Jacksonland is the thrilling narrative history of two men—President Andrew Jackson and Cherokee chief John Ross—who led their respective nations at a crossroads of American history. Five decades after the Revolutionary War, the United States approached a constitutional crisis. At its center stood two former military comrades locked in a struggle that tested the boundaries of our fledgling … fledgling democracy. Jacksonland is their story.
One man we recognize: Andrew Jackson—war hero, populist, and exemplar of the expanding South—whose first major initiative as president instigated the massive expulsion of Native Americans known as the Trail of Tears. The other is a half-forgotten figure: John Ross—a mixed-race Cherokee politician and diplomat—who used the United States’ own legal system and democratic ideals to oppose Jackson. Representing one of the Five Civilized Tribes who had adopted the ways of white settlers—cultivating farms, publishing a newspaper in their own language, and sending children to school—Ross championed the tribes’ cause all the way to the Supreme Court. He gained allies like Senator Henry Clay, Chief Justice John Marshall, and even Davy Crockett. In a fight that seems at once distant and familiar, Ross and his allies made their case in the media, committed civil disobedience, and benefited from the first mass political action by American women. Their struggle contained ominous overtures of later events like the Civil War and set the pattern for modern-day politics.
At stake in this struggle was the land of the Five Civilized Tribes. In shocking detail, Jacksonland reveals how Jackson, as a general, extracted immense wealth from his own armies’ conquest of native lands. Later, as president, Jackson set in motion the seizure of tens of millions of acres—“Jacksonland”—in today’s Deep South.
Jacksonland is the work of renowned journalist Steve Inskeep, cohost of NPR’s Morning Edition, who offers here a heart-stopping narrative masterpiece, a tragedy of American history that feels ripped from the headlines in its immediacy, drama, and relevance to our lives.
Harrowing, inspiring, and deeply moving, Inskeep’s Jacksonland is the story of America at a moment of transition, when the fate of states and nations was decided by the actions of two heroic yet tragically opposed men.
CANDICE MILLARD, author of Destiny of the Republic and The River of Doubt
“Inskeep tells this, one of the most tragic and transformative stories in American history, in swift, confident, colorful strokes. So well, and so intimately, does he know his subject that the reader comes away feeling as if Jackson and Ross’s epic struggle for the future of their nations took place yesterday rather than nearly two hundred years ago.”
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Most people where I am from have at least heard of the Trail of Tears. I’d say 80% of those people don’t know the extent to which this exodus devastated native Nations and mired them in distrust. This book offers a window with a wide view, touching a little on many other nations, but focusing on John Ross, Principle Cheif for the Cherokee, and Andrew Jackson, U.S. general and President. The author draws lines between them for their situations in early life, battles fought together, tenacity, and desire to do what they thought their people wanted. He then drives them apart with Jackson’s betray, broken promises, deceit, selfishness, and tangled legal web. The mere fact that Jackson withheld his veto (by a day) on a bill his supporters wanted, just to approve an illegitimate treaty, speaks volumes. It’s maddening to know how close Ross was to success. Just a vote–if only the voters had realized they were about to sacrifice their moral compass just to cast their lots with someone who would betray their interests as well.
I found this book a great resource on all the legal avenues and order of events. It uncovered some great, underlying problems that I hadn’t considered in my research.
If people tell you a war was fought over state’s rights, they are right, and I hate to admit it. It brewed for decades. A state’s right beat, swindle, dispose of, destroy, and displace people who legally live within its perceived borders. To hold a land lottery and give away thriving farms right out from under people’s feet. A state’s right to ignore the Supreme Court and have Jackson turn a blind eye. The right to buy and sell human beings became the cornerstone, once natives left. Occasionally a state defies federal law in a way we consider moral, but these particular acts wouldn’t stand today. At least I hope not.
Because of the need to keep other native nations in peripheral for this plot, some atrocities were glossed over. It’s aggravating to see that time and time again in many history books, but I understand it would distract from the plot in this case.
A good history of the events leading to the “Trail of Tears.” Very informative.
Historical
An interesting look at a little-known part of history, although there was an article in SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE about this period and I think there was a movie made of this part of history. Informative, but the layout of the book was a little confusing.
very informative account of a tragic time in our country. misunderstanding amd greed allowed a terrible injustice to be inflicted on the Indians. very well written and researched.
I really enjoy reading up on history books, most specifically books of this time period. I really loved the story that the author told and how informative it was. I learned some new things from this book that I didn’t know about already. At times it was a little hard to pick up the book and read, but it was very enjoyable in the same sense. I would highly recommend this book.