Andrew Jacksons Invasion of Florida - Research Paper Example

? Andrew Jackson’s Invasion of Florida s Introduction Andrew Jacksonwas born on the border between South and North Carolina. He studied law and was appointed a prosecutor. For one year, Jackson was appointed as a representative of the Tennessee’s congress. In 1798-1804, he offered his services to the Tennessee Supreme Court as a Judge. He was selected the major general in 1812 in the volunteer corps. In October 1813, after the uprising of Creek Indians, Andrew Jackson led a troop of two thousand five hundred Tennessee forces who fought against the Creek Indians. During the invasion, they were able to triumph over one thousand Indian warriors. In the same year and month, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida and managed to capture Pensacola. He also managed to conquer the west and north of New Orleans where he took the city’s defense. After signing of the Ghent treaty in January 8, 1815, Andrew Jackson and his troops won over the British regulators who had invaded New Orleans making Andrew Jackson a hero. In 1817, President Monroe directed Jackson to make efforts and stop the attacking of Georgia settlers by Seminole Indians. Nevertheless, he was ordered not to invade Florida. He was only allowed to do that if he were in pursuit of the enemy (Seminoles). On the contrary, Jackson disobeyed the order and invaded Florida. The purpose of the paper is to analyze Andrew Jackson’s invasion of Florida.1 Andrew Jackson’s Invasion of Florida During early 19th century, the United States of America grew rapidly and covered the lower south part of the continent. This was known to be the home of Choctaw, Creek and Cherokee, Seminole and Chicasaw nations. The white Americans viewed these Indian nations as obstacle in the progress of the country. Determined to acquire land and grow cotton, the federal government was pressured by the white settlers to acquire the territory of the Indian. From Tennessee, Andrew Jackson proposed the removal of Indians. In 1814, the USA military forces were commanded by Andrew Jackson and were able to defeat a section of the Creek nation. As a result of the group defeat, the federal government was able to acquire land in central Alabama and southern Georgia. In 1818, the United States was able to acquire more land, engineered by the motive to discipline the Seminoles for accommodating the fugitive slaves. As a result, Spanish Florida was invaded by Jackson’s troops. Jackson was influential in the negotiation of the nine treaties out of the available eleven between 1814 and 1824. The treaties were significant in negotiating between the eastern tribes and the government. The tribe was required to exchange its eastern lands with those in the west. The tribes agreed but under some conditions. For instance, they aimed at shielding themselves from the harassment of the white settlers and also appeasing the government with the hopes of retaining part of their land. The United States of America was able to acquire and gain control over three quarters of the land in Florida and Alabama as a result of the treaties. In addition to that, they controlled land in Tennessee, North Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia. This was a time that a few Creeks, Choctaws and Cherokees decided to migrate voluntarily to their new land2. According to Andrew Jackson, the United States of America needed Florida for their economic prosperity. The United States of America was unbalanced due to Indian and Spanish occupation of Florida. As he (Andrew Jackson) further observed, the United States of America economy relied on Florida and other nearby states. Jackson blamed the Spaniards and Indians in Florida for channeling resources to their mother country. Huge portions of land were occupied and owned by Spaniards and Indians there. The Americans residing in Florida served as informal workers in the Indian and Spanish farms. Due to his nationalistic characteristic, Jackson had to use power to eliminate the Indians and Spaniards from Florida as dialogue was not valid at that time. Invasion was the only option to achieve his goals. Jackson’s attitude towards the residents of Florida forced him to invade this territory. The attitude can be best described as patronizing and paternalistic. He was after revenging the unethical deeds done to the American residents by the Indians and Spaniards in Florida. The acts were such as the continued attacks and execution of the Americans. He also wanted to reign the Spanish and Indian settlers’ occupied regions. This can be exemplified by the manners in which he conducted his activities in the region. He intervened even in the areas where he was not permitted to interfere by the United States of America president. According to him, he wanted to separate the Indians from the white for the sake of the Indians in Florida. This was just an excuse but not his center objective. His core purpose in the invasion was to revenge for the past offences and to obtain land from the Spaniards and Indians in Florida. In 1812, Jackson emphasized on the important of eliminating the Spaniards from the southwest parts of the United States of America. He never waited for the congress approval in his projected mission. The aim of eliminating the Spaniards was to generate more room for the America to inflate with minimum interruptions. The first step of his strategy was to do away with any Indian buffer zone that existed between the United States of America and the territories belonging to Spain. After frequent preliminary impediments, Jackson overcame several Creek Indian tribes who were working hand in hand