Andrew Jackson, served at 13 as a courier in the Revolutionary war and was captured and held as a POW by the British and starved to near death, and slashed with a sword on the face and hands for his defiance (he bore those scars for the rest of his life). He was a major general in the War of 1812, commanded U.S. forces in a five-month campaign against that decimated the Cree, then allies of the British and a thorn in our side that other men had failed to control. After Horseshoe Bend, Jackson led his troops to a decisive victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans. In 1817, on his own authority as commander, Jackson personally ordered an invasion of Florida. After he captured two Spanish forts, he claimed the surrounding land for the United States. So you can thank Andy Jackson for Florida. As president he fought encroaching federal powers, including the Central Bank, supported states rights, and helped pay for the war by taking the rightful spoils of war in terms of Indian lands. Now what in the He!! did Harriet Tubman do for American interests, in comparison?
Great post, thank you. (#65) I was hoping someone who knows American history would speak up for Jackson. A Democrat, but one of our greatest presidents.
Harriet Tubman should be remembered as a woman who risked her life over and over to protect the inalienable right of liberty for people who had none.
But that doesn’t diminish Jackson’s accomplishments and so he shouldn’t be usurped to honor her.