Andrew Jackson is considered the first U.S. president to be elected by appealing to the mass of voters rather than the party elite. Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830; that led directly to the Trail of Tears, during which 100,000 Native people were displaced and 15,000 died, as well as the Second Seminole War. His policy justified the federal government’s clearance of Native people from the eastern United States and elsewhere. He resolved the Nullification Crisis in 1832–33 by establishing the principle that U.S. states may not disregard federal law.
What were Andrew Jackson’s accomplishments?
How did Andrew Jackson become well-known in the United States?
During the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson, as the leader of the Tennessee militia, decisively defeated Creek fighters who were allied with the British. His defeat of the British in the Battle of New Orleans (1815) cemented his reputation as a war hero among Americans. In 1817–18, during the First Seminole War, he led U.S. forces in attacks on Seminole villages and took control of Spanish posts that hastened the acquisition of Florida by the United States.
