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Previously on "The Men Who
Built America: Frontiersmen.."

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Lewis and Clark
achieve the impossible..

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...reaching the Pacific..

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...claiming new land
for the US..

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...and infuriating
Great Britain.

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By 1812..

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...the frontier is again
a battleground..

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...and America's survival..

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...is once more in peril.

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Whoa-oa-oa whoa-oa-oa

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Across the northern frontier

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the US is fighting
its second war in 30 years

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against Great Britain and
its Native American allies

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and it's losing.

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Aah!

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Legendary war chief, Tecumseh

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has already captured
a key American fort.

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In an unprecedented move

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the Shawnee leader
has united warriors

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from two dozen different tribes.

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He now leads them in raids
meant to drive

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American settlers
from native lands.

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His goal,
create a pan-Indian nation

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west of the Appalachians.

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It's a mission that fills
America's leaders with fear.

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This Pan-Indian alliance

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was a nightmare
for the American government.

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This could potentially

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seriously would impede,
uh, the forward progress

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of the future United States.

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And so, he had to be eliminated

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because this possibility
was too much

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for the American government
to accept.

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By 1813, Tecumseh's warriors

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dominate a large area
in the Ohio Valley

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territory that Britain
ceded to the US

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after the revolution.

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To secure the frontier

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the US government
assigns a seasoned soldier

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to confront Tecumseh..

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...one of the few men who has
defeated him in the past

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his long-time adversary

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William Henry Harrison.

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The leadership
of the United States

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believed that Tecumseh's
alliance with Britain

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could be a factor,
a major factor

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in the US
possibly losing the war.

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I don't know
if William Henry Harrison

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had a personal vendetta
against Native Americans

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but his military career
is defined by that.

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He was well known as ruthless.

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And when it comes
to the War of 1812

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he has this inherent vitriol.

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He wanted Tecumseh dead.

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As Harrison prepares
to march north

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the fight for the frontier
escalates in the south..

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...as Britain encourages
a breakaway group

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of Creek Indians
known as the Red Sticks

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to attack settlements

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inciting fear
throughout the south.

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They destroy an American outpost

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killing 500 men,
women and children..

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...in what becomes known

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as the Fort Mims Massacre.

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They decided to raise
the banner of war

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against the whites
to resist white encroachment.

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And if they would have
taken the position

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that this was, uh, simply
a defense of their homeland.

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But to American settlers,
it represented a grave threat

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to the security
of the American frontier.

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With the army fighting
Tecumseh on the northern front

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President Madison
calls on the militia

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closest
to the Mississippi Territory

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to defend the south.

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In Tennessee..

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...one commander has been
waiting for the chance

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to join the fight.

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His name..

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...is Andrew Jackson.

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This was a person

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who started life
very much at the bottom

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very much on his own

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and was determined
to make something of himself.

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And so, one way
for an ambitious young person

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to rise would be to go to war

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and to win glory in war.

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Jackson's the perfect man
for the job.

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He's spent a lifetime
building a reputation

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as a man who gets results.

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Ten years earlier..

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...he was a tough
backcountry judge

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known for taking the law
into his own hands.

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There was one instance where

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there was a particularly
vicious bully

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who was wanted for murder

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and no one wanted to arrest him.

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So he decides
to take it on himself.

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Andrew Jackson
was a loose cannon.

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He would take bullwhips
to people.

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He pursued duels

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long after
duels were out of fashion.

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He would come to blows
with people.

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There are countless examples

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of when he just took matters
into his own hands.

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One of the most famous stories
of Jackson

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is how he gets into a bar fight

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gets shot in the arm, uh

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and just right before the doctor
is about to amputate

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he grabs the doctor and says

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"You cut off my arm,
I'm gonna kill you."

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There was nothing
that was gonna keep him down

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including an infection
from a bullet in his arm.

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Now, Jackson has the greatest
opportunity of his life.

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He leads more than 2500
volunteer militiamen south

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to destroy
the Red Stick faction.

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But first, he has to find them.

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As Jackson searches
for the Red Stick warriors

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in the north,
William Henry Harrison

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and his 3000 troops

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are just a day's march from
Tecumseh's camp near Lake Erie.

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The Shawnee war chief
is planning his own revenge.

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Two years earlier

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Harrison destroyed
Tecumseh's capital

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Prophetstown.

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Now, Tecumseh meets
with his British allies

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to plan a carefully coordinated ambush.

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He says,
"If your men can hold the line

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our men
can take care of the rest."

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The British will attack

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Harrison's army as they march

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and push them towards the woods

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where Tecumseh and his warriors

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will be waiting to crush them

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as they retreat.

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Tecumseh knows that Harrison
is leading this force.

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It's gonna be a gun fight.

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And one of them
is not gonna survive that day.

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On October 5, 1813

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Tecumseh and his men
take their positions

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for a battle that could help
decide the outcome of the war

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and the future
of the United States itself.

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On the banks of the Thames River

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Tecumseh and 500 warriors
from half a dozen tribes

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wait to attack US forces.

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Tecumseh's British allies
plan to strike

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William Henry Harrison's
troops head on

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forcing them
to retreat into the woods

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where native warriors

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will ambush them from behind.

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Suddenly, the British
enter the woods..

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...but they're not attacking.

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They're retreating.

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The British last
less than five minutes.

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And the Native American forces

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were outnumbered three to one.

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Tecumseh realizes
that he has to make a stand

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because if he retreats

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they might not be able
to build another army.

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William Henry Harrison has
his bitter rival pinned down

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caught between the Thames River

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and the American troops.

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Tecumseh's forces held

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and they held as long
as they possibly could.

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But without the British,
it was a slaughter.

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When Tecumseh is killed
by Harrison's forces..

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...his Native American
confederacy dies with him.

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I can only imagine what Tecumseh
must have been feeling

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when he realized he'd been
abandoned by the Brits.

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How it must have felt

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to put your trust in white man

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and then
have that trust betrayed

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and it cause your downfall.

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The death of Tecumseh
was an incalculable loss

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for Native America.

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In the wake of, of losing him

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and losing the forces
who fought with him

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the pan-tribal confederacy
failed.

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Shawnee people are never
as powerful and influential

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as they were under Tecumseh

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and so, it's a situation

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of having to come
to the negotiating table

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of having to sign treaties with
the United States Government.

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And they do.

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After years of fighting

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the Shawnee are finally defeated

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and Tecumseh's dream of
regaining a native homeland

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in the Ohio Valley is lost.

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For the United States

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victory
at the Battle of the Thames

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is a turning point in the war.

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They regain control
in the north.

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But 600 miles to the south

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the frontier is still in chaos.

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Andrew Jackson's
leading a campaign

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to find the Red Stick warriors

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responsible
for the Fort Mims Massacre.

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His militia searches
the wilderness for weeks..

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...and finds nothing.

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One of the wonders
of this period for Americans

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is to realize how very different

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the American landscape was then.

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There were relatively few people

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it was mostly wilderness.

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And into this wilderness came
an army of several thousand men

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that was very poorly supplied.

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They were having
to live off the land.

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In the end, what they did
was nearly starve.

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By October, 1813

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Jackson's running out of time.

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If he can't find the Creek Tribe

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he risks losing his
volunteers to desertion.

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00:17:51,070 --> 00:17:53,720
But a new recruit
has just joined his militia.

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00:17:58,686 --> 00:18:01,076
His name is Davy Crockett.

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00:18:09,697 --> 00:18:13,437
Crockett became famous
as a hunter on the frontier

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00:18:13,483 --> 00:18:15,363
over the course
of a long period of time

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of learning
how to exist in the woods.

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He claimed to have shot,
in a seven-month period

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a hundred and five black bears.

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00:18:26,540 --> 00:18:28,720
When Crockett joined the militia

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he was perfect
to chase rogue Creeks

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then got to observe how
they moved through landscape.

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It was something
that he, in fact, emulated.

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With just six months
of formal schooling

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young Crockett's real education

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comes from the frontier itself.

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00:19:00,051 --> 00:19:02,661
Crockett came
from a tradition of woodsmen

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and he would've learned
from his father and his uncles

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00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,100
how to hunt.

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00:19:08,147 --> 00:19:09,577
He learned how to track

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he learned how to identify sign

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scat, broken twigs.

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00:19:27,992 --> 00:19:30,952
Now, Crockett uses
his frontier skills

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00:19:30,995 --> 00:19:33,995
to track the Creek Tribe
for General Jackson.

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00:19:36,653 --> 00:19:40,223
It's just a harrowing
undertaking to do this.

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He wasn't carrying modern-day,
cutting-edge technology.

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So you needed to be an
expert tracker and woodsman.

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You look
at all the sign around you

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00:19:50,580 --> 00:19:52,320
and the tracks
and the markings and the trees.

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You look at everything

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as being something
that is gonna affect

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my next decision
where the Indians might be.

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In just two weeks,
Crockett finds their village

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and the Americans
prepare for revenge.

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00:20:48,595 --> 00:20:52,375
In late 1813,
on the northern frontier

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00:20:52,425 --> 00:20:54,985
victories by the US
diminish the threat

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00:20:55,036 --> 00:20:58,386
posed by Britain's
Native American allies.

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00:20:58,431 --> 00:21:00,081
But to the south

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00:21:00,128 --> 00:21:03,038
native raids
are destroying settlements

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00:21:03,087 --> 00:21:06,307
spreading panic throughout
what is now Alabama.

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00:21:17,145 --> 00:21:19,225
General Andrew Jackson
has been ordered

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00:21:19,278 --> 00:21:21,888
to eliminate
the Creek Indians responsible

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00:21:21,932 --> 00:21:25,282
for killing over 500 settlers
at Fort Mims.

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00:21:30,898 --> 00:21:34,338
After weeks of searching,
Davy Crockett has found them..

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00:21:36,164 --> 00:21:38,124
...giving Jackson
all the information

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00:21:38,166 --> 00:21:40,296
he needs to attack.

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00:21:40,342 --> 00:21:43,392
'Split the men
into two columns.'

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00:21:43,432 --> 00:21:46,132
We'll arrive here
before the sun rises.

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'We'll cross the river
at the low point here and here.'

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00:21:51,092 --> 00:21:52,092
'Yes, sir.'

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Not a single one of them
makes it out.

261
00:22:00,884 --> 00:22:02,364
Prepare the men.

262
00:22:06,107 --> 00:22:07,537
'Scouts!'

263
00:22:11,852 --> 00:22:14,072
Jackson took the position

264
00:22:14,115 --> 00:22:17,025
that the Indians had started
this round of war

265
00:22:17,074 --> 00:22:18,954
by massacring whites.

266
00:22:18,989 --> 00:22:21,509
And he also believed the
lesson to be taught to them was

267
00:22:21,557 --> 00:22:23,517
you don't massacre whites

268
00:22:23,559 --> 00:22:26,209
without expecting
a comparable reprisal.

269
00:22:28,956 --> 00:22:31,386
You kill or you be killed.

270
00:22:31,437 --> 00:22:34,397
That was the world he lived in
and that was the life he chose.

271
00:22:52,980 --> 00:22:55,500
In the early morning hours

272
00:22:55,548 --> 00:22:57,898
nine hundred Tennessee militia

273
00:22:57,941 --> 00:23:01,471
including Davy Crockett,
surround the village.

274
00:24:57,452 --> 00:25:01,942
In only minutes,
186 Creek warriors are killed.

275
00:25:04,154 --> 00:25:07,204
And women and children are
burned alive in their homes..

276
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:14,030
...in what comes to be known
as the Battle of Tallushatchee.

277
00:25:28,396 --> 00:25:30,436
Jackson allowed his men

278
00:25:30,485 --> 00:25:33,225
to engage
in the most bloody reprisal

279
00:25:33,270 --> 00:25:35,060
to teach the Indians a lesson

280
00:25:35,098 --> 00:25:37,408
so they wouldn't do this again.

281
00:25:37,448 --> 00:25:39,228
And it was
as a consequence of this

282
00:25:39,276 --> 00:25:42,236
that people
came to recognize his ability

283
00:25:42,279 --> 00:25:44,929
to defend the country
against its enemies.

284
00:26:06,347 --> 00:26:09,347
Tallushatchee is called
the Battle of Tallushatchee

285
00:26:09,393 --> 00:26:12,483
but it was really more like
the Massacre of Tallushatchee.

286
00:26:18,968 --> 00:26:22,018
They burned 46 people to death.

287
00:26:25,975 --> 00:26:27,535
It was bedlam.

288
00:26:41,251 --> 00:26:44,521
As Crockett phrased it later,
"We shot them like dogs."

289
00:26:48,302 --> 00:26:51,702
The ruthlessness of Jackson's
war against the Creeks

290
00:26:51,740 --> 00:26:54,830
was something that really shook,
uh, Davy Crockett

291
00:26:54,874 --> 00:26:57,624
and reshaped the way
he's looking, uh

292
00:26:57,659 --> 00:27:01,449
at America's treatment
of the Native Americans.

293
00:27:01,489 --> 00:27:04,359
He kind of realizes that
th-there's a senselessness

294
00:27:04,405 --> 00:27:08,015
to this slaughter and it really
changes him, uh, as a person.

295
00:27:26,383 --> 00:27:28,213
After the battle

296
00:27:28,255 --> 00:27:30,735
Crockett is sickened
by the massacre..

297
00:27:33,521 --> 00:27:36,051
...and chooses to leave
the volunteer militia.

298
00:28:05,814 --> 00:28:06,904
'Morning.'

299
00:28:13,387 --> 00:28:15,517
'Where are you men off to
this morning?'

300
00:28:19,001 --> 00:28:20,741
'We're goin' home.'

301
00:28:20,786 --> 00:28:21,826
No.

302
00:28:23,832 --> 00:28:26,312
You're going to turn around
and go back to your tents.

303
00:28:33,494 --> 00:28:35,764
We're volunteer militia.

304
00:28:38,847 --> 00:28:40,107
I will not ask again.

305
00:28:43,591 --> 00:28:45,291
You're gonna shoot your own men?

306
00:28:46,812 --> 00:28:48,122
Do not test me.

307
00:28:54,907 --> 00:28:56,387
Fire on my command.

308
00:29:20,019 --> 00:29:23,109
After the massacre of over
200 Native American men

309
00:29:23,152 --> 00:29:24,942
women and children

310
00:29:24,980 --> 00:29:27,940
Davy Crockett chooses to
leave the Tennessee militia..

311
00:29:29,419 --> 00:29:32,509
Return to your camp!

312
00:29:32,553 --> 00:29:37,083
...but is caught by his
commander, Andrew Jackson.

313
00:29:37,123 --> 00:29:40,873
Jackson tried
to hold the army together.

314
00:29:40,909 --> 00:29:43,959
And maintaining and establishing

315
00:29:43,999 --> 00:29:45,699
military discipline was hard.

316
00:29:45,740 --> 00:29:47,740
Jackson would not brook

317
00:29:47,786 --> 00:29:50,306
this walking away by the troops.

318
00:29:50,353 --> 00:29:53,143
This is the last time
I will give you the option.

319
00:30:17,206 --> 00:30:18,766
I will not ask again.

320
00:30:32,308 --> 00:30:34,048
Crockett stands down..

321
00:30:42,231 --> 00:30:45,761
...and grudgingly
stays in camp.

322
00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,460
Crockett had mixed emotions
about what he was doing.

323
00:30:49,499 --> 00:30:52,069
Obviously,
he was serving his country

324
00:30:52,111 --> 00:30:55,811
and, I think, looked at it
really more as a job.

325
00:30:55,854 --> 00:30:57,734
It was something
that he had to do.

326
00:30:57,768 --> 00:31:01,598
The whole idea
of killing Indian families

327
00:31:01,642 --> 00:31:04,172
whole Indian families..

328
00:31:04,210 --> 00:31:05,950
...didn't sit well with him.

329
00:31:26,014 --> 00:31:27,234
Colonel.

330
00:31:32,412 --> 00:31:33,892
You asked to see me, sir?

331
00:31:37,199 --> 00:31:40,029
You're a disgrace..

332
00:31:40,072 --> 00:31:43,082
...to yourself, to your family

333
00:31:43,118 --> 00:31:44,728
and to your country.

334
00:31:50,038 --> 00:31:52,128
What I did for you
at that village..

335
00:31:54,086 --> 00:31:56,176
...I will never do that again.

336
00:32:04,966 --> 00:32:06,656
You're a coward.

337
00:32:15,237 --> 00:32:18,407
When you look at this divide
between Crockett and Jackson

338
00:32:18,458 --> 00:32:20,288
you can kind of see, uh,
the divide

339
00:32:20,329 --> 00:32:23,639
that gets to the heart
of the American frontier.

340
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:25,600
On one hand, most Americans

341
00:32:25,639 --> 00:32:27,989
looked at the treatment
of the Native Americans

342
00:32:28,033 --> 00:32:31,253
as just another step in
the forward path of progress.

343
00:32:31,297 --> 00:32:33,997
Davy Crockett
sees the inherent injustice

344
00:32:34,039 --> 00:32:36,999
of the ruthless massacring

345
00:32:37,042 --> 00:32:38,872
o-of the Creek Indians.

346
00:32:44,092 --> 00:32:45,962
When his service is over

347
00:32:46,007 --> 00:32:48,397
Crockett heads home
to Tennessee.

348
00:32:51,056 --> 00:32:54,056
Jackson and Crockett certainly
started in similar fashions.

349
00:32:54,102 --> 00:32:55,412
Both were born in log cabins

350
00:32:55,451 --> 00:32:57,191
both came
from humble beginnings.

351
00:32:58,889 --> 00:33:01,589
But w-what Crockett saw
in the Creek War

352
00:33:01,631 --> 00:33:03,501
with Jackson's treatment
of Indians

353
00:33:03,546 --> 00:33:05,156
it started a rift

354
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:08,600
that would really open up later
in Crockett's life.

355
00:33:17,517 --> 00:33:21,517
Jackson doesn't stop
at avenging Fort Mims.

356
00:33:21,564 --> 00:33:24,394
He launches a series of brutal
attacks on the Red Sticks..

357
00:33:28,093 --> 00:33:29,623
...killing hundreds

358
00:33:29,659 --> 00:33:32,009
and sending a powerful message.

359
00:33:33,185 --> 00:33:35,095
They were targets

360
00:33:35,143 --> 00:33:37,453
of a scorched-earth campaign.

361
00:33:39,234 --> 00:33:41,194
There was no law of war

362
00:33:41,236 --> 00:33:42,886
that was really respected.

363
00:33:50,724 --> 00:33:52,944
By early 1814

364
00:33:52,987 --> 00:33:55,817
Jackson has crushed
the Red Stick faction..

365
00:33:58,819 --> 00:34:00,779
...and he forces
the rest of the Creek Nation

366
00:34:00,821 --> 00:34:03,781
to negotiate a treaty

367
00:34:03,824 --> 00:34:05,434
even though
they had nothing to do

368
00:34:05,478 --> 00:34:06,958
with the conflict.

369
00:34:26,890 --> 00:34:28,810
Jackson said to them

370
00:34:28,849 --> 00:34:33,249
they must surrender millions
of acres of their own land

371
00:34:33,288 --> 00:34:36,118
to the United States Government

372
00:34:36,161 --> 00:34:38,511
as a kind of compensation
for the war.

373
00:34:38,554 --> 00:34:41,564
Jackson actually described it
as a national security measure.

374
00:34:41,601 --> 00:34:43,911
He said that
by taking over this land

375
00:34:43,951 --> 00:34:46,951
the United States would isolate
the remaining rebels.

376
00:34:46,997 --> 00:34:49,087
But the reality was

377
00:34:49,130 --> 00:34:52,870
that he was taking millions
of acres of real estate.

378
00:34:56,050 --> 00:34:59,970
Jackson seizes major parts
of Alabama and Georgia

379
00:35:00,010 --> 00:35:03,010
nearly 22 million acres of land.

380
00:35:08,802 --> 00:35:10,722
The United States
has now quelled

381
00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:14,330
the Native American threat
on the frontier.

382
00:35:14,373 --> 00:35:18,643
But as they begin to turn
the tide of the War of 1812

383
00:35:18,681 --> 00:35:21,251
the British devise a new plan.

384
00:35:22,816 --> 00:35:25,596
After forcing Napoleon
into exile

385
00:35:25,645 --> 00:35:29,035
they commit additional troops
to America

386
00:35:29,083 --> 00:35:32,133
invading the East Coast
in Baltimore.

387
00:35:39,833 --> 00:35:41,663
During the War of 1812

388
00:35:41,704 --> 00:35:44,794
the British almost brought the
United States to its knees.

389
00:35:44,838 --> 00:35:48,228
Ultimately,
the British sack Washington

390
00:35:48,276 --> 00:35:50,056
and, and burn the White House.

391
00:36:03,248 --> 00:36:05,078
After capturing
America's capital..

392
00:36:08,122 --> 00:36:10,212
...Britain turns
to the most important port

393
00:36:10,255 --> 00:36:11,205
on the frontier..

