Daily Links
September 25th, 2009-
On a sun-speckled afternoon in late August New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is in Times Square, expounding on the delights of a 2.5-acre pedestrian plaza she created three months ago. It displaces the 53,000 cars that crawled through the area daily with a strangely calm oasis where 356,000 people traipse beneath flashing billboards and jumbotrons.
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Nearly 180 years ago, President Andrew Jackson handed a letter to a military officer with a message for two American Indian tribes: Leave Mississippi and Alabama, or else.
His direct language was the start of federal efforts that led to the forced relocation of five tribes and the infamous "Trail of Tears," as thousands of Indians died from starvation, exposure, and disease.
But historians have always had to depend on a draft of Jackson's message — not the final copy carried by Maj. David Haley to Choctaw and Chicasaw leaders. It was believed lost to history.
Until now.