Wif Jackson dies at the battle of Horseshoe bend

Now I doubt it is ASB but the native Americans held a strong position extremly well fortified, so what if Jackson led the assault personally and was shot by a stray bullet. So Jackson dies, what would happen, how would Jacksons death affect the US, this means New Orleons may end in a British victory. So what happens after Jackson dies and how does it change American history.
 
I'm pretty sure New Orleans would stay with the US. The battle happened after the war ended, it was more a moral/pride booster from my understanding, then a decisive turning point in the war. The political ramifications could be quite up there; someone else might have taken on the banks and such, but they might not have had enough political capital or the nerve to go as far as Jackson did. I'm also pretty sure the Trail of Tears would have still happened, played out differently, but with the same end result; Georgia was hungry for their land, and it would have been political suicide for anyone to back the Natives, sadly. But who knows, I know there was a thread on the ramifications of No Trail of Tears.
 
So what happens after Jackson dies and how does it change American history.


Jackson's death would spark incredibly profound changes. The man's life, accomplishments, and actions in and out of the White House seem almost fictional at times. He was in the thick of so many of the events of the period and basically reshaped both the Presidency and the Republic for both good and ill.

So, Jackson dies in 1814:

  • Cochrane/Pakenham would take New Orleans but the city and region stay American because the war is already over. The British Foreign Secretary of the time was an Amerophile of sorts and the treaty he accepted didn't punish the US as much as it could have, so the US isn't going to lose New Orleans on his watch. Especially if it had been seized after the treaty was signed.
  • Florida is going to "join" the Union in a very different manner if Jackson isn't around to exceed his orders and lead basically what was a proto-filibuster into the region in "pursuit" of the Seminoles.
  • National politics won't be changed so rapidly and forcefully so rabid partisanship will take longer to develop. At the time there was sort of "gentlemen's agreement system" which had been choosing the Presidential candidates and only one party which even pretended to operate on the national level. When Jackson had the election taken from him in '24, the steps he and his supporters took to ensure his election in '28 led to national parties, party nominating conventions, and the rest of the system we all loathe today.
  • The whole spoils system won't take root. While that will prevent the corruption which civil service reform had to tackle later in the century, a lack of "rotation" as Jackson called it could also see a professional and permanent government bureaucracy arise in the US much earlier. To illustrate what that might mean, let me suggest you watch the delightful 1980s British sitcoms Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
  • The US would have a central bank much earlier than the 1913 Federal Reserve Act and that would lead to all sorts of interesting economic consequences.
  • The Nullification Crisis goes down much differently either leading to an earlier civil war or no civil war at all. South Carolina attempted what was a dress rehearsal for the war in '28 when it decided it could nullify Federal tariff laws it didn't happen to like. If memory serves, Jackson's own vice-president even supported that state's position on the issue. The issue sputtered on for a few years with each side stepping closer to a confrontation. Finally in '32 Jackson, being Jackson, browbeat Congress into considering a "Force" bill which would allow him to use troops to enforce federal tariffs. Basically, he was threatening to march into South Carolina and kick ass until Clay worked out another compromise. Jackson set a precedent for federal superiority that lasted for a period until the question came up again and was finally "settled" in favor of the Feds in 1865.
  • The Indians of the US southeast are screwed even more than they were by the Trail of Tears. If Jackson hadn't forcibly removed the Indians from their lands in defiance of the law, the white settlers in the region would have simply killed them all in a series of internal wars. The Indians were either going to leave the region alive or be buried where they stood. Jackson had been dealing with the various issues swirling around Indians, white settlers, and land for decades and knew what would inevitably happen. He chose the lesser of two evils and then accepted all responsibility for that choice. He even had an Indian removal campaign plank in each of his presidential campaigns. All this seems monstrous in our 2010 eyes, but it was a different time.


All that's just off the top of my head. I'm very certain there are many more issues and events I overlooked.
 
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