II.

Career

Crockett’s struggle against poverty drove him westward across Tennessee, and he eventually settled near Reelfoot Lake on the Obion River. In 1806 he married, and after his wife’s death in 1815, he married again the following year. He served with General Andrew Jackson, later seventh president of the United States, in the campaign against Native Americans of the Creek tribe in 1813. This experience broadened his ambition, and from 1821 to 1825 he was a member of the Tennessee State Legislature. In 1827 he became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was defeated for reelection in 1831 but was victorious in 1833.

In Congress Crockett became known for the coonskin cap he wore and for his rustic wit and native shrewdness. A courageous legislator, he was dedicated to the defense of his squatter constituents against land speculators and planter aristocrats. His political career was dominated by his determination to pass a bill granting land to people living as squatters in western Tennessee. These efforts involved him in political conflict with such powerful leaders as Jackson and James Polk, later 11th president of the United States.

Crockett opposed much of Jackson’s proposed legislation, angering both the president and members of Crockett’s own Democratic Party. When Jackson's supporters mounted a concentrated attack against him, Crockett joined the Whig Party. The Democrats, however, mustered enough strength to defeat Crockett in the election of 1834.

So bitter was Crockett after his defeat that he “seceded” from the United States and in 1835 set out for Texas, which was then under Mexican rule. There, Crockett joined the Texan struggle for independence. He was killed on March 6, 1836, while helping to defend The Alamo at San Antonio.