with the British Empire during the liberation war. After the setbacks, Jackson declined to comply with the requirements of the treaty of Ghent that did not identify his victory. To counter that, he made numerous accords with the Indian tribes to execute them from Louisiana areas. During this time, Jackson was very open in his mission of eliminating the Spaniards from Florida, Texas and Mexico. After accomplishing his mission, Jackson had acquired about one third of Tennessee, three fourths of Florida and Alabama and also one fifth of Georgia and Mississippi3. The main content in the Ghent treaty was the consent of understanding between the mother country and the British colony. In reference to the treaty, the British government was prohibited from hindering the United States of America from occupying the South and West parts of the country. The United States of America reiterated to the agreement by arming the Northern part of the country with their armed forces. The action left the Spaniards with very partial domination in Florida where it had very limited military representatives and provincial administration. Since the reign of Jefferson, America had an exhaustive crave for Florida although the congress declined to sanction any military act against the Spanish4. The attack of American territory in 1817 by the Seminoles gave Jackson a concrete reason for continuous attack of the Indians. The Seminoles had maneuvered out of Spanish Florida and had declined to resign from the America land under various treaties. They were very resistant to the American military troops that attempted to relocate them from the land they claimed to be theirs. The America settlers instigated recurrent attacks in Florida and liberated the Amelia Island although they later sought government intervention when the Spanish forces attempted to expel them. During this time, the Monroe administration directed local commanders to embark on an attack to the Seminole raiders in Florida. They were further directed to stop the raid should the raiders seek asylum in the Spanish army camps. At the same time, Monroe positioned Jackson in control of broader coverage. He ordered him to come up with the most comprehensive measure to stop conflict in Florida. Jackson recommended the acquisition of all Spanish territory as the best way of ending the tension in Florida. Jackson requested for authorization to execute his recommendation from the Monroe. At first the Monroe declined the request. Afterward, Monroe through an autonomous letter authorized Jackson to exercise his command against the Seminoles. In the letter, Jackson was further directed to intervene at the Amelia Island. Jackson was advised by Monroe to take all the obligatory action to ensure the problem in Florida is solved once and for all5. Jackson took full authority bestowed to him by the Monroe to attack Florida. He promised the president of conquering Florida within a time span of six days. In his first attack in 1818, Jackson led to troop of more than 3,000 usual and unpaid assistant to tarnish and diminish the main Indian settlement. The attack took place near the present time Tallahassee. During the attack, Jackson got laid of two very senior British citizens (Alexander Arbuthnot and Roberts Ambrister). They were alleged to be the higher-ranking consultant of the Seminoles in Florida. He (Jackson) summoned a military commission to try the two as proscribed under his power as the commander in the field. The two were found guilty and were sentenced to death. Jackson’s second attack was in Pensacola. This area was occupied by the Spaniards. He apprehended the area on the allegation that hostile Indians were sandwiched inside. After intensive scrutiny no Indians were found in Pensacola. During this attack, the Spanish armies admitted defeat after a diminutive battle. Additionally, no casualty was reported on both sides. The Spanish who resided in this area were forced to move to Cuba. In June, Jackson declared Florida State to have been relinquished to the United States of America. In the same month, he constituted a temporary government and selected professional officials to man the government. Jackson conquest in the battle field inverted the political arena in the United States of America. Jackson embarked on his political missions with minimum interference from Monroe during the spring and summer time in 1818. After the war, the secretary of the war at that time John Calhoun alleged Jackson had transgressed his constitution obligation during the war. He recommended his punishment. Afterwards, the allegation was overruled by the Secretary of the State John Quincy. According to the Secretary of the State, the attack in Pensacola was defensible by military necessity. Under the United States of America constitution at that time, the attack on Pensacola required an announcement of combat from the congress. Monroe justified the attack although claimed the commander surpassed his regulations. After a lengthy debate on the issue, Jackson took the liability of the attack but insisted Monroe had authorized the attack6. As per the USA constitution at that time, the congress initiated an investigation on Jackson behavior during the attack. The house speaker at that time, Clay sought for Jackson’s reprimand along with legislation limiting the executive from attacking foreign terrain without congressional consent. During this time, the public was furious about the congress action against Jackson. The public were in support of Jackson actions during the invasion process. The speaker’s proposal to authorize Jackson was defeated in the house. The house defended Jackson attack at