He made a name for himself by defeating the Creek Indians in the early spring of 1814. He forced the Creeks into ceding 23 million acres of territory to the United States. After he defeated the British at Mobile, he took his soldiers to New Orleans to fight in what would be the last battle of the War of 1812. After a few attacks by the British damaged the American forces, Sir Edward Pakenham then lead his British troops on a frontal assault on January 8, 1815. Jackson's troops were well dug in and simply had target practice with the approaching British. Wave after wave they fell until it was all over one hour after it had started. Pakenham and two of his generals were killed along with over 2,000 of his troops. The Americans only lost 13 troops and had a few dozen wounded. The total domination by the Americans led by Andrew Jackson helped turn him into a National Hero.
The Era Of Good Feelings.
After the End of the War of 1812 the United States boasted a new sense of integrity and identity. The Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1817 between the British and the United States calmed conflicts on the Great Lakes, and the Convention of 1818 established the border with Canada at the 49th parallel. .
The Era of Good feelings was now in full swing. James Monroe of Virginia was president at this time. President Monroe and his wife were responsible for having the Executive Mansion painted white, and its name changed to the White House. He adopted John C. Calhoun's idea for encouraging commerce and industry by urging Congress to use protective tariffs to protect American manufacturing, to build roads that would bring the newly expanded markets and farms together, and to connect the rivers and lakes in the United States with a system of canals. Although most thought of these as good idea's, some people, like those of New England were not too happy with what they considered projects that were too expensive and threatening to local power.
