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President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab
Penguin Press
May 2015
On Sale: May 19, 2015
422 pages
ISBN: 1594205566
EAN: 9781594205569
Kindle: B00OZ0TKG6
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction History
Jacksonland is the thrilling narrative history of two menโPresident Andrew Jackson and Cherokee chief John Rossโwho led their respective nations at a crossroads of American history. Five decades after the Revolutionary War, the United States approached a constitutional crisis. At its center stood two former military comrades locked in a struggle that tested the boundaries of our fledgling democracy. Jacksonland is their story.
One man we recognize: Andrew Jacksonโwar hero, populist, and exemplar of the expanding Southโwhose first major initiative as president instigated the massive expulsion of Native Americans known as the Trail of Tears. The other is a half-forgotten figure: John Rossโa mixed-race Cherokee politician and diplomatโwho used the United Statesโ own legal system and democratic ideals to oppose Jackson. Representing one of the Five Civilized Tribes who had adopted the ways of white settlersโcultivating farms, publishing a newspaper in their own language, and sending children to schoolโRoss championed the tribesโ cause all the way to the Supreme Court. He gained allies like Senator Henry Clay, Chief Justice John Marshall, and even Davy Crockett. In a fight that seems at once distant and familiar, Ross and his allies made their case in the media, committed civil disobedience, and benefited from the first mass political action by American women. Their struggle contained ominous overtures of later events like the Civil War and set the pattern for modern-day politics.
At stake in this struggle was the land of the Five Civilized Tribes. In shocking detail, Jacksonland reveals how Jackson, as a general, extracted immense wealth from his own armiesโ conquest of native lands. Later, as president, Jackson set in motion the seizure of tens of millions of acresโโJacksonlandโโin todayโs Deep South.
Jacksonland is the work of renowned journalist Steve Inskeep, cohost of NPRโs Morning Edition, who offers here a heart-stopping narrative masterpiece, a tragedy of American history that feels ripped from the headlines in its immediacy, drama, and relevance to our lives.
Harrowing, inspiring, and deeply moving, Inskeepโs Jacksonland is the story of America at a moment of transition, when the fate of states and nations was decided by the actions of two heroic yet tragically opposed men.
 Media BuzzDiane Rehm Show - NPR - May 21, 2015
PBS News Hour - May 19, 2015
Morning Edition - May 19, 2015
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