394
00:36:12,909 --> 00:36:14,129
...New Orleans.

395
00:36:17,262 --> 00:36:20,402
The city controls access
to the Mississippi River

396
00:36:20,439 --> 00:36:21,789
providing a highway

397
00:36:21,831 --> 00:36:24,401
to British forts in Canada.

398
00:36:24,443 --> 00:36:26,843
The British had a huge advantage
over the United States

399
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:28,270
in the War of 1812
because the British

400
00:36:28,316 --> 00:36:30,226
had the most powerful navy
in the world.

401
00:36:30,275 --> 00:36:32,705
It meant that the British
could move their troops

402
00:36:32,755 --> 00:36:34,235
from here, there along the coast

403
00:36:34,279 --> 00:36:36,189
and always beat the Americans

404
00:36:36,237 --> 00:36:37,667
to wherever they wanted to get.

405
00:36:37,717 --> 00:36:40,237
If they captured New Orleans

406
00:36:40,285 --> 00:36:42,285
they could go up the Mississippi

407
00:36:42,330 --> 00:36:45,120
and connect with British
forces coming down from Canada.

408
00:36:55,343 --> 00:36:57,743
Knowing Britain will attack
New Orleans..

409
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,920
...the US turns
to its new war hero

410
00:37:02,959 --> 00:37:04,439
Andrew Jackson.

411
00:37:08,574 --> 00:37:11,014
Here emerged from Tennessee

412
00:37:11,054 --> 00:37:13,414
this general
who organized an army

413
00:37:13,448 --> 00:37:16,538
managed to keep it together
by force of will

414
00:37:16,582 --> 00:37:18,632
and crushed the Creek Nation.

415
00:37:22,370 --> 00:37:25,030
Jackson's determined to win.

416
00:37:25,068 --> 00:37:28,118
He has a powerful and
personal hatred of Britain

417
00:37:28,158 --> 00:37:30,378
dating back to his childhood.

418
00:37:40,475 --> 00:37:44,035
In the fall of 1781

419
00:37:44,087 --> 00:37:46,527
Jackson was held
as a prisoner of war

420
00:37:46,568 --> 00:37:47,868
during the revolution.

421
00:37:49,702 --> 00:37:50,792
'On your feet.'

422
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:18,860
As a, a young teenager

423
00:38:18,905 --> 00:38:21,775
Andrew Jackson rode as a courier

424
00:38:21,821 --> 00:38:25,691
for the American forces
against the British

425
00:38:25,738 --> 00:38:27,518
who eventually captured him

426
00:38:27,566 --> 00:38:29,216
and put him
in a prisoner-of-war camp.

427
00:38:31,570 --> 00:38:34,050
He lost two brothers
during the war.

428
00:38:36,836 --> 00:38:39,396
His mother also perished
in the conflict.

429
00:38:41,580 --> 00:38:43,500
Jackson suspected the British

430
00:38:43,538 --> 00:38:46,058
of all evil things.
He detested the British.

431
00:38:46,106 --> 00:38:48,016
If you wanted to get a rise
out of Andrew Jackson

432
00:38:48,064 --> 00:38:50,594
all you had to do was mention
Britain or the British.

433
00:39:09,956 --> 00:39:12,646
Now, he has a shot at revenge

434
00:39:12,698 --> 00:39:14,398
if Jackson can lead his men

435
00:39:14,439 --> 00:39:17,699
through Louisiana's
deadly swamp lands

436
00:39:17,746 --> 00:39:21,006
and get to New Orleans
before the enemy.

437
00:39:36,678 --> 00:39:39,858
Deep in the southern frontier

438
00:39:39,899 --> 00:39:43,989
Andrew Jackson is marching
to the port of New Orleans

439
00:39:44,033 --> 00:39:46,863
to defend it against
a coming British attack.

440
00:39:50,431 --> 00:39:52,481
But while the British
have the advantage

441
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:55,350
of traveling by sea..

442
00:39:55,393 --> 00:39:58,003
...Jackson must get there
by land.

443
00:39:59,701 --> 00:40:02,271
And he faces
a massive obstacle..

444
00:40:05,490 --> 00:40:07,450
...the Louisiana swamps.

445
00:40:08,884 --> 00:40:10,504
The Atchafalaya Basin

446
00:40:10,538 --> 00:40:13,188
is the biggest swamp
in the country

447
00:40:13,236 --> 00:40:15,886
covering nearly
1000 square miles.

448
00:40:17,806 --> 00:40:19,496
And Jackson has to cross it

449
00:40:19,547 --> 00:40:23,507
with 1500 men,
artillery and supplies.

450
00:40:42,918 --> 00:40:45,698
This was an era
before good roads.

451
00:40:45,747 --> 00:40:48,047
In fact, in that region
of the country

452
00:40:48,097 --> 00:40:49,877
there were hardly any roads.

453
00:40:53,538 --> 00:40:56,278
To get several thousand
troops to New Orleans

454
00:40:56,323 --> 00:40:58,373
with all their equipment

455
00:40:58,412 --> 00:41:01,332
was an extreme difficulty.

456
00:41:01,371 --> 00:41:02,901
Get that end, get that end.

457
00:41:02,938 --> 00:41:04,198
When you're talking about going

458
00:41:04,244 --> 00:41:05,164
through those swamps,
you're talkin'

459
00:41:05,201 --> 00:41:06,161
about water that gets

460
00:41:06,202 --> 00:41:07,732
neck deep at times

461
00:41:07,769 --> 00:41:09,379
gators everywhere

462
00:41:09,423 --> 00:41:11,563
poisonous snakes everywhere,
very aggressive.

463
00:41:11,599 --> 00:41:14,339
Mosquitoes have got to be
just eating them alive.

464
00:41:14,384 --> 00:41:17,524
They got very thick clothing
on, they've got to be sweating.

465
00:41:17,562 --> 00:41:19,612
You're talking about
an absolute misery fest.

466
00:41:25,744 --> 00:41:29,014
Jackson works his men
around the clock..

467
00:41:29,051 --> 00:41:30,621
Park down here.
We gotta go.

468
00:41:30,662 --> 00:41:33,142
...improvising bridges
to haul a two-ton cannon

469
00:41:33,186 --> 00:41:34,536
through the bog.

470
00:41:34,579 --> 00:41:36,229
'Up, up!'

471
00:41:38,321 --> 00:41:41,371
'Hold, hold, hold, hold!'

472
00:41:41,411 --> 00:41:44,981
'Bring the wood! Let's go,
let's go! You're holding up!'

473
00:41:45,024 --> 00:41:47,424
It doesn't have to look pretty,
just secure.

474
00:41:47,461 --> 00:41:50,511
- 'Let's go!'
- One, two, pull!

475
00:41:50,551 --> 00:41:53,601
I want one man here,
one man here, and one man there!

476
00:41:53,641 --> 00:41:55,341
Work the wood down!

477
00:41:56,905 --> 00:41:59,295
'Keep them straight now!'

478
00:41:59,342 --> 00:42:02,962
'One, two, pull!'

479
00:42:02,998 --> 00:42:04,698
Under Jackson's command

480
00:42:04,739 --> 00:42:08,569
they maintain a pace
of 25 miles a day.

481
00:42:08,613 --> 00:42:11,403
It was at this moment
that Jackson's leadership

482
00:42:11,441 --> 00:42:13,571
became really most apparent.

483
00:42:13,618 --> 00:42:16,098
And up! Roll!

484
00:42:16,142 --> 00:42:18,802
Jackson's soldiers,
whatever they thought about the British

485
00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:20,490
whatever they thought
about the Indians

486
00:42:20,538 --> 00:42:22,278
whatever they thought
about American policy

487
00:42:22,322 --> 00:42:24,982
they would follow Andrew Jackson
to the gates of hell.

488
00:42:27,283 --> 00:42:29,203
'Push, boys, push!'

489
00:42:29,242 --> 00:42:31,292
Put your backs into it!

490
00:42:32,898 --> 00:42:33,808
Finally...

491
00:42:33,855 --> 00:42:35,725
Come on, men!

492
00:42:35,770 --> 00:42:38,380
...after two weeks
of grueling work..

493
00:42:40,514 --> 00:42:42,824
...Jackson arrives
in New Orleans..

494
00:42:44,562 --> 00:42:47,572
...knowing the British
could land any minute.

495
00:43:03,189 --> 00:43:06,629
New Orleans was hugely
important, uh, at that time

496
00:43:06,671 --> 00:43:08,721
and still is, uh,
for that matter.

497
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:12,240
In-in many respects,
it's the, the gateway

498
00:43:12,285 --> 00:43:15,325
to the inland waterways
that were so critical

499
00:43:15,375 --> 00:43:18,025
to that part
of the United States.

500
00:43:18,073 --> 00:43:21,343
So retaining that port,
this great trading port

501
00:43:21,381 --> 00:43:24,301
which has access
to all of these waterways

502
00:43:24,340 --> 00:43:26,260
uh, was absolutely vital.

503
00:43:29,911 --> 00:43:32,741
Jackson races
to build fortifications

504
00:43:32,784 --> 00:43:35,444
at key entry points
around the city

505
00:43:35,482 --> 00:43:38,832
to force the British to attack
him where he's strongest.

506
00:43:41,140 --> 00:43:45,060
But to do it, he needs
all the manpower he can get.

507
00:43:46,798 --> 00:43:48,668
He didn't have much of an army

508
00:43:48,713 --> 00:43:51,983
but he assembled one from
the forces that were available

509
00:43:52,020 --> 00:43:54,590
ranging
from Kentucky Frontiersmen

510
00:43:54,632 --> 00:43:57,332
to some of his own
Tennessee loyalists

511
00:43:57,373 --> 00:43:59,253
to New Orleans militia

512
00:43:59,288 --> 00:44:01,548
to an African-American
militia unit

513
00:44:01,595 --> 00:44:04,245
to river pirates
who were engaged

514
00:44:04,293 --> 00:44:06,123
because they had cannon
and could fire them

515
00:44:06,165 --> 00:44:08,115
and even local Indians

516
00:44:08,167 --> 00:44:10,997
all became part
of Jackson's military force.

517
00:44:11,039 --> 00:44:13,429
And he welded them together
in an effective way.

518
00:44:17,350 --> 00:44:21,570
In all, Jackson has
about 4500 men.

519
00:44:26,272 --> 00:44:28,322
When the British finally appear

520
00:44:28,361 --> 00:44:33,371
they have 60 warships
and 15,000 men.

521
00:44:33,409 --> 00:44:37,409
The Americans are outnumbered
by more than three to one.

522
00:44:51,253 --> 00:44:53,693
Who's willing to suffer more
for victory, men?

