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During Jackson’s presidency there were several foreign policy issues that took place. First, Jackson led troops against the Native Americans in order to clear the land east of the Mississippi River. Land was won when the First Seminole War took place in Spanish Florida from 1817 to 1818. The U.S. was attempting to recapture the black slaves that had fled further down south in order to live with the Seminole Indians so they would not have to be slaves anymore. Andrew Jackson quickly defeated the Seminole Indians. After several U.S. military trips to Spanish Florida, Spain gave the United States the state of Florida, as the Adams-Onis Treaty states. Jackson decided that the best way to go would be passing the Indian Removal Act in 1830. This gave the Indians land west of the Mississippi River if they left their homes in the east. Around 100 million acres of Indian land was cleared because of this law. From 1838 to 1839, more than 15,000 Cherokee men, women, and children had been made to leave their homes in the Southern Appalachian Mountains to harsh camps, after walking hundreds of miles to get to their new Indian Territory (which is now Oklahoma today). The difficult conditions helped spread diseases and illnesses quicker which led to many deaths. This walkway that they took is known as The Trail of Tears. Also, The Creek War took place in 1814. Jackson had commanded the U.S. military forces that defeated some of the Creek (Indians) territory.The Creeks lost 22 million acres of land in southern Georgia and central Alabama. In addition, new land was added on to the United States. During Jackson’s presidency, he negotiated the U.S. through 9 out of 11 treaties. As a result, the United States gained more land including over three-quarters of Alabama and Florida, parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Kirsten Schroy

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