Cherokee Indians Research Paper

1046 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Stereotypes of native Americans

In 1838-39 U.S. troops, ordered by the state of Georgia, expelled the Cherokees from their homeland in the Southeast and removed them to the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. The demand for fruitful land during the rapid growth in the southeast led to the removal of the Cherokees along with the discovery of gold on Cherokee land. There was a racial prejudice towards the Native Americans from the white southerners. Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837) during this time. During his presidency many legal issues came about when he did not follow the treaties made by the National Government with the Cherokee Nations.
Perhaps the most controversial element of Jackson’s presidency was his strategy regarding Cherokees, which involved a mass filtering of ethnic groups. Jackson was a great supporter of a policy known as Indian removal. The movement of the Cherokee Indians was also known as the ‘Trail of Tears’, which was one of the saddest events in the history of United States, where thousands of Cherokees were stripped of their land in Georgia and were forced to march across the nation in search of a new home. Many tribes and portions of tribes had been removed to Arkansas Territory and further west of the Mississippi River as they suffered tragedy and a mass loss in numbers. So I believe that they should not have been forced to move from their lands.

When looking into the passages from white and Cherokee resources you can see a recurring theme of prejudice with the white sources. In Andrew Jackson’s annual message he states “It has been policy of Government to introduce among them the arts of civilization, in the hope of gradually reclaiming them from a wandering life” (Wheeler 187). ...

... middle of paper ...

...s well as 2,500 or more died in the makeshift stockades before the journey, and 13,149 who began the trip, only 11,504 arrived in Indian Territory” (Wheeler 185). “In addition, several hundred died soon after arriving by either violence or disease” (Wheeler 185).
The removal of Indians was unjust and very wrongful, they made treaties with whites to protect themselves and their land only to later have it stripped away from them. This caused not only tension between native tribes but even more with natives and whites, this caused a mini civil war between the tribes during the actual Civil War when Native Americans fought on both sides. With this the natives still held strong to their cultures and languages even during the time when the whites began education them to the new ways. In hindsight this was later recognized as one of the saddest times in US history.

Show More
Related

  • Muckleshoot Tribe Research Paper

    425 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Muckleshoot are a Native American tribe are a part of the Coast Salish people. their territory can be found located in Washington. They are recognized as the Muckleshoot Tribe, they are composed of generations of different tribal groups who inherited Puget Sound areas and occupied river drainages from the rivers confluence in Auburn to their reservations in the Cascades.

    Read More

  • The Long, Bitter Trail: Andrew Jackson and the Indians by Anthony F.C. Wallace

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout Jackson's two terms as President, Jackson used his power unjustly. As a man from the Frontier State of Tennessee and a leader in the Indian wars, Jackson loathed the Native Americans. Keeping with consistency, Jackson found a way to use his power incorrectly to eliminate the Native Americans. In May 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act. This act required all tribes east of the Mississippi River to leave their lands and travel to reservations in the Oklahoma Territory on the Great Plains. This was done because of the pressure of white settlers who wanted to take over the lands on which the Indians had lived. The white settlers were already emigrating to the Union, or America. The East Coast was burdened with new settlers and becoming vastly populated. President Andrew Jackson and the government had to find a way to move people to the West to make room. In 1830, a new state law said that the Cherokees would be under the jurisdiction of state rather than federal law. This meant that the Indians now had little, if any, protection against the white settlers that desired their land. However, when the Cherokees brought their case to the Supreme Court, they were told that they could not sue on the basis that they were not a foreign nation. In 1832, though, on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokees were a "domestic dependent nation," and therefore, eligible to receive federal protection against the state. However, Jackson essentially overruled the decision. By this, Jackson implied that he had more power than anyone else did and he could enforce the bill himself. This is yet another way in which Jackson abused his presidential power in order to produce a favorable result that complied with his own beliefs. The Indian Removal Act forced all Indians tribes be moved west of the Mississippi River. The Choctaw was the first tribe to leave from the southeast.