523
00:44:56,781 --> 00:44:59,311
General Jackson has 4500 men

524
00:44:59,348 --> 00:45:01,868
arrayed against a British force

525
00:45:01,916 --> 00:45:04,696
outnumbering him
by more than three to one.

526
00:45:06,399 --> 00:45:10,529
His mission, hold New Orleans at all costs.

527
00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:16,410
All trade
west of the Appalachians

528
00:45:16,452 --> 00:45:19,462
flowed down the Ohio River
and into the Mississippi and out

529
00:45:19,499 --> 00:45:22,019
through the port of New Orleans.

530
00:45:22,067 --> 00:45:24,067
It was
the most critical choke point

531
00:45:24,112 --> 00:45:25,512
for the American continent.

532
00:45:37,735 --> 00:45:39,515
Prepare to fire!

533
00:45:46,613 --> 00:45:47,613
Hold!

534
00:45:51,879 --> 00:45:54,659
Jackson plans a way
to give his inferior force

535
00:45:54,708 --> 00:45:57,278
an advantage.

536
00:45:57,319 --> 00:46:00,539
He positions his men with
the Mississippi to the right

537
00:46:00,583 --> 00:46:03,333
and dense swampland
to the left..

538
00:46:05,023 --> 00:46:07,503
...forcing the British
to charge uphill..

539
00:46:09,462 --> 00:46:12,202
...on a narrow strip of land
without cover.

540
00:46:12,247 --> 00:46:13,987
Hold!

541
00:46:20,081 --> 00:46:21,131
Fire!

542
00:46:26,566 --> 00:46:28,126
Fire!

543
00:46:28,698 --> 00:46:30,878
Reload!

544
00:46:30,918 --> 00:46:33,008
From behind cotton bales

545
00:46:33,051 --> 00:46:35,011
and other obstacles..

546
00:46:36,619 --> 00:46:38,879
...Jackson's men,
in relative security

547
00:46:38,926 --> 00:46:41,886
could open fire
on charging British troops.

548
00:46:41,929 --> 00:46:43,189
Fire!

549
00:46:44,497 --> 00:46:45,977
Fire at will, men!

550
00:46:46,020 --> 00:46:47,670
Fire at will!

551
00:46:50,155 --> 00:46:53,895
Had they met the British troops
in an open battlefield

552
00:46:53,941 --> 00:46:55,641
things would've been
completely different.

553
00:47:01,906 --> 00:47:03,856
But as it turned out,
the British charged

554
00:47:03,908 --> 00:47:06,518
right where Jackson would've wanted them to

555
00:47:06,562 --> 00:47:09,262
and they did it very badly,
and they were slaughtered.

556
00:47:12,351 --> 00:47:14,741
Over ten days
of ferocious battle..

557
00:47:17,008 --> 00:47:18,048
Fire!

558
00:47:22,491 --> 00:47:25,321
...Jackson and his men

559
00:47:25,364 --> 00:47:28,244
push back every unrelenting wave

560
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:29,850
of British assault.

561
00:47:42,163 --> 00:47:45,433
Finally,
after devastating losses

562
00:47:45,471 --> 00:47:48,211
British forces withdraw.

563
00:47:53,392 --> 00:47:54,482
The figures were unbelievable.

564
00:47:54,523 --> 00:47:56,793
Over 2000 British casualties.

565
00:47:56,830 --> 00:47:59,620
Less than a hundred
on the American side.

566
00:47:59,659 --> 00:48:02,579
And it's at that moment
that Andrew Jackson becomes

567
00:48:02,618 --> 00:48:05,448
the great military hero
of the American people.

568
00:48:09,408 --> 00:48:10,978
Andrew Jackson
was often thought of

569
00:48:11,018 --> 00:48:14,278
as the second coming
of George Washington.

570
00:48:14,326 --> 00:48:15,806
George Washington
wins independence

571
00:48:15,849 --> 00:48:17,109
for the United States

572
00:48:17,155 --> 00:48:18,715
Andrew Jackson
defends independence

573
00:48:18,765 --> 00:48:20,245
for the United States.

574
00:48:24,336 --> 00:48:25,766
The victory at New Orleans

575
00:48:25,815 --> 00:48:28,245
propels Jackson
to national fame..

576
00:48:30,168 --> 00:48:34,258
...and secures his legacy
as an American hero.

577
00:48:41,570 --> 00:48:43,570
But what
American and British forces

578
00:48:43,616 --> 00:48:45,786
at New Orleans don't know

579
00:48:45,835 --> 00:48:47,835
is that before the battle began

580
00:48:47,881 --> 00:48:51,621
the War of 1812
was already over.

581
00:48:53,452 --> 00:48:55,062
Just over three weeks earlier

582
00:48:55,106 --> 00:48:57,976
half a world away, in Belgium

583
00:48:58,022 --> 00:49:00,242
representatives of
the United States and Britain

584
00:49:00,285 --> 00:49:02,285
sign a treaty

585
00:49:02,330 --> 00:49:04,460
ending almost three years of war

586
00:49:04,506 --> 00:49:07,066
between the two nations.

587
00:49:07,118 --> 00:49:08,988
There's already a peace treaty.

588
00:49:09,033 --> 00:49:11,603
It just takes that long for news

589
00:49:11,644 --> 00:49:14,784
to cross the Atlantic
and get to New Orleans.

590
00:49:14,821 --> 00:49:17,911
But it really doesn't matter
to the American nation.

591
00:49:17,955 --> 00:49:21,435
All they know
and all they want to focus on

592
00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:24,920
is that they have beat
the British Empire

593
00:49:24,962 --> 00:49:28,232
and having done that,
nothing is impossible

594
00:49:28,269 --> 00:49:30,229
and we're now
going to look westward

595
00:49:30,271 --> 00:49:32,841
across the American continent
and expand.

596
00:49:35,407 --> 00:49:37,147
In the Treaty of Ghent

597
00:49:37,191 --> 00:49:39,191
Britain formally recognizes

598
00:49:39,237 --> 00:49:43,147
that the US now controls
all the native lands

599
00:49:43,197 --> 00:49:46,547
that were once part
of the Mississippi Territory.

600
00:49:46,592 --> 00:49:50,772
Alabama and Mississippi
are now open for settlement.

601
00:50:02,042 --> 00:50:04,702
After his victory
at the Battle of New Orleans

602
00:50:04,740 --> 00:50:07,090
a grateful government
assigns Andrew Jackson

603
00:50:07,134 --> 00:50:10,184
the job of surveying
this new territory.

604
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:18,710
And he immediately senses
opportunity

605
00:50:18,754 --> 00:50:22,024
to grow one of America's
most profitable crops..

606
00:50:25,239 --> 00:50:26,549
...cotton.

607
00:50:30,244 --> 00:50:32,424
When Jackson went off
on military expeditions

608
00:50:32,464 --> 00:50:36,164
he had his eye out for land
that could also grow cotton.

609
00:50:36,207 --> 00:50:38,987
And one of the big attractions of the land

610
00:50:39,036 --> 00:50:42,336
in what would become
Alabama, Mississippi

611
00:50:42,387 --> 00:50:44,427
was the fact
that it was very well suited

612
00:50:44,476 --> 00:50:45,736
to growing cotton.

613
00:50:49,698 --> 00:50:51,268
Over the next two years

614
00:50:51,309 --> 00:50:53,089
Jackson uses his position

615
00:50:53,137 --> 00:50:56,657
to buy vast tracts of land
at low cost

616
00:50:56,705 --> 00:50:58,525
then sell it at a profit

617
00:50:58,577 --> 00:51:00,577
to wealthy plantation owners.

618
00:51:08,761 --> 00:51:11,111
Gentlemen.

619
00:51:16,464 --> 00:51:19,824
Everything we discussed..

620
00:51:19,859 --> 00:51:21,859
...is in this contract,
if you'd like to look it over.

621
00:51:24,603 --> 00:51:26,743
What's happening here
is not just the expansion

622
00:51:26,779 --> 00:51:28,819
of the United States
in a new territory.

623
00:51:28,868 --> 00:51:31,648
It was an opportunity for men

624
00:51:31,697 --> 00:51:34,047
in what is now the Deep South

625
00:51:34,091 --> 00:51:36,351
to carve out
brand-new plantations..

626
00:51:36,397 --> 00:51:38,177
Just sign here.

627
00:51:38,225 --> 00:51:40,915
...plant cotton
and make a fortune.

628
00:51:40,967 --> 00:51:43,537
And it was perfectly timed
for men like Jackson

629
00:51:43,578 --> 00:51:46,578
to make a lot of money.

630
00:51:46,625 --> 00:51:49,275
The frontiersman born in poverty

631
00:51:49,323 --> 00:51:51,203
amasses a personal fortune

632
00:51:51,238 --> 00:51:55,018
of four-and-a-half
million dollars.

633
00:51:55,068 --> 00:51:58,418
But his business dealings
have a devastating consequence

634
00:51:58,463 --> 00:52:02,383
resurrecting an institution
on the verge of collapse.

635
00:52:07,298 --> 00:52:11,818
Slavery serves the larger
interests of the planter class.

636
00:52:11,867 --> 00:52:14,697
What it creates
is tremendous economic profit

637
00:52:14,740 --> 00:52:16,610
for planters, for farmers

638
00:52:16,655 --> 00:52:20,305
and American business interest
in that region.

639
00:52:23,314 --> 00:52:25,934
Jackson did not consider himself

640
00:52:25,968 --> 00:52:28,188
an evangelist for slavery.

641
00:52:28,232 --> 00:52:30,712
But, in fact,
his actions did give slavery

642
00:52:30,756 --> 00:52:32,316
a new lease on life.

643
00:52:32,366 --> 00:52:34,586
At the beginning of
the 18th century, it was unclear

644
00:52:34,629 --> 00:52:37,199
whether slavery
was going to remain profitable.

645
00:52:37,241 --> 00:52:38,851
And it might not have

646
00:52:38,894 --> 00:52:41,464
had Jackson
and those who fought with him

647
00:52:41,506 --> 00:52:43,806
not opened up
vast new territories

648
00:52:43,856 --> 00:52:45,726
to cotton culture.

649
00:52:45,771 --> 00:52:46,991
To the future of America.

650
00:52:47,033 --> 00:52:49,563
- Hm. To the future.
- Future.

651
00:52:54,910 --> 00:52:58,130
The land speculation
Jackson ignites

652
00:52:58,175 --> 00:52:59,995
has another consequence.

653
00:53:00,046 --> 00:53:02,656
In just three years,
the price of an acre

654
00:53:02,701 --> 00:53:07,361
skyrockets from $2 to 78.

