>>17822364
The only slaughter of natives that I'm aware of was during the Creek War, which was a back and forth affair on the frontier. The trail of tears was not a slaughter, even if a forced march was cruel. Jackson's legacy to the United States simply can not be understated. Even when he was simply a general without a political office, his nearly unilateral actions are what established U.S. control over most of the deep south. He is also the reason that the Spain sold Florida to us because he took it upon himself to go down there and beat their asses before subduing the Seminoles.
People don't like to hear it these days but his policy toward the Indians was essentially just to stop delaying the inevitable. Settlers were expanding out whether the government liked it or not, and leaving sovereign bands of Indians in control along the frontiers just meant never ending conflict. Back and forth massacres and an ever present threat that European powers could use Indian confederations as a threat against the U.S. That situation is untenable for any 19th century American with common sense and Jackson took the same approach that Sherman did in the Civil War. End the problem as swiftly as possible.