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal 1980 DBQ

    1271 Words  | 3 Pages

    Under the Jackson Administration, the changes made shaped national Indian policy. Morally, Andrew Jackson dismissed prior ideas that natives would gradually assimilate into white culture, and believed that removing Indians from their homes was the best answer for both the natives and Americans. Politically, before Jackson treaties were in place that protected natives until he changed those policies, and broke those treaties, violating the United States Constitution. Under Jackson’s changes, the United States effectively gained an enormous amount of land. The removal of the Indians west of the Mississippi River in the 1830’s changed the national policy in place when Jackson became President as evidenced by the moral, political, constitutional, and practical concerns of the National Indian Policy.

    Read More

  • DBQ on Jackson and the Indian Removal

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... the unwilling tribes west of the Mississippi. In Jackson’s letter to General John Coffee on April 7, 1832, he explained that the Cherokees were still in Georgia, and that they ought to leave for their own benefit because destruction will come upon them if they stay. By 1835, most eastern tribes had unwillingly complied and moved west. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was created in 1836 to help out the resettled tribes. Most Cherokees rejected the settlement of 1835, which provided land in the Indian territory. It was not until 1838, after Jackson had left office, that the U.S. Army forced 15,000 Cherokees to leave Georgia. The hardships on the “trail of tears” were so great that over 4,000 Cherokees died on their heartbreaking westward journey.     In conclusion, the above statement is valid and true. The decision the Jackson administration made to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River was a reformulation of the national policy. Jackson, along with past Presidents George Washington, James Monroe, and Thomas Jefferson, tried to rid the south of Indians This process of removing the native people was continuous as the years went on.

    Read More

  • Native American Perspective on Indian Removal Act

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    In May 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which forced Native American tribes to move west. Some Indians left swiftly, while others were forced to to leave by the United States Army. Some were even taken away in chains. Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, strongly reinforced this act. In the Second State of the Union Address, Jackson advocated his Indian Policy. There was controversy as to whether the removal of the Native Americans was justified under the administration of President Andrew Jackson. In my personal opinion, as a Native American, the removal of the tribes was not in any way justified.

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson: The People's King

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... one of the stipulations and had to be settled. The removal of the Natives in an effort to protect the American people on the frontier proceeded, and was all the region of present-day Oklahoma, as shown in document L. These actions are viewed as cruel and unjust, but it was the way that would’ve dealt the least damage. Further delaying the issue would’ve soon set into altercations between the various Native tribes and the United States of America. In retrospect, Jackson served to protect the people.

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson Villain

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    Perhaps the worst aspect of Jackson 's administration was his removal and treatment of the natives. Specifically, Andrew Jackson forced the resettlement of several native american tribes against the ruling of the Supreme Court. The Indian Removal Act drove thousands of natives off their tribal lands and forced them west to new reservations. Then again, there are those who defend Jackson 's decision stating that Indian removal was necessary for the advancement of the United States. However, the cost and way of removing the natives was brutal and cruel. The opposition fails to recognize the fact that Jackson’s removal act had promised the natives payment, food, and protection for their cooperation but Jackson fails to deliver any of these promises. Furthermore, in “Indian removal,” an article from the Public-Broadcasting Service, a description of the removal of the Cherokee nation is given. The article analyses the effect of the Indian Removal Act, which was approved by Jackson, on various native tribes. “The Cherokee, on the other hand, were tricked with an illegitimate treaty. In 1833, a small faction agreed to sign a removal agreement: the Treaty of New Echota. The leaders of this group were not the recognized leaders of the Cherokee nation, and over 15,000 Cherokees -- led by Chief John Ross -- signed a petition in protest. The Supreme Court ignored their demands and ratified the treaty in 1836. The Cherokee were given two years to migrate voluntarily, at the end of which time they would be forcibly removed. By 1838 only 2,000 had migrated; 16,000 remained on their land. The U.S. government sent in 7,000 troops, who forced the Cherokees into stockades at bayonet point. They were not allowed time to gather their belongings, and as they left, whites looted their homes. Then began the march known as the Trail of Tears, in which 4,000 Cherokee

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson: Effective Or Ineffective President?

