How Did Land Affect The Life Of Andrew Jackson

Throughout history land has been directly connected to ones status within society, Andrew Jackson was aware of this statement. When Jackson became president in the summer of 1865 he reversed the orders once given by President Lincoln. Jackson ordered that all land that was recently acquired by freed slaves in Georgia and South Carolina be returned to its previous owner. Major General O.O. Howard was given the duty to inform the freed slaves of Edisto Island, South Carolina of the saddening news. This act of power towards the freed slaves was a direct smack in the face. In their sorrow state the once freed slaves wrote up a petition directed towards the government to that encouraged them to allow the freed slaves that once occupied the land to purchase if given the opportunity (Foner 566). After years of work day in and day they had received no benefits in return. When Lincoln emancipated them, it allowed them to finally gain a benefit from their labor: land. In the document they plead many cases for why they should receive the land. One being, as slaves they were “treated like dumb driven cattle,” (Foner 566). Land to Jackson and other white men was just a reward that was a physical but to slaves land had a powerful emotional connection since they had become one with the land and it was part of who they were as a

Through their enslavement they worked day in and day out without anything to show for it. A few freed slaves were given the opportunity to become sharecroppers. As sharecroppers, they were given part of the profit that was made by the crops but they were bound to a contract that still held some of their freedoms captive. They were forced to follow orders but in return their families did receive clothing and other expenses at unfairly ratio that worked in the planation owner’s benefit. The freed man had no better option since they were for once receiving the benefits of their