Setting Andrew Jackson Straight About Indians, Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone

ANDREW JACKSON did not like Indians, although he adopted an Indian child, perhaps from guilt stemming from his slaughter of Indians in various battles, including Horseshoe Bend. Jackson, a self proclaimed Christian, was actually the first American president who was openly, unabashedly Christian. (see Mathew Stewart "Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic") Jackson, like most nineteenth century Americans, regarded native Americans as something less than fully human, owing to their lack of enculturation into European-American culture, and the absence of christian faith in their lives. For this, and for other reasons, Jackson and David Crockett, the hillbilly Congress person from Tennessee, became political enemies. Crockett began his political career as a follower of Jackson, but parted company over the controversy surrounding the Bank of the United States, and the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Crockett wanted the national bank to continue, Jackson did not. Jackson wanted to force all native Americans to move west of the Mississippi, Crockett did not, because, as he said, the government had promised the natives they could remain in Georgia and other eastern locations forever. Crockett believed in keeping promises. Crockett eventually became so anti-Jackson that he started referring to the seventh president as "The Government", a derogatory term, meant to imply that Jackson was behaving like a dictator. Crockett,like his idol Daniel Bone, preferred Indians to "white" people, and both said they never wanted to live where there were no Indians, whom they considered to be of superior integrity and lifestyle. Both Boone and Crockett, whose attitudes and lives were remarkably similar, kept moving west as they grew older, in large part to be away from white settlers and to be closer to Indians. In today's world, the native Americans are still living in poverty on reservations, and there are many controversies and difficulties concerning their voting rights, as illustrated by the recent mid term election. Crockett and Boone would have been appalled at the treatment of Indians beyond their lifetimes (Boone died in 1820, Crockett in 1836.) In Eastern Oklahoma live many Indian tribes today, and they have been granted the wonderful opportunity to operate casinos, a questionable enterprise, due to the massive corruption associated with casino operations. That The five civilized tribe (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole) would be consigned to a corner of Oklahoma and would base much of their livelihood on casino revenues would doubtless be appalling to both Boone and Crockett, and both men would beyond doubt find it incredibly unjust that so often there would be barriers erected to the voting rights of native-Americans. all we can do now is long for the mores of Daniel Boone and David Crockett (he didn't like being called "Davy"), and hope to God that Indian votes finally get counted. Its the least we can do.