ABSTRACT

The period from 1812 to 1861 was dominated by the Age of Jackson. It was an era of explosive expansion for the United States. The policies of President Andrew Jackson (1767–1845), a Tennessee-born soldier, politician, and planter, were especially important from an African American perspective. Jackson was largely responsible for resolving the national political and Constitutional debate about conflicts between the notions that “all men are created equal” and permanent Black chattel slavery and the rights of Native Americans. Jackson determined that both groups were to be subjugated to permanent slavery and dispossession under the aegis of official national government policy. For these non-White minorities, he shaped the political economy and social fabric of the United States for almost 200 years. 1