    822 Words  | 2 Pages

    Namely, he desired to play a role in the nation’s affairs (“Jackson”). One way he participated in the nation’s affairs was by promoting the Indian Removal Act. Jackson expressed that the Natives were “savages” and that they should be filled with “gratitude and joy” to be moved to the west,(“President”). He should have kept in mind that the Natives, who were peaceful people, would be forcibly removed from their habitats and endure an arduous journey to their new land. Jackson’s decisions were rash and impatient. If he instead had made a better decision, many lives may have not been lost in

    Read More

  • Conflict Between Andrew Jackson And The Cherokee

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some of these individual efforts worsened the outcome for the whole tribe. Jackson’s manipulative ways of handling this situation in office and out of office forced the Cherokee to make hard decisions, and I feel like these decision makers for the Cherokee failed miserably. The reason behind the lack of attack on Jackson is quite obvious, politicians have been acting like politicians well since the very beginning. As selfish and egocentric as his view was, he knew what the was going to do, and being president of this powerful nation not much any one nation could do to stop him let alone the nation of a tribe.

    Read More

  • Andrew Jackson Essay

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Indian removal was so important to Jackson that he went back to Tennessee to have the first negotiations in person. He gave the Indians a couple simple alternatives. Alternatives like to submit to state authority, or migrate beyond the Mississippi. Jackson Offered generous aid on one hand and while holding the threat of subjugation in the other. The Chickasaws and Choctaws submitted quickly. The only tribe that resisted until the end was the Cherokees. President Jackson’s presidency was tarnished by the way the U.S. government handled the Native Americans. Although financially, and economically Jackson truly was a good leader, some people view him in a negative way because of the “Indian Removal Act.”

    Read More

  • Displacement and Mistreatment of Native Americans

    2250 Words  | 5 Pages

    The removal of Indian tribes was one of the tragic times in America’s history. Native Americans endured hard times when immigrants came to the New World. Their land was stolen, people were treated poorly, tricked, harassed, bullied, and much more. The mistreatment was caused mostly by the white settlers, who wanted the Indians land. The Indians removal was pushed to benefit the settlers, which in turn, caused the Indians to be treated as less than a person and pushed off of their lands. MOREEE

    Read More

  • The Removal of the Cherokee

    5744 Words  | 12 Pages

    The tragedy of the Cherokee nation has haunted the legacy of Andrew Jackson"'"s Presidency. The events that transpired after the implementation of his Indian policy are indeed heinous and continually pose questions of morality for all generations. Ancient Native American tribes were forced from their ancestral homes in an effort to increase the aggressive expansion of white settlers during the early years of the United States. The most notable removal came after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Cherokee, whose journey was known as the '"'Trail of Tears'"', and the four other civilized tribes, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole, were forced to emigrate to lands west of the Mississippi River, to what is now day Oklahoma, against their will. During the journey westward, over 60,000 Indians were forced from their homelands. Approximately 4000 Cherokee Indians perished during the journey due to famine, disease, and negligence. The Cherokees to traveled a vast distance under force during the arduous winter of 1838-1839.# This is one of the saddest events in American history, yet we must not forget this tragedy.

    Read More

  • History: The Indian Removal Act

    1103 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1830, President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act. This let him negotiate with the Native Americans for their lands. Although the si...

    Read More

  • The Cherokee Indians

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    advantage of the rich black soil for farming. Corn was their main source of food,

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Andrew Jackson's Legacy

    1457 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jackson was fully aware of what that land could be used for “he was a slave owner who bought and sold men in bulk” ( Dougherty , 2) the lands were used for white settlements and more slave plantations. Now Jackson being a slave owner is not incredibly shocking for being a man of his time but his cruelty on the other hand was “When one of his slaves showed the Jacksonian temerity to escape his master, Jackson offered a $50 reward "and $10 extra for every 100 lashes a person will give to the amount of 300" — basically a freelance death sentence.”(Dougherty,2) A main cause of this atrocious behavior was for his own personal gain “part of Jacksons personal wealth came through land that had been promised to Indians in a treaty.”(Dougherty,5) For a person who spoke often of being a man of the people it’s slightly too convenient that he got more out of it than anyone. it’s easily arguable that every choice that Jackson made was for his own gain and against the non- white community. “It 's completely justified to say that Jacksonian democracy reflected this same grasping ambition of the newly expanded white voting classes at the expense of slaves and Indians.” ( Dougherty 3) a democracy that is built on personal agenda showing

    Read More

More about Cherokee Indians Research Paper

Open Document