the Spanish government as relevant to avert further Indian invasion in the American territory. On February 22, 1819, Adam arrived at conformity with the Spaniards in the Adams-Onis treaty relinquishing Florida to the United States of America in the substitute for America suppositions of assert to Spain of up to $5 million7. As the United States of America president, Jackson was free from the indictment of leading the country into war. During his tenure, he still insisted that the Spaniards should return the acquired ground to Americans. He blamed the Adams- Onis treaty for surrendering out Texas to foreigners. Out of his ideology as the United States of America president, he propelled a group of diplomats to Mexico City to confer for Texas. At the same time, the Americans in Texas aggressively fought for their independent and seizure. In his term as the president of the United States of America, he fought tiredly to acquire back all the states which were acquired by the Spaniards and Indians in America. He utilized all the available means and resources to ensure that the country was liberated from foreigners. His effort acquired backup from all corners of the United States of America8. Conclusion Andrew Jackson has a very remarkable reputation in the United States of America record. His footsteps are still accessible and emulated. His action and activities are still vibrant in the country social, political, and economic sphere. According to him (Andrew Jackson), his scheme to invade Florida was to distance the Indians from the whites for the sake of their (Indian) interest and safety. In some extreme, this idea convinced his army against doing any mischief to the Indians. As a matter of fact, his foremost aim was not to protect the interest of the Indians but his core interest was to ensure Indians and Spaniards were excluded from America. The past actions of Indians and Americans aggravated Jackson in his behavior. His attack in Florida was to some scope viewed as an attempt to revenge for the past actions. Andrew Jackson’s attack in Florida had a very industrious outcome to the residents of America and the broad-spectrum of the country’s economy. As per his ambitions, he managed to eradicate his perceived obstacles to the growth of American economy. In this case, obstacles were denoted as the Indians and the Spaniards who occupied the immense part of the American prolific areas. Spaniards and Indians were moved to less productive land in the country. Their area of resident was demarcated from the white residential areas. This frustration forced a large number of foreign settlers to shift to their native countries. Those who remained were moved to other areas for favorable businesses. The Florida invasion necessitated recovery of million acres of land initially occupied by Spaniards and Indians. This land incorporates some of the most productive land in the current American economy. Jackson opened up 100 million acres of land to the white settlers in Florida. In response, he gave thirty million acres of land in Oklahoma and Kansas and a supplementary seventy million dollars to the Indians and Spaniards who resided in Florida. The acquired lands have benefited the country economy significantly. It transformed the American squatters to very industrious people in the country. His effort of liberating Florida fertile land from the Indians has a significant effect in the country’s modern economy. Currently, Florida State is one of the main contributors to the United States of America economy. In general, Andrew Jackson’s effort in Florida was treasured by the United States of America inhabitants. The country residences bestowed him with the authority to administer the country properties and possessions. He was conferred with the command to oversee the activities and functions of the populace of the United States of America. His effort aided the full liberation of the United States from the Spanish and Indian domination. He is all integrated in the American narration as the founder father of the country. Democratic Party still preserves his ideologies and entity. Despite of his superior and remarkable contribution to the country welfare, he had a couple of deficiencies. He at time failed to abide by the constitution which presides over in the United States of America. He implemented a good number of his philosophies out of his own determination. The assault of the Spaniards in Florida was not necessary and was against the constitution. Although no casualties were reported in this case, his actions were illegal and uncalled for. On the other hand, competent leaders are not guided by the quest for vengeance. Meekness and tolerance is what constitutes a good leader. His action to revenge against Indians and Spaniards in Florida was punishable. Bibliography Duisenberg, B. Monument to the memory of General Andrew Jackson. (New York: NY 2007). 295 Frost, G. George F Kennan, memoirs 1925-1950 (New York, NY: Hutchinson, 1968). 45 Jackson, A. The papers of Andrew Jackson: 1825-1828. (Tennessee: university of Tennessee press, 2002). 14 Mcculloch, D. A Faustian foreign policy from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush (London: Cambridge university press). 346 Meier, A. Congress investigates: A documented history, 1792-1974 (London: university of Michigan press, 2007). 40 Peter, W. A concise narrative of General Jackson first invasion of Florida: And of his immortal defense of New Orleans with remarks (Columbia: university of Columbia press, 2009). 26 Rogin, G. M. Father and children: Andrew Jackson and the subjugation of the American Indian (London: Michigan publishers, 1975). 420 Read More