"A small "d" democrat who was appropriately critical of concentrated power, his presidency would do much to break the grip of the new nation's emerging elites on its governance. "Yet," as historian Sean Wilentz would note, "those advances went hand in hand with the continued subjugation of Native Americans and a determination not to disturb the slavery issue. Jackson stood for a more egalitarian America, but his vision of democracy stopped squarely at the color line." And, the Cherokee Nation fell on the wrong side of Jackson's color line."