655
00:53:07,401 --> 00:53:10,451
For Davy Crockett,
this betrays the promise

656
00:53:10,491 --> 00:53:12,321
of the American frontier

657
00:53:12,363 --> 00:53:14,973
one he's determined
to fight for.

658
00:53:36,300 --> 00:53:39,430
In the years since his clash
with Andrew Jackson

659
00:53:39,477 --> 00:53:43,047
Davy Crockett's tried to
carve out a life for himself

660
00:53:43,089 --> 00:53:44,959
in the backwoods of Tennessee.

661
00:53:48,094 --> 00:53:49,884
But in the last decade

662
00:53:49,922 --> 00:53:52,322
he's watched
his beloved frontier

663
00:53:52,359 --> 00:53:54,189
disappear before his eyes.

664
00:53:56,624 --> 00:53:58,504
Thousands of acres of wilderness

665
00:53:58,539 --> 00:54:01,059
that frontiersmen
have depended on for years

666
00:54:01,107 --> 00:54:04,497
have now turned
into cotton farms

667
00:54:04,545 --> 00:54:08,585
and the original settlers
are being pushed aside.

668
00:54:08,636 --> 00:54:12,026
One of Crockett's main issues
was squatter's rights.

669
00:54:12,074 --> 00:54:16,214
He felt that the squatters,
the settlers

670
00:54:16,253 --> 00:54:19,263
ought to be able to purchase
the land they were living on

671
00:54:19,299 --> 00:54:20,779
for reasonable prices.

672
00:54:20,822 --> 00:54:23,262
And this rubbed against

673
00:54:23,303 --> 00:54:26,313
the monied, landed aristocracy

674
00:54:26,350 --> 00:54:28,700
of the southern
plantation farmers.

675
00:54:32,356 --> 00:54:35,266
Determined to protect the
way of life he believes in

676
00:54:35,315 --> 00:54:38,795
the frontiersman who grew up
without formal education

677
00:54:38,840 --> 00:54:41,060
decides to run for Congress.

678
00:54:51,113 --> 00:54:53,293
Some man comes along,
waves a piece of paper at you

679
00:54:53,333 --> 00:54:56,993
tells you, "You can't track
here anymore." I.. Hell, no.

680
00:54:57,032 --> 00:55:01,122
These land speculators
and plantation owners

681
00:55:01,167 --> 00:55:04,337
never set a foot in Tennessee
in their life.

682
00:55:04,388 --> 00:55:05,998
It's our families and our dreams

683
00:55:06,041 --> 00:55:08,701
that are being destroyed here.

684
00:55:08,740 --> 00:55:10,440
If we don't speak up, th..

685
00:55:10,481 --> 00:55:13,311
They're just gonna keep
right on doin' it.

686
00:55:13,353 --> 00:55:14,833
'Thank you very much.'

687
00:55:16,791 --> 00:55:18,141
Hi. Good to meet you.

688
00:55:20,055 --> 00:55:23,445
In the summer of 1827

689
00:55:23,494 --> 00:55:27,064
Davy Crockett
wins in a landslide

690
00:55:27,106 --> 00:55:28,716
with a campaign built

691
00:55:28,760 --> 00:55:32,680
on bringing the frontier
fight to Washington.

692
00:55:32,720 --> 00:55:35,160
David Crockett looms huge

693
00:55:35,201 --> 00:55:39,341
in the notion of what
the American frontier was.

694
00:55:39,379 --> 00:55:41,689
He became a symbol

695
00:55:41,729 --> 00:55:44,299
of possibility, of hope

696
00:55:44,341 --> 00:55:45,951
that the common man

697
00:55:45,994 --> 00:55:49,394
could actually rise
to great heights.

698
00:55:49,433 --> 00:55:51,833
A man with six months' education

699
00:55:51,870 --> 00:55:54,180
ends up
in the halls of Congress.

700
00:55:54,220 --> 00:55:56,740
It's a uniquely American story.

701
00:56:00,748 --> 00:56:05,798
But while Crockett is entering
the House of Representatives

702
00:56:05,840 --> 00:56:07,800
his former militia commander

703
00:56:07,842 --> 00:56:10,672
has become one of the richest
and most powerful men

704
00:56:10,715 --> 00:56:12,845
in the frontier.

705
00:56:12,891 --> 00:56:14,811
And he has his sights set

706
00:56:14,849 --> 00:56:19,379
on the highest office
in the country.

707
00:56:19,419 --> 00:56:21,899
Jackson, as a young man,
he didn't see himself

708
00:56:21,943 --> 00:56:23,903
as a career politician
by any means.

709
00:56:25,512 --> 00:56:28,302
But he became this national hero

710
00:56:28,341 --> 00:56:30,951
as a result of his victory
at the Battle of New Orleans.

711
00:56:30,996 --> 00:56:33,036
And people began telling him

712
00:56:33,085 --> 00:56:35,295
that he could be
president of the United States.

713
00:56:38,133 --> 00:56:41,143
For the first 40 years
of America's existence

714
00:56:41,180 --> 00:56:44,050
the president hailed
from either Massachusetts

715
00:56:44,096 --> 00:56:45,576
or Virginia.

716
00:56:45,619 --> 00:56:47,399
But now as more and more people

717
00:56:47,447 --> 00:56:49,487
pour into the frontier

718
00:56:49,536 --> 00:56:51,886
Jackson believes
the country is ready

719
00:56:51,930 --> 00:56:53,850
for an unprecedented change.

720
00:56:55,629 --> 00:56:58,329
Andrew Jackson rose to power
just at a moment

721
00:56:58,371 --> 00:57:00,901
when people
were becoming conscious

722
00:57:00,939 --> 00:57:04,989
that the revolutionary
generation was passing away

723
00:57:05,030 --> 00:57:07,210
and a new generation was rising

724
00:57:07,249 --> 00:57:09,379
and some of those leaders
were going to come

725
00:57:09,426 --> 00:57:12,726
from a new region
that had not really existed

726
00:57:12,777 --> 00:57:16,427
at the time
of the American Revolution.

727
00:57:16,476 --> 00:57:20,386
Jackson trades on his
reputation as a war hero

728
00:57:20,437 --> 00:57:22,127
and like Crockett

729
00:57:22,177 --> 00:57:25,787
paints himself
as a self-made frontiersman.

730
00:57:25,833 --> 00:57:28,233
You just look
at the-the political competition

731
00:57:28,270 --> 00:57:30,400
uh, for Jackson in his day.

732
00:57:30,447 --> 00:57:33,187
Uh, his main competitor
was John Quincy Adams.

733
00:57:33,232 --> 00:57:35,932
Son of the president,
he went to Harvard

734
00:57:35,974 --> 00:57:38,634
he spoke
five different languages.

735
00:57:38,672 --> 00:57:42,242
And here's Andrew Jackson,
completely self-educated.

736
00:57:44,809 --> 00:57:48,289
Jackson's message
resonates with Americans

737
00:57:48,334 --> 00:57:49,684
across the country.

738
00:57:50,902 --> 00:57:54,472
And on December 3, 1828

739
00:57:54,514 --> 00:57:58,084
he's elected as the seventh
president of the United States.

740
00:58:05,090 --> 00:58:06,530
Here's the man himself.

741
00:58:08,223 --> 00:58:11,013
Mr. President.

742
00:58:11,052 --> 00:58:13,842
When Jackson became president
in 1829

743
00:58:13,881 --> 00:58:16,011
he was the first president
who was called

744
00:58:16,057 --> 00:58:18,967
and who could be considered
the people's president.

745
00:58:19,017 --> 00:58:20,537
Each and every one of you men
are responsible

746
00:58:20,584 --> 00:58:22,024
for this victory.

747
00:58:22,063 --> 00:58:23,543
To you.

748
00:58:23,587 --> 00:58:27,107
To you, Mr. President.

749
00:58:27,155 --> 00:58:29,975
And that was the most lasting
contribution of Jackson

750
00:58:30,028 --> 00:58:32,638
because the presidency
from Jackson until today

751
00:58:32,683 --> 00:58:35,383
is preeminently
the office of the people.

752
00:58:43,737 --> 00:58:46,867
After taking office,
Jackson's first priority

753
00:58:46,914 --> 00:58:49,354
is to continue
American expansion.

754
00:58:49,395 --> 00:58:52,005
And that means more land.

755
00:58:52,050 --> 00:58:55,750
Andrew Jackson inherited
a country in transition.

756
00:58:55,793 --> 00:58:57,533
This was a period in which

757
00:58:57,577 --> 00:59:01,097
Americans were continuing
to move west.

758
00:59:01,146 --> 00:59:05,016
The population was almost
doubling every 20 years.

759
00:59:05,063 --> 00:59:07,073
And he entered office

760
00:59:07,108 --> 00:59:10,588
with one overriding priority
above all

761
00:59:10,634 --> 00:59:12,944
and that was
to obtain more land.

762
00:59:15,377 --> 00:59:17,337
Jackson introduces a plan

763
00:59:17,379 --> 00:59:20,429
called the Indian Removal Act

764
00:59:20,469 --> 00:59:23,949
to the horror of his old
rival, Davy Crockett.

765
00:59:27,215 --> 00:59:30,215
Fellow citizens of the Senate

766
00:59:30,262 --> 00:59:33,482
and of the House
of Representatives

767
00:59:33,526 --> 00:59:36,566
'it gives me pleasure
to announce to you..'

768
00:59:38,792 --> 00:59:40,052
...that the benevolent policy

769
00:59:40,098 --> 00:59:43,748
in relation to the removal..

770
00:59:43,797 --> 00:59:45,837
...of the remaining Indians..

771
00:59:48,933 --> 00:59:50,373
...beyond the white settlements

772
00:59:50,412 --> 00:59:53,552
by... fair exchange..

773
00:59:57,071 --> 01:00:00,601
...is approaching
a happy consummation.

774
01:00:02,599 --> 01:00:05,469
Jackson believed that white
Americans would never be secure

775
01:00:05,514 --> 01:00:09,744
from Indians as long as
the two populations mingled.

776
01:00:09,780 --> 01:00:13,520
And so Jackson's policy
was a policy of removal.

777
01:00:13,566 --> 01:00:15,436
People today might call it
ethnic cleansing.

778
01:00:15,481 --> 01:00:17,701
And, indeed, it was.

779
01:00:17,744 --> 01:00:22,274
The general government
kindly offers him a new home

780
01:00:22,314 --> 01:00:26,144
and proposes to pay
the whole expense

781
01:00:26,187 --> 01:00:29,277
of his removal and settlement.

