A Little More About Joel Poinsett-- Part 3

In a new biography on Joel Poinsett, "Flowers, Guns and Money," author Lindsay Schakenbach describes him as a cosmopolitan, political and economic pragmatist who conspired with a Chilean independence leader and colluded with British bankers in Mexico.

Though he was a slaveowner, he opposed secession and he didn't live to see the Civil War.

As far as the removal of Indigenous people is concerned,"...because Poinsett belonged to learned societies, contributed to botanists collections and purchased art from Europe, he could more readily justify the expulsion of native from their homes," she writes.

--Cooter

A Native American Timeline-- Part 4: Sacagawea, Lewis & Clark, War of 1812 and the Indian Removal Act

**  NOVEMBER 2, 1804:  Sacagawea, six months pregnant,  meets explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their exploration of the territory of the Louisiana Purchase.  The explorers realize her value as a translator.

**  APRIL 7, 1805:  Sacagawea, along with her baby and husband Toussaint Charbonneau, join Lewis and Clark on their expedition.

**  NOVEMBER 1811:    U.S. forces attack War Chief Tecumseh and his younger brother Lalawwethika.  Their community at the juncture of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers is destroyed.

**  JUNE 18, 1812:  President James Madison signs a declaration of war against the British, beginning the War of 1812.  The war was fought between the the United States and the British, Canadians and their Indian allies.  A huge issue for the Indians is American territorial expansion.

**  MARCH 27, 184:  Andrew Jackson and his American force and Indian allies attack Creek Indians opposing American expansion into their land at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.  The Creeks lost and ceded more than twenty million acres of land to the United States.

**  MAY 28, 1830:  President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act which gives them land west of the Mississippi River in exchange for land that is taken from them east of the river.

--DaCoot

A Native American Timeline-- Part 1: Speaking of Indigenous Peoples

From the History.com site.

Long before Christopher Columbus stepped foot on what was to become known as the Americas, the expansive territory was inhabited by  Native Americans.  Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, as more explorers sought to colonize their land,  Native Americans responded   in various ways, from cooperation to indignation to revolt.

After siding with the French in numerous battles during the French and Indian War and eventually being forcibly removed from their homes during Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act, Native American populations were diminished in size and territory by the end of the 19th century.

Here are some of the events that shaped  their history after the arrival of the Europeans:

**  1492: Christopher Columbus lands on a Caribbean Island after three months of traveling.  Believing at first that he has reached the East Indies, he called the natives Indians.  On his first day, he orders six natives  seized to become servants.

**  APRIL 1513:  Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon  lands on continental North America in Florida and makes contact with Native Americans.

--Cooter

Ten Facts About President Andrew Jackson-- Part 2: Duels and a Giant Block of Cheese

6.  Fought Indians but adopted two of them  As president, he signed the Indian Removal Act which led to the Trail of Tears tragedy.

7.  Was a friend of Aaron Burr.

8.  Had a long history of dueling, being in at least a dozen and killed a man in one of them.

9.  Beat up a man who attempted to assassinate him in 1806.

10.  He really did have a giant block of cheese in the White House in 1835.  It was a 1,400 pound block of cheese which kept for two years.

Reckon I'll have a Slice o' That Cheese.  --DaCheese