Andrew Jackson

1767 – 1845

Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, forcibly expelling tens of thousands of Native Americans from their southeastern homelands and causing thousands of deaths during the Trail of Tears, while openly refusing to enforce a Supreme Court decision protecting tribal sovereignty. He was a lifelong slaveholder who expanded the political power of slavery and brutally suppressed abolitionist efforts. His dismantling of the Second Bank of the United States precipitated a catastrophic economic depression, and he entrenched the spoils system, corrupting the federal bureaucracy by filling offices with unqualified political loyalists.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM