THE TRUTH ABOUT THE TWENTY, PART II

    The Cultural Marxists who wish to efface Andrew Jackson from American history naturally revise that history to promote their agendas. One of the most pervasive myths they've circulated centers on the Indian Relocation of 1838. They've even given colorful names to this incident such as 'The Trail of Tears'. And they employ the usual rhetoric such as 'genocide' and 'a Winter death-march'. It never occurs to those hearing this propaganda that, if Jackson had really intended genocide, a more efficient method than marching people to death would have been employed.

     But no matter, their goal is to discredit American heroes, not focus on the truth. And it's time the truth came out about this, since we'll never hear it from today's Academic Establishment.

      The events leading up to Relocation were rooted in the War of Independence. The British government had forbidden Americans to settle west of the Appalachians to protect vested interests exploiting the resources there. During the War, Lord Cornwallis formulated a plan to incite an Indian uprising against the Patriots. The plan never materialized thanks largely to the energetic initiative of another now-forgotten Dead White Male---George Rogers Clark. Clark captured the entire territory between Appalachia and the Mississippi with a handful of soldiers and won it for America.

        The American government pursued a policy of peaceful co-existence with the Indians, especially in the Southeast One of the Northern tribes, the Shawnees, refused to recognize the new government and were a source of problems. But the 'Five Nations' in the south were semi-autonomous regions. They issued passports, trade treaties and had local governments. 

        The British coveted their lost territory and saw an opportunity to put Cornwallis' plan in motion. Before the War of 1812 began, they were in contact with the Shawnees who secretly built an alliance. The Five Nations betrayed the Americans; and in 1812, the West exploded into a mass Indian uprising.  The Indians not only betrayed the Americans, they were guilty of some of the most hideous atrocities against American nationals---equal in their barbarity to anything perpetrated by the Japanese in WW2. The River Raisin, Fort Mims, and other places no longer remembered were the scenes of these horrors. Two future presidents---William Henry Harrison and Andrew Jackson put the uprising down through some extraordinary efforts.

         The War of 1812 more than anything changed American attitudes towards the Indians; which before had been one of respect. Presidents Monroe and Adams restored the Five Nations, but public pressure was deeply against it. Clashes between settlers and Indians became more frequent and more violent; political leaders worried---not without reason---about the Indian homeland as a security threat. Jackson shared in that concern, but sought to do justice to the Indians. In 1835 a treaty between the US and the Five Nations stipulated that the Indians would cede the Southeast in exchange for a gift of land beyond the Mississippi. The Indians agreed, and the territory would be ceded by 1838. (As a side note, Jackson's fears of a 'security risk' came true: the Five Nations later joined the Confederacy in the Civil War).

         By 1838, 3/4 of the Indians had already moved. The Jackson Administration took the former territories by Right of Eminent Domain. General Winfield Scott was ordered to remove the remaining Indians to the new territory. Scott brought wagon trains with him. The only actual marching done on the Trail of Tears were Scott's soldiers. The Indians rode in wagons.

        Scott hoped to reach the Mississippi River before Winter, where our oppressive government had contracted steamships at taxpayer expense to ferry the Indians across. But in the Fall of 1838, an epidemic broke out. Scott was forced to set up camp and over-winter while Jackson rushed in medical supplies, provisions, and reinforcements. By Spring 1839, the plague subsided and Scott moved on to the Mississippi without further incident. One of the steamships conveying the Indians had a boiler explosion and sank---despite Scott's rescue efforts several lives were lost. But in the end, Scott was commended for his management of the mission, which was an extremely complicated one.

        So the vast majority of deaths in the infamous winter death march came from a plague and a riverboat disaster that claimed more than a few dead white males as well. There is not one authentic account or verifiable proof that Scott committed any atrocities whatsoever.

       What isn't in any doubt is that the Indian 'activists' of today follow the same patterns as their forefathers: living tax-free on free government land; sucking down every government handout available---then paying us back by selling out to our enemies, the Cultural Marxists, and complaining constantly about the raw deal they think they're getting. And the histories written and revised about them by Left-Wing Academia portrays the Indian about as realistically as this: