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11 Davy Crockett

days as a frontiersman and claimed to owe his life to Indians who saved him from starvation on the trail. Crockett was in the minority, however. Most Americans supported the Indian Removal Bill. Whenever Crockett spoke against the bill, he angered not only Andrew Jackson but also the voters back home in Tennessee, many of whom had lost friends and rela- tives to Indian attacks while trying to establish their homesteads in the early years of the 19th century. As the congressional elections of 1835 approached, Jackson and the Democrats aimed to rid themselves of Davy Crockett. For Crockett’s seat in Congress, they supported a Tennessee lawyer named Adam Huntsman. The two men crisscrossed Tennessee, campaigning hard for votes. Crockett ultimately lost in a close vote— he received 4,400 votes, 250 less than Huntsman. Now out of Congress, Davy Crockett was no longer a threat to run against Van Buren in the presidential election. Crockett felt bitter about losing the election. He found it hard to believe the rural folks in Tennessee had turned him out of office. He declared that he planned to go back to the frontier life. He headed for Texas.

Text-Dependent Question Why were many Americans familiar with Davy Crockett in the 1830s?

Research Project Write a report describing the impact of the Indian Removal Bill on Native Americans, and explain how this law contributed to U.S. expansion during the 19th century.