Howard Zinn on Andrew Jackson

“In the 1830s, under Andrew Jackson and then his successor Martin Van Buren, the military moved against the Indians in the southeastern United States in what was officially called, in the title of the law authorizing it, Indian Removal. Today we'd call it ethnic cleansing.”

“This is a part of Indian history that I did not learn in school. I learned about Custer's Last Stand. I learned about Buffalo Bill. But I did not learn about Indian Removal. I learned that Andrew Jackson was a hero, a Democrat. I didn't learn that he was a killer of Indians, that he broke his promises to the Indians and that their fate was to be driven out of their land.”