782
01:00:34,326 --> 01:00:38,586
The Indian Removal Act will
force 50,000 Native Americans

783
01:00:38,635 --> 01:00:42,545
from five tribes to leave
their ancestral lands

784
01:00:42,595 --> 01:00:46,895
and settle 600 miles west,
in modern-day Oklahoma.

785
01:00:48,819 --> 01:00:52,689
The Indian Removal Act
was an act

786
01:00:52,736 --> 01:00:57,386
whose sole goal was to open up
large swaths of ground

787
01:00:57,436 --> 01:00:59,176
to more settlement

788
01:00:59,220 --> 01:01:02,010
and to make
these giant tracts of land

789
01:01:02,049 --> 01:01:06,049
available to those who could
then purchase it, sell it.

790
01:01:06,097 --> 01:01:09,577
They wouldn't have to deal
with the Indian problem anymore.

791
01:01:12,233 --> 01:01:15,803
The plan has widespread support

792
01:01:15,846 --> 01:01:18,276
but Crockett stands against it.

793
01:01:19,588 --> 01:01:22,288
And whoever wins..

794
01:01:22,330 --> 01:01:26,030
...will help decide the future
of the American frontier.

795
01:01:35,213 --> 01:01:36,743
'This government'

796
01:01:36,780 --> 01:01:40,650
will purchase Indian lands

797
01:01:40,697 --> 01:01:43,177
and give them
new expensive territory.

798
01:01:45,658 --> 01:01:48,268
President Andrew Jackson
has introduced

799
01:01:48,313 --> 01:01:50,843
the Indian Removal Act
to Congress.

800
01:01:50,881 --> 01:01:53,541
It would force Native
Americans from their homelands

801
01:01:53,579 --> 01:01:55,929
to make way for white settlement

802
01:01:55,973 --> 01:01:58,413
and it's gaining
widespread support.

803
01:02:00,542 --> 01:02:03,592
But one man is taking a stand
against the president..

804
01:02:04,895 --> 01:02:06,935
...Congressman Davy Crockett.

805
01:02:14,731 --> 01:02:18,341
Four of my counties
border Chickasaw Country.

806
01:02:18,386 --> 01:02:22,426
I know, personally,
many of their tribe.

807
01:02:22,477 --> 01:02:24,517
'They are a proud people'

808
01:02:24,566 --> 01:02:27,826
who have stood as our allies
in war and in peace.

809
01:02:29,702 --> 01:02:34,272
Removal was taking the property
of Native Americans

810
01:02:34,315 --> 01:02:38,055
and putting it in the hands,
not just of US citizens

811
01:02:38,102 --> 01:02:41,852
but, frankly,
of Andrew Jackson supporters.

812
01:02:41,888 --> 01:02:45,538
And when Davy Crockett stood
up on the floor of Congress

813
01:02:45,587 --> 01:02:48,457
and spoke against the Indian Removal Act

814
01:02:48,503 --> 01:02:51,683
Crockett put
not only his reputation

815
01:02:51,724 --> 01:02:55,294
but his entire political career
on the line.

816
01:02:57,556 --> 01:02:59,556
There is nothing
that will make me vote

817
01:02:59,601 --> 01:03:02,521
to force them
off their homelands.

818
01:03:03,518 --> 01:03:06,128
Not a political party

819
01:03:06,173 --> 01:03:10,223
nor any one man, no matter
how powerful he may be.

820
01:03:18,229 --> 01:03:20,839
What I like best
about Davy Crockett was

821
01:03:20,884 --> 01:03:22,284
he was able to change his mind.

822
01:03:22,320 --> 01:03:24,020
When he was a young man

823
01:03:24,061 --> 01:03:26,721
he participated
in an Indian massacre.

824
01:03:26,759 --> 01:03:29,629
But then he opposed
President Jackson

825
01:03:29,675 --> 01:03:32,845
when Jackson wanted to push
the Indian Removal Act

826
01:03:32,896 --> 01:03:34,546
because he knew it was wrong.

827
01:03:40,164 --> 01:03:44,344
Crockett didn't care that
it was Andrew Jackson's baby.

828
01:03:44,385 --> 01:03:46,685
While it was going to help
people who already had money

829
01:03:46,735 --> 01:03:47,775
he thought it was wrong.

830
01:03:47,824 --> 01:03:49,964
He believed that the Indians

831
01:03:50,000 --> 01:03:53,090
had as much right to live
freely as anyone else.

832
01:03:55,266 --> 01:03:57,356
Debate about
the Indian Removal Act

833
01:03:57,398 --> 01:03:59,438
rages for five months

834
01:03:59,487 --> 01:04:02,227
both in Congress
and around the country.

835
01:04:04,928 --> 01:04:07,758
And on May 26, 1830

836
01:04:07,800 --> 01:04:11,330
it's put to a vote in the
House of Representatives

837
01:04:11,369 --> 01:04:14,069
and Crockett's efforts
fall short.

838
01:04:16,591 --> 01:04:18,461
David Crockett
is the only member

839
01:04:18,506 --> 01:04:19,856
of the Tennessee delegation

840
01:04:19,899 --> 01:04:22,079
to vote against
the Indian Removal Act.

841
01:04:22,119 --> 01:04:25,429
And that was a shocking act
of, uh, defiance

842
01:04:25,470 --> 01:04:27,820
of the, uh, Jackson machine.

843
01:04:31,780 --> 01:04:33,610
Davy Crockett stood his ground.

844
01:04:33,652 --> 01:04:37,222
He realized he made a mistake
on that Indian massacre

845
01:04:37,264 --> 01:04:39,404
and he took the right position.

846
01:04:39,440 --> 01:04:41,790
'To you, Mr. President.'

847
01:04:41,834 --> 01:04:44,754
The measure passes
by only four votes

848
01:04:44,793 --> 01:04:47,583
and is signed in to law
by President Jackson

849
01:04:47,622 --> 01:04:49,452
two days later.

850
01:04:49,494 --> 01:04:51,324
'It's only beginning,
gentlemen.'

851
01:04:54,586 --> 01:04:56,676
The Indian Removal Act
goes exactly

852
01:04:56,718 --> 01:04:58,418
according to Jackson's plan

853
01:04:58,459 --> 01:05:01,459
opening large parts
of present-day Georgia

854
01:05:01,506 --> 01:05:04,936
Mississippi and Florida,
to American expansion.

855
01:05:04,988 --> 01:05:06,598
But in the coming years

856
01:05:06,641 --> 01:05:08,381
the Indian Removal Act

857
01:05:08,426 --> 01:05:10,856
will be known by another name..

858
01:05:14,127 --> 01:05:16,647
...The Trail of Tears.

859
01:05:19,785 --> 01:05:22,695
The Trail of Tears
was the migration route

860
01:05:22,744 --> 01:05:27,184
from Georgia to territory
west of the Mississippi River.

861
01:05:27,227 --> 01:05:29,007
It was called the Trail of Tears

862
01:05:29,055 --> 01:05:32,145
because the deaths from exposure
and disease were appalling.

863
01:05:34,756 --> 01:05:37,186
The Indian Removal Act
is not only a major stain

864
01:05:37,237 --> 01:05:39,977
on Jackson's legacy, it's a
major stain on American History.

865
01:05:41,763 --> 01:05:44,203
Here was
the US Federal Government

866
01:05:44,244 --> 01:05:46,864
getting into,
what many could call

867
01:05:46,899 --> 01:05:49,769
an ethnic cleansing.

868
01:05:49,815 --> 01:05:51,815
Over the next two decades

869
01:05:51,860 --> 01:05:54,470
members of the Cherokee, Creek

870
01:05:54,515 --> 01:05:57,075
Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations

871
01:05:57,127 --> 01:05:59,427
are forced to march
thousands of miles

872
01:05:59,477 --> 01:06:01,867
often at gunpoint.

873
01:06:01,914 --> 01:06:05,184
Over 16,000 die on the journey.

874
01:06:06,745 --> 01:06:09,785
Well, my own tribe
signed a treaty in 1831

875
01:06:09,835 --> 01:06:13,925
and agreed to remove
to the Indian territory.

876
01:06:13,970 --> 01:06:16,100
Most people only think
of the Cherokee

877
01:06:16,146 --> 01:06:17,666
when they think
of the Trail of Tears

878
01:06:17,712 --> 01:06:19,502
and something like 25%

879
01:06:19,540 --> 01:06:21,190
of their people died.

880
01:06:21,238 --> 01:06:23,538
My tribe went through
a trail of tears

881
01:06:23,588 --> 01:06:25,458
as did dozens of others

882
01:06:25,503 --> 01:06:28,993
as they were also moved
to the Indian territory.

883
01:06:29,028 --> 01:06:31,028
So the Trail of Tears
was literally

884
01:06:31,074 --> 01:06:32,954
the extermination
of Indian nations

885
01:06:32,989 --> 01:06:34,249
and Indian peoples

886
01:06:34,294 --> 01:06:36,084
and their replacement

887
01:06:36,122 --> 01:06:38,732
by Americans
and American society.

888
01:06:46,654 --> 01:06:48,664
In mandating the human tragedy

889
01:06:48,700 --> 01:06:50,750
that we call the Trail of Tears

890
01:06:50,789 --> 01:06:53,529
Jackson, in one fell swoop,
cements his legacy

891
01:06:53,574 --> 01:06:56,934
as a person willing to do
whatever was necessary

892
01:06:56,969 --> 01:07:01,409
in order to serve the interest
of white settlers.

893
01:07:01,452 --> 01:07:02,892
For President Jackson

894
01:07:02,931 --> 01:07:05,591
the legislative win
isn't enough.

895
01:07:05,630 --> 01:07:09,030
The president is out
for revenge on Davy Crockett.

896
01:07:11,027 --> 01:07:12,117
Andrew Jackson

897
01:07:12,158 --> 01:07:15,508
made the political personal.

898
01:07:15,553 --> 01:07:18,433
It was not enough for his side

899
01:07:18,469 --> 01:07:20,559
his perspective to win.

900
01:07:20,601 --> 01:07:23,301
His opponents had to
be thoroughly defeated.

901
01:07:23,343 --> 01:07:27,263
He was
a genuinely dangerous man.

902
01:07:27,304 --> 01:07:31,574
Their fight will force Crockett
to the southwestern frontier

903
01:07:31,612 --> 01:07:34,272
changing the course
of American expansion.

904
01:07:48,542 --> 01:07:52,762
President Andrew Jackson
signs the Indian Removal Act

905
01:07:52,807 --> 01:07:56,857
despite Congressman
Davy Crockett's opposition.

906
01:07:56,898 --> 01:08:00,118
Now, Crockett is up
for re-election

907
01:08:00,163 --> 01:08:02,563
and Jackson vows
to crush his rival

908
01:08:02,600 --> 01:08:04,380
by choosing a loyal supporter..

909
01:08:07,083 --> 01:08:10,263
...William Fitzgerald,
to run against him.

910
01:08:10,303 --> 01:08:12,313
Mr. Fitzgerald, come in.

911
01:08:15,178 --> 01:08:17,008
Well, you don't cross
Andrew Jackson

912
01:08:17,049 --> 01:08:20,439
without there
being consequences.

913
01:08:20,487 --> 01:08:23,927
I-it's characteristic
of all successful politicians

914
01:08:23,969 --> 01:08:26,449
because they want that to be
a warning sign to anybody else

915
01:08:26,493 --> 01:08:29,153
not to cross me in the future.

916
01:08:29,192 --> 01:08:31,112
So Jackson has to bury Crockett.

917
01:08:32,499 --> 01:08:35,499
You will have my full support.

918
01:08:35,546 --> 01:08:36,846
It would be an honor, sir.

919
01:08:38,984 --> 01:08:40,814
Mr. President.

920
01:08:43,728 --> 01:08:46,298
To ruin Crockett's
political career

921
01:08:46,339 --> 01:08:48,819
Jackson attacks his character

922
01:08:48,863 --> 01:08:50,873
launching a smear campaign
in the press..

923
01:08:52,780 --> 01:08:54,480
...accusing him
of being a drunk..

924
01:08:56,001 --> 01:08:58,051
...a womanizer..

925
01:08:58,090 --> 01:09:00,570
...and a gambler.

926
01:09:00,614 --> 01:09:02,964
The Jackson machine in Tennessee

927
01:09:03,008 --> 01:09:05,358
had a tremendous amount
of political influence.

928
01:09:07,186 --> 01:09:09,186
And when Jackson decides

929
01:09:09,232 --> 01:09:12,102
to go after
Crockett's reputation

930
01:09:12,148 --> 01:09:14,628
it becomes front-page news
throughout the United States.

931
01:09:29,426 --> 01:09:31,726
The attacks infuriate Crockett.

932
01:09:33,865 --> 01:09:36,775
Davy Crockett was, in part

933
01:09:36,824 --> 01:09:40,654
built on his reputation
as a man of honor.

934
01:09:40,698 --> 01:09:43,048
He would not stand idly by
and watch

935
01:09:43,091 --> 01:09:44,921
as people destroy that.

936
01:09:52,057 --> 01:09:55,367
At a campaign stop
in northwest Tennessee

937
01:09:55,408 --> 01:09:58,458
Crockett confronts Fitzgerald.

938
01:09:58,498 --> 01:10:00,668
Forget Davy Crockett.

939
01:10:00,718 --> 01:10:03,938
I will give you the real voice
of Tennessee in Washington.

940
01:10:08,813 --> 01:10:10,993
When Crockett
and Fitzgerald arrived

941
01:10:11,032 --> 01:10:13,822
for one of their
co-stump speeches

942
01:10:13,861 --> 01:10:17,041
Crockett stood up
and strode toward the stage

943
01:10:17,082 --> 01:10:19,042
and said, you know,
"If you continue

944
01:10:19,084 --> 01:10:20,964
"with these casting aspersions

945
01:10:20,999 --> 01:10:22,959
I'm going to give you
a country caning."

946
01:10:28,833 --> 01:10:32,273
Fitzgerald leveled a pistol
at Crockett's chest and said

947
01:10:32,315 --> 01:10:35,225
"Take one more step
and it'll be your last."

948
01:10:40,148 --> 01:10:42,058
I suggest you leave.

949
01:10:52,552 --> 01:10:55,902
So in addition
to his moral flaws

950
01:10:55,947 --> 01:10:57,297
it would appear
that Mr. Crockett

951
01:10:57,340 --> 01:10:59,600
is not quite as tough
as he claims.

952
01:11:04,085 --> 01:11:05,825
The event
with William Fitzgerald

953
01:11:05,870 --> 01:11:08,830
and the pistol
was devastating to Crockett.

954
01:11:08,873 --> 01:11:11,703
He had run part
of his campaign on his courage

955
01:11:11,745 --> 01:11:14,355
and here he was,
publically slinking away

956
01:11:14,400 --> 01:11:16,880
in front of someone.

957
01:11:16,924 --> 01:11:19,714
It was kind of an assault
to his manhood.

958
01:11:23,366 --> 01:11:25,666
After a brutal campaign

959
01:11:25,716 --> 01:11:28,806
in the fall of 1831

960
01:11:28,849 --> 01:11:31,899
some 16,000 ballots are cast

961
01:11:31,939 --> 01:11:34,379
in the election
for Tennessee's 9th District.

962
01:11:35,508 --> 01:11:37,288
In a stunning upset

963
01:11:37,336 --> 01:11:40,686
Crockett loses
by just 800 votes.

964
01:11:42,689 --> 01:11:44,949
Disgraced in Washington

965
01:11:44,996 --> 01:11:47,686
Davy Crockett returns home
to Tennessee

966
01:11:47,738 --> 01:11:50,778
with his career in ruins

967
01:11:50,828 --> 01:11:54,528
only to find his personal
life is also falling apart.

968
01:11:58,270 --> 01:12:01,360
When Crockett
lost his bid for Congress

969
01:12:01,404 --> 01:12:04,284
he sort of slug home
with his tail between his legs.

970
01:12:04,320 --> 01:12:07,410
He was now broke,
arriving to find out

971
01:12:07,453 --> 01:12:09,373
that his, his wife
had also left him

972
01:12:09,412 --> 01:12:11,632
and he was living alone.

973
01:12:11,675 --> 01:12:13,975
It was a very low, low point
in his life.

974
01:12:24,644 --> 01:12:27,344
In a stroke of blind luck

975
01:12:27,386 --> 01:12:29,946
Crockett's fortunes
take a turn..

976
01:12:35,960 --> 01:12:37,880
...when a play
based on his life

977
01:12:37,918 --> 01:12:41,358
opens in New York City.

978
01:12:41,400 --> 01:12:43,710
One of the things
that revitalized Crockett

979
01:12:43,750 --> 01:12:47,490
in his career
was the creation of this play

980
01:12:47,537 --> 01:12:49,627
called "The Lion Of The West.."

981
01:12:53,107 --> 01:12:56,417
...which was clearly, uh,
a depiction of Crockett.

982
01:12:59,418 --> 01:13:02,248
At the beginning, Crockett
was sort of offended by this.

983
01:13:02,290 --> 01:13:04,600
He felt like
he was being made fun of

984
01:13:04,641 --> 01:13:06,601
but as it turned out

985
01:13:06,643 --> 01:13:10,953
the play actually made him
an international celebrity.

986
01:13:17,741 --> 01:13:20,531
As Crockett's fame
as a frontiersman grows

987
01:13:20,570 --> 01:13:24,230
the US population explodes.

988
01:13:24,269 --> 01:13:26,009
Over the next four years

989
01:13:26,053 --> 01:13:28,623
it balloons to 17 million.

990
01:13:31,145 --> 01:13:33,445
As the old frontier is dominated

991
01:13:33,496 --> 01:13:36,366
by cotton plantations
and settlements..

992
01:13:40,111 --> 01:13:43,941
...pioneers looking for land
stream further west

993
01:13:43,984 --> 01:13:45,774
across modern-day Mississippi

994
01:13:45,812 --> 01:13:48,862
Alabama and Arkansas

995
01:13:48,902 --> 01:13:52,212
into a new frontier
full of opportunity

996
01:13:52,253 --> 01:13:55,433
a Mexican territory
called Texas.

997
01:13:58,521 --> 01:14:00,911
One of the attractions of Texas

998
01:14:00,958 --> 01:14:02,528
to the Americans who went there

999
01:14:02,568 --> 01:14:05,088
when Texas was part of Mexico

1000
01:14:05,136 --> 01:14:09,786
was precisely that it
was foreign territory.

1001
01:14:09,836 --> 01:14:12,796
It was this place
where you could go

1002
01:14:12,839 --> 01:14:15,579
if things weren't going well
for you wherever you were

1003
01:14:15,625 --> 01:14:17,575
because it provided opportunity.

1004
01:14:19,455 --> 01:14:22,065
Americans discovered
because land was cheap

1005
01:14:22,109 --> 01:14:24,549
they would get title to land

1006
01:14:24,590 --> 01:14:27,200
and then the land
would increase in value

1007
01:14:27,245 --> 01:14:28,585
and they'd eventually sell it

1008
01:14:28,638 --> 01:14:30,808
and become wealthy
as a result of this.

1009
01:14:37,777 --> 01:14:40,477
In 1835

1010
01:14:40,519 --> 01:14:44,259
Crockett leaves
Tennessee behind..

1011
01:14:44,305 --> 01:14:48,785
...hoping his name can help
jump start a new life in Texas.

1012
01:14:51,138 --> 01:14:52,578
But instead of opportunity..

1013
01:14:54,359 --> 01:14:56,839
...Crockett's
about to find himself

1014
01:14:56,883 --> 01:14:59,543
in the middle of an all-out war.

1015
01:15:20,994 --> 01:15:24,524
After his reputation
is shredded by Andrew Jackson

1016
01:15:24,563 --> 01:15:26,573
Davy Crockett heads west..

1017
01:15:28,698 --> 01:15:32,618
...looking for a fresh start
in Texas

1018
01:15:32,658 --> 01:15:36,918
a rugged frontier territory
across the border in Mexico.

1019
01:15:40,057 --> 01:15:42,017
For years,
the Mexican government

1020
01:15:42,059 --> 01:15:43,709
has encouraged
foreign settlement

1021
01:15:43,756 --> 01:15:45,626
to increase their population

1022
01:15:45,671 --> 01:15:49,681
offering families 4000 acres
at low prices.

1023
01:15:52,896 --> 01:15:55,196
Mexicans were encouraging
Americans and others

1024
01:15:55,246 --> 01:15:58,116
to move, uh, into Texas
and offering land.

1025
01:15:58,162 --> 01:16:00,732
But, of course,
the stipulation was that, uh

1026
01:16:00,773 --> 01:16:02,603
they had to abide
by the rules of Mexico.

1027
01:16:02,645 --> 01:16:05,125
And for the most part,
Americans generally lived

1028
01:16:05,169 --> 01:16:07,209
relatively peacefully.

1029
01:16:10,522 --> 01:16:13,442
One of the attractions of Texas

1030
01:16:13,481 --> 01:16:16,751
to the Americans who went there
when Texas was part of Mexico

1031
01:16:16,789 --> 01:16:20,659
was precisely
that it was foreign territory.

1032
01:16:20,706 --> 01:16:22,926
They had bad memories, bad debts

1033
01:16:22,969 --> 01:16:25,889
there were people who were
after them in the United States

1034
01:16:25,929 --> 01:16:28,629
and they went to Texas.

1035
01:16:28,671 --> 01:16:32,851
By 1836, 45,000 Americans
move here.

1036
01:16:34,154 --> 01:16:36,814
Davy Crockett is one of them.

1037
01:16:42,815 --> 01:16:45,905
Unsure what awaits him.

1038
01:16:50,867 --> 01:16:54,217
Crockett went to Texas,
clearly, to start over.

1039
01:16:54,261 --> 01:16:56,741
He'd lost his last bid
for Congress

1040
01:16:56,786 --> 01:17:00,046
and he was going to Texas
to get land

1041
01:17:00,093 --> 01:17:04,533
and to look at possible
political opportunity.

1042
01:17:07,623 --> 01:17:11,633
Jackson may have destroyed
Crockett's career in Washington

1043
01:17:11,670 --> 01:17:14,500
but in Texas, he's hailed
as a frontier legend.

1044
01:17:20,331 --> 01:17:24,991
As David Crockett arrived
in the Texas outpost towns

1045
01:17:25,031 --> 01:17:28,511
he began to notice that people
were already lining the streets

1046
01:17:28,556 --> 01:17:30,776
waiting for his arrival.

1047
01:17:30,820 --> 01:17:33,650
People in Texas
heard that he was coming

1048
01:17:33,692 --> 01:17:37,832
and would have big feasts
and parties for him.

1049
01:17:48,533 --> 01:17:51,493
And you spent time, uh,
in the militia, as well?

1050
01:17:51,536 --> 01:17:54,316
As Crockett begins to settle in

1051
01:17:54,365 --> 01:17:58,275
he realizes Texas
is on the verge of rebellion.

1052
01:18:01,285 --> 01:18:03,415
After years of loose governance

1053
01:18:03,461 --> 01:18:05,551
Mexican President, Santa Anna

1054
01:18:05,593 --> 01:18:08,643
suddenly imposes
new restrictions on settlers.

1055
01:18:08,684 --> 01:18:10,734
Now, angry Texans

1056
01:18:10,773 --> 01:18:13,693
are calling for revolution.

1057
01:18:13,732 --> 01:18:17,612
Texas was on the verge
of independence

1058
01:18:17,649 --> 01:18:19,389
that the Texians,
as they were called

1059
01:18:19,433 --> 01:18:22,743
were going to try to become
independent from Mexico.

1060
01:18:22,785 --> 01:18:25,565
And there would be possibilities
of land

1061
01:18:25,613 --> 01:18:29,273
and political opportunity.

1062
01:18:29,313 --> 01:18:32,583
In response, Santa Anna
sends 500 troops

1063
01:18:32,620 --> 01:18:35,360
to confiscate weapons
and quell unrest.

1064
01:18:37,060 --> 01:18:39,760
When Texans refuse to give in

1065
01:18:39,802 --> 01:18:42,502
he makes plans to retaliate.

1066
01:18:45,503 --> 01:18:47,813
Santa Anna is training an army

1067
01:18:47,853 --> 01:18:51,033
in San Luis Potosi
to march against Texas.

1068
01:18:51,074 --> 01:18:54,604
Santa Anna did not think that
this was a local insurgency.

1069
01:18:54,642 --> 01:18:57,822
He was absolutely convinced
the United States was involved

1070
01:18:57,863 --> 01:19:00,563
and so that's why
the Mexican government

1071
01:19:00,605 --> 01:19:02,295
was so determined
to put down this revolt.

1072
01:19:04,827 --> 01:19:07,827
Crockett arrives in Texas
at the same time

1073
01:19:07,873 --> 01:19:10,753
as news of Santa Anna's
counter-attack.

1074
01:19:13,836 --> 01:19:15,926
When Crockett had gone
to Texas, it was really just

1075
01:19:15,968 --> 01:19:19,838
meant to be an extended hunting
expedition and land scout

1076
01:19:19,885 --> 01:19:23,445
and he bumbles right into
a war for independence.

1077
01:19:25,761 --> 01:19:28,591
But a number of things
happened, uh, along the way.

1078
01:19:30,896 --> 01:19:34,806
One was the appearance
of Halley's Comet.

1079
01:19:34,857 --> 01:19:36,157
And when Halley's Comet

1080
01:19:36,206 --> 01:19:39,906
appeared in the sky in 1836

1081
01:19:39,949 --> 01:19:42,079
some people thought
that it meant

1082
01:19:42,125 --> 01:19:44,255
that David Crockett
was coming to Texas

1083
01:19:44,301 --> 01:19:46,001
to fight for independence.

1084
01:20:01,231 --> 01:20:03,151
We could use
somebody like you, Crockett.

1085
01:20:07,063 --> 01:20:08,633
Oh, yeah?

1086
01:20:08,673 --> 01:20:09,723
To remove the stain

1087
01:20:09,761 --> 01:20:11,201
on his character

1088
01:20:11,241 --> 01:20:14,811
Crockett finds himself
drawn into war.

1089
01:20:16,202 --> 01:20:17,642
Hell, I'll join you boys.

1090
01:20:20,554 --> 01:20:21,734
Hell or Texas, right?

1091
01:20:21,773 --> 01:20:23,213
Hell or Texas!

1092
01:20:23,253 --> 01:20:24,433
Hell or Texas!

1093
01:20:24,471 --> 01:20:27,871
Hell or Texas!

1094
01:20:27,910 --> 01:20:30,740
What began
as a fresh start in Texas

1095
01:20:30,782 --> 01:20:33,572
is now a call to arms.

1096
01:20:42,315 --> 01:20:45,445
As the situation in Texas
escalates

1097
01:20:45,492 --> 01:20:47,362
back in Washington

1098
01:20:47,407 --> 01:20:49,977
President Jackson
sees the unrest

1099
01:20:50,019 --> 01:20:52,759
as a new opportunity to expand.

1100
01:20:54,545 --> 01:20:57,895
Andrew Jackson knew
that America was a young country

1101
01:20:57,940 --> 01:20:59,810
and needed more territory.

1102
01:20:59,855 --> 01:21:02,465
He saw in Texas enormous energy

1103
01:21:02,509 --> 01:21:05,859
timber, agricultural resources

1104
01:21:05,904 --> 01:21:09,914
a land mass that many Americans
in the future could move to

1105
01:21:09,952 --> 01:21:11,172
and he wanted them.

1106
01:21:13,172 --> 01:21:15,572
Jackson believed that

1107
01:21:15,609 --> 01:21:18,219
Texas ought to be part
of the United States.

1108
01:21:18,264 --> 01:21:20,924
Jackson attempted
to purchase Texas from Mexico

1109
01:21:20,963 --> 01:21:24,233
after Mexico
became independent of Spain.

1110
01:21:24,270 --> 01:21:26,450
But Mexico
didn't wanna sell Texas.

1111
01:21:26,490 --> 01:21:29,540
And so Jackson
tried to figure out

1112
01:21:29,580 --> 01:21:30,970
"How can I deal with this?"

1113
01:21:33,671 --> 01:21:35,721
To avoid war with Mexico

1114
01:21:35,760 --> 01:21:37,280
Jackson wants Texas

1115
01:21:37,327 --> 01:21:40,417
to declare independence
on its own.

1116
01:21:40,460 --> 01:21:43,940
But what he doesn't realize
is that his plan will hinge

1117
01:21:43,986 --> 01:21:47,026
on the actions
of his long-time rival.

1118
01:21:53,996 --> 01:21:56,256
In February 1836

1119
01:21:56,302 --> 01:22:00,522
two hundred and sixty men
move towards San Antonio..

1120
01:22:08,880 --> 01:22:11,010
...as Mexican general,
Santa Anna

1121
01:22:11,056 --> 01:22:14,966
marches 4000 soldiers
toward Texas.

1122
01:22:17,454 --> 01:22:20,894
The two forces will soon
clash at an old Spanish fort.

1123
01:22:25,897 --> 01:22:28,247
Its name is The Alamo.

1124
01:22:33,165 --> 01:22:37,125
And his stand here will make
Crockett an American icon.

1125
01:22:38,866 --> 01:22:39,996
Alright, close it up.

1126
01:22:46,309 --> 01:22:47,919
Next time, on the conclusion

1127
01:22:47,963 --> 01:22:50,793
of "The Men Who Built
America: Frontiersmen.."

1128
01:22:53,969 --> 01:22:56,799
...Davy Crockett
makes a valiant last stand.

1129
01:23:01,933 --> 01:23:04,243
A new president
plots a covert war

1130
01:23:04,283 --> 01:23:07,203
to gain California and Texas.

1131
01:23:07,243 --> 01:23:10,123
Polk isn't content
to just look at Texas.

1132
01:23:10,159 --> 01:23:12,249
He's going to look broader,
beyond that.

1133
01:23:12,291 --> 01:23:15,081
Polk wants the entire continent.

1134
01:23:18,167 --> 01:23:20,127
Famed explorer, John Fremont..

1135
01:23:20,169 --> 01:23:21,559
We made it!

1136
01:23:21,605 --> 01:23:23,995
...opens the Oregon Trail.

1137
01:23:24,042 --> 01:23:25,912
He was known
as the Great Pathfinder.

1138
01:23:25,957 --> 01:23:27,217
Fremont was the one

1139
01:23:27,263 --> 01:23:31,403
who made the expansion real.

1140
01:23:31,441 --> 01:23:35,841
His partner is legendary
frontiersman, Kit Carson.

1141
01:23:35,880 --> 01:23:38,360
Before there were
all the cliches of the west

1142
01:23:38,404 --> 01:23:39,844
there was Kit Carson.

1143
01:23:39,884 --> 01:23:42,544
Brutally honest, very violent

1144
01:23:42,582 --> 01:23:44,722
but lived true to a code.

1145
01:23:44,758 --> 01:23:49,678
His legacy in many ways is
kind of the ultimate Westerner.

1146
01:23:49,720 --> 01:23:51,110
Together, they start
a revolution

1147
01:23:51,156 --> 01:23:52,976
on the Pacific coast..

1148
01:23:53,028 --> 01:23:55,728
Let's go!

1149
01:23:55,769 --> 01:23:56,859
...battling new enemies..

1150
01:24:01,036 --> 01:24:03,256
...to realize a long-held dream

1151
01:24:03,299 --> 01:24:06,219
a nation
stretching from sea to sea.