I’ve heard that Andrew Jackson did quite a number on the Cherokee, forcing them to relocate from as far as Georgia to what is now Oklahoma. Some have even accused Old Hickory of genocide, citing the thousands of Cherokee who died on the “Trail of Tears.” What I want to know is, how does Jackson rank among practitioners of genocide? Does he even make the all-time top-ten list? I figure he has to come in way behind Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, the Turkish triumvirate Talat, Enver, and Cemal (who orchestrated the Armenian genocide), and the recent Hutu leaders in Rwanda. Can you think of any others who rank ahead of Jackson? –Mike Skarplos, San Jose, California
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Please. I don’t want to minimize the cruelty of the Trail of Tears (1838-’39) or Jackson’s culpability for it. But strictly in terms of body count, the forced removal of the Cherokee probably doesn’t crack the top hundred instances of genocide, much less the top ten. The death toll most commonly cited is 4,000–mostly due to exposure, malnutrition, and disease. By contrast, in the 20th century, far and away the bloodiest period in history, state-sponsored slaughter of innocents averaged 5,300 victims worldwide per day–170 million in all. (That’s a conservative total, too, compiled in 1987.)
Rummel goes on to identify the top nine killers: (1) Joseph Stalin, 43 million dead, 1929-’53; (2) Mao Tse-tung, 38 million, 1923-’76; (3) Adolf Hitler, 21 million, 1933-’45; (4) Chiang Kai-shek, 10 million, 1921-’48; (5) Vladimir Lenin, 4 million, 1917-’24; (6) Tojo Hideki (Japan), 4 million, 1941-’45; (7) Pol Pot, 2.4 million, 1968-’87; (8) Yahya Khan (Pakistan), 1.5 million, 1971; (9) Josip Broz, better known as Marshal Tito (Yugoslavia), 1.2 million, 1941-’80.
