Other visitors asked Jackson about his legacy, including Indian removal, a subject that troubled Americans. By 1845, more than 46,000 Indians had been relocated west. The action gained an empire, but at a terrible cost. "I fought through the Civil War," said one soldier years later, "and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest I ever saw."
Jackson knew the horrors of removal from the reports of military
officers. They had been aghast at the suffering that the
policy unleashed. To the end, Old Hickory defended the move on the grounds of economic and social necessity, even humanity toward the Indians.
Yet, to the end, the questions would linger.
Sources: Karsner 387, Remini 3: 302, 314.
Part 3, Exile: l