackson's presidency (and indeed his entire career in public life) was a total disaster. Jackson made a name for himself as an Indian fighter during the War of 1812 and the Creek and Seminole Wars, and when he became President, a major priority of his was removing the Native peoples of the Southeast to "Indian Territory" in modern-day Oklahoma. He authorized the states to conclude treaties with natives within their borders, which some tribes, or more accurately some factions within some tribes, agreed to under duress. Those who did not agree were forced from their lands by whites who, encouraged by Jackson's aggressive stance, staked their claims. The Cherokee, angry at this treatment, challenged the actions of the state of Georgia in the Supreme Court, but when the Court ruled in their favor, Jackson ignored the decision, and instructed his advisors to continue to enforce removal. The process included even after Jackson's presidency, with the Cherokee embarking on the disastrous "Trail of Tears" in 1838. Through Jackson's policies, the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole were almost entirely driven from their lands by 1840.