The Indian Removal Act was a very controversial decision made in 1830 that had many short-term and long-lasting effects on America. The United States wanted to expand its borders, but there was a problem. There were still many Native American tribes spread throughout the land the U.S. wanted, so they had to devise a way to get the land from them as peacefully as possible. In the end, it wasn’t as peaceful as they’d like. Discussed in the next few paragraphs is the purpose, effects, and rationale of this troubling act. To begin, the purpose of the Indian Removal Act was to relocate the Natives in the area from their lands to reservations. White settlers wanted to expand further and pressured the government to do something to make these tribes …show more content…
It was the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (Office of a Historian 1), where Andrew Jackson led his troops to defeat the Creek tribe. With Andrew’s victory, he forced the Creek to sign the first of 9 other treaties regarding the removal of Indians (Office of a Historian 1). Only a few other tribes decided to fight before they were indefinitely overpowered and forced to move. No matter what strategy the Native Americans tried, the white settlers took over their lands and the Natives eventually all moved onto these reservations out west. The short-term or immediate effect that this act had was the Native Americans having to leave everything they had known and all their possessions. They left houses, supplies, and all their livestock to make the journey. Another effect was when they got to this new land, they had to rebuild everything and adapt to the new terrain. One example is the Cherokee tribe being pushed towards new territory in Arkansas, where they had trouble with flooding of their crops and many other harsh conditions (Kidwell 4). Long-term effects of the Indian Removal Act are the preservation of culture and the results of the Trail of …show more content…
Over ten thousand Native Americans were relocated to areas in modern-day Oklahoma, and around 15,000 died along the way (Irvine 1). I agree that descendants of Native Americans could be compensated because it was their ancestors who had to endure all of the hardships and the trauma that trickled down to the current generations of Native Americans and sparked feelings of unjustness. At the other end, I could see why it wouldn’t make sense to give reparations to said descendants, since it happened over 200 years ago. But since we cannot go back in time to provide proper reparations for the ones who suffered firsthand, we could try to make it better for the remaining displaced descendants still living in tribes or on reserves. They are trying to protect and keep their culture and way of life alive, even after generations of hardships and relocation. These brutal events and struggles their ancestors have gone through have shaped the history of their people and are still just as important to their descendants. The Indian Removal Act has had long-lasting effects on the tribes and our country, whether they are good or bad, it is still a very controversial
Back in 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. This act required the government to negotiate treaties that would require the Native Americans to move to the west from their homelands. Native Americans would be moved to an area called the Indian Territory which is Oklahoma and parts of Kansas and Nebraska. Some tribes that were to be moved are Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw, and Chickasaw. All of the other tribes had relocated in the fall of 1831 to the Indian Territory besides the Cherokee
The Indian Removal Act is about how President Andrew Jackson wanted to appeal to small farmers and westerners with Indian Removal. In Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi many white settlers wanted Indian lands. Many of the Indians adopted European ways. President Andrew Jackson held all the Indians in contempt. Because of this act many people opposed. Opposition was widespread in the Northeast. Methodist and Quakers opposed of this removal and many women petitioned congress to vote no. The Indian Removal
The Indian Removal Act, known to be a government document had been signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The document allows the president to give away unsettled land west of the Mississippi River in return for Native Americans grounds within state borders. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in order to move the Indian tribes living on the east of Mississippi River to the lands of the West. The reason the Indian Removal Act was passed was that Americans needed to settle on the Native
The Indian Removal Act was passed by congress on May 28, 1830, during the term of President Andrew Jackson. This law allowed the president to negotiate with Indian tribes in the Southern United States for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their ancestral home grounds. This may mark the beginning of the Indian removal for the United States government, but to the Indians it all started when the Europeans first landed in their territory. Beginning
President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 to relocate Indian Tribes to the west of the Mississippi in exchange for their ancestral homeland. Five of the Indian tribes affected were the Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole, and Cherokee. As these Indian tribes lived in the South, Jackson seemed moving them under federal land west of the Mississippi was the best way to expand their country and to preserve the Native American way of life. Many American individuals latched onto this
your home forever? This is exactly what Thomas Jackson required of the Indians after passing the Indian Removal Act. In the Removal Act, he portrayed the migration to their new home, the reserves, to be a positive thing. The Indians were led to believe they would be escorted to their new homes free of charge. Jackson also reassured them that his forefathers left their lands and had created a new life in America. By the Indians leaving their ancient lands, Jackson would be able to develop the forests
why Andrew Jackson implemented the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Andrew Jackson's motives for enforcing the policy, and the actions he performed when he carried it out, can be interpreted in various ways depending on the analyzer's perspective. Robert V. Remini, for one, believes that Andrew Jackson forced the Indians out of their lands solely for humanitarian reasons. He states, "[Andrew Jackson] felt he had followed the 'dictates of humanity' and saved the Indians from certain death." Andrew Jackson
The once great tribes of Native Americans are now all gone from the land in which their forefathers were born in. This act of ethnic-cleansing was called the Indian Removal Act. This law authorized the removal of Native Americans to move to the west of the Mississippi River in exchange for land. Although this act lead to the growth of America, the Native Americans shouldn’t have had to relocate. The Native Americans shouldn’t have relocated because they were becoming more civilized, because they
and up rises because Indians have refused to give up or sell their lands. With an escalating white population, Native American communities have been disintegrated, killed in conflicts, or forced to move into Indian Territories. The year of 1828 would again demonstrate how white settlers would obtain Native American’s lands with the Cherokee Indian Removal. Known as the Trail of Tears, the Cherokees would start their tragic journey to Indian Territory in which thousands of Indians would die along the
Tears: The Story of the American Indian Removal 1813-1855. By Jahoda, Gloria. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975. Pp. 356. Foreword, notes, bibliography, index.) In her 1975 book The Trail of Tears: The Story of the American Indian Removals 1813-1855 (published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston) the author Jahoda Gloria, as the title suggests is only concern with actual events of the tragedies and journeys associated with the pre-civil war removal of Eastern Indian of the west side of the Mississippi
the Cherokee Indians migrated south from the Great Lakes region around the 15th century. The Cherokee tribe was one of the largest Native American tribes eventually settling and occupying the southeast portion of what was to become the United States. The Cherokee tribe was highly religious and spiritual. They considered warfare to be a polluting act and warriors were required to go thru a purification by a priest before reentering the Cherokee village. Yet in 1830, the Cherokee Indians were forcibly
their lands. One specific group of Native Americans that was unjustly removed from their lands was the Cherokee Indians. The Cherokee clashed with American government and did not willfully move out of their homelands in the southeastern parts of the United States. Although the Americans had substantial reasons why they wanted the Cherokee’s territory, they had no right to kick the Indians out of their homeland. There were many events that lead up to and caused the Trail of Tears. One of the main reasons
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
The Re-birth, Revolt, and Removal of the Cherokee The Cherokee were forced into giving up most of their land in the eighteenth century. Through fraudulent treaties and unjust deals the Cherokee lost close to all of their land during this time. One of the biggest loses coming from "Henderson's Purchase", in Kentucky, 1775. In an effort to stop the complete takeover of all Indian land, the Cherokees go through a transformation in order to survive in a new world. "The great Cherokee renascence of
1829 to 1837, a lot of controversial decisions were made. The removal of Cherokee Indians to land west of the Mississippi River in the 1830’s was one, and this was more a change of the national policy than a reformulation. Since the Spanish came to the New World from the 1500’s, the continent’s inhabitants- Indians, were there. Beginning from the Washington government in the 1790’s, the policy United States used to administrate the Indians was civilization and assimilation. Under the ambitious administration