Andrew Jackson

During the War of 1812 (1812–15), Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek in the Southwest and became a national hero after the Battle of New Orleans (1815), a reputation that fueled his successful bid for the presidency in 1829. Historians debate who “won” the war—the United States or Britain, which had depended on Native American alliances, such as those with Tecumseh and his confederacy of Native nations. But they agree that the Native Americans, who were dispossessed of their lands, lost the most. Half of the Creek territory (most of today’s Alabama) was ceded to the United States without payment.