The mid 1800's was a vital time for America. The small nation was rapidly growing and even with the measure of area developing not everybody was invited with open arms. After the white pioneers requested political and military activity on Native Americans from the southern conditions of America in 1829, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Action on May 28, 1830. The law gave the privilege to arrange the Indians withdrawal from zones toward the east of the Mississippi waterway and the relocation was intended to be voluntary, though this did not occur. The Removal Act gave President Andrew Jackson the power to remove Indian tribes with force. Despite his claims of compromise and benefits, Andrew Jackson’s policy of Indian removal …show more content…
was largely motivated by his ambitions for power that subsequently infringed upon the Constitution. The condition and ulterior fate of the Indian tribes had become objects of much intrigue and significance to the newly forming nation.
It has for some time been the strategy of the Government to present among them human expressions of progress, in the hope of bit by bit recovery from a meandering life (“Andrew Jackson Calls”). This is where they concluded the need for terrains that belonged to Native Americans for expansion and growth of resources. In correlation, the United States Government gave it its best shot to help the white settlers obtain Indian area. The US Government took the approach of becoming oblivious to the matter and by also passing lawmaking body requiring the Indians to surrender their property (Zinn). The Native Indians were compelled to yield and assimilate to US law or leave their countries where they were also forced to move and wound up in Oklahoma. An article states, “The five noteworthy tribes influenced were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole” (Remini). These were known as The Civilized Tribes that had effectively tackled a level of coordination into a more advanced westernized society, by for example, creating composed dialect and figuring out how to write and peruse
(Remini). In 1828, as requests for expulsion achieved new statures, Americans chose as president Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. He had assembled his political notoriety to some degree by warring against Creek and Seminole groups and had pushed hard for expulsion amid his ascent to the White House. For the voters who were looking for relocation to rich farmlands in the Southern United States to grow fruit and cotton, this created Jackson as a strong leader (american-historama). Through dishonesty, influence, tormenting, and here and there brutality, the government cleared the dominant part from their countries by the mid-1840s though most moved with voluntarily, other tribes resisted through legal means. The Cherokees chose legal resistance and took their epidemic to the US Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that because tribes like the Cherokees were “domestic dependent nations,” states like Georgia could not interfere with federal treaties. This did not stop President Jackson, his agents nonetheless pressed ahead to enforce a removal treaty signed by a tiny minority of Cherokees. The lack of patience for the Native Indians presented by the white settlers led to the Trail of Tears, obtaining its name from the devastating effects that took place due to the relocation (Walbert). In 1838 government troops started forcibly ousting the Cherokee. Around one thousand got away toward the North Carolina Mountains, obtained land, and joined in that state; they were the progenitors of the present-day Eastern Band. The majority of the tribe, including the Western Band, was driven west around eight hundred miles in a constrained walk, known as the Trail of Tears. The walk west included 18,000 to 20,000 individuals, of whom around 4,000 died through exposure, ailment, and hunger (Editors). Amid this time, the U.S. regarded the evacuation of the Natives as "philanthropic and socialized" strategy to shield the Native individuals from the Whites' westbound extension (Remini).
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.
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.
The Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress in order to allow the growth of the United States to continue without the interference of the Native Americans. Jackson believed that the Native Americans were inferior to white settlers and wanted to force them west of the Mississippi. He believed that the United States would not expand past that boundary, so the Native Americans could govern themselves. Jackson evicted thousands of Native Americans from their homes in Georgia and the Carolinas and even disregarded the Supreme Court’s authority and initiated his plan of forcing the Natives’ on the trail of tears. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Indians, however Jackson ignored the ruling and continued with his plan. The result of the Indian Removal Act was that many tribes were tricked or forced off their lands, if they refused to go willingly, resulting in many deaths from skirmishes with soldiers as well as from starvation and disease. The Cherokee in particular were forced to undergo a forced march that became known as the Trail of
The generalization that, “The decision of the Jackson administration to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River in the 1830s was more a reformulation of the national policy that had been in effect since the 1790s than a change in that policy,” is valid. Ever since the American people arrived at the New World they have continually driven the Native Americans out of their native lands. Many people wanted to contribute to this removal of the Cherokees and their society. Knox proposed a “civilization” of the Indians. President Monroe continued Knox’s plan by developing ways to rid of the Indians, claiming it would be beneficial to all. Andrew Jackson ultimately fulfilled the plan. First of all, the map [Document A] indicates the relationship between time, land, and policies, which affected the Indians. The Indian Tribes have been forced to give up their land as early as the 1720s. Between the years of 1721 and 1785, the Colonial and Confederation treaties forced the Indians to give up huge portions of their land. During Washington's, Monroe's, and Jefferson's administration, more and more Indian land was being commandeered by the colonists. The Washington administration signed the Treaty of Holston and other supplements between the time periods of 1791 until 1798 that made the Native Americans give up more of their homeland land. The administrations during the 1790's to the 1830's had gradually acquired more and more land from the Cherokee Indians. Jackson followed that precedent by the acquisition of more Cherokee lands. In later years, those speaking on behalf of the United States government believed that teaching the Indians how to live a more civilized life would only benefit them. Rather than only thinking of benefiting the Indians, we were also trying to benefit ourselves. We were looking to acquire the Indians’ land. In a letter to George Washington, Knox says we should first is to destroy the Indians with an army, and the second is to make peace with them. The Indian Trade and Intercourse Act of 1793 began to put Knox’s plan into effect. The federal government’s promise of supplying the Indians with animals, agricultural tool...
Unfortunately, this great relationship that was built between the natives and the colonists of mutual respect and gain was coming to a screeching halt. In the start of the 1830s, the United States government began to realize it’s newfound strength and stability. It was decided that the nation had new and growing needs and aspirations, one of these being the idea of “Manifest Destiny”. Its continuous growth in population began to require much more resources and ultimately, land. The government started off as simply bargaining and persuading the Indian tribes to push west from their homeland. The Indians began to disagree and peacefully object and fight back. The United States government then felt they had no other option but to use force. In Indian Removal Act was signed by Andrew Jackson on May 18, 1830. This ultimately resulted in the relocation of the Eastern tribes out west, even as far as to the edge of the Great Plains. A copy of this act is laid out for you in the book, Th...
The Indian Removal Act and the Louisiana Purchase was a very important time in the U.S. History and many years to come. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, two major events took place that were turning points for the U.S., The Louisiana Purchase and the Indian Removal Act, these events made an impact socially, economically, and politically. First of all, the United States was out in search of rich soil to plant many fields of cotton. During this search in 1785, they became upon Native Americans who occupied millions of untouched land. In the early 1800s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans disappeared; by the end of the decade, very few Natives remained.
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
Cave, Alfred A. "Abuse of Power:andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act of 1830." Jacksonian Democracy and the Historians. Gainesville: U of Florida, 1964. N. pag. Print.
Natives were forcefully removed from their land in the 1800’s by America. In the 1820’s and 30’s Georgia issued a campaign to remove the Cherokees from their land. The Cherokee Indians were one of the largest tribes in America at the time. Originally the Cherokee’s were settled near the great lakes, but overtime they moved to the eastern portion of North America. After being threatened by American expansion, Cherokee leaders re-organized their government and adopted a constitution written by a convention, led by Chief John Ross (Cherokee Removal). In 1828 gold was discovered in their land. This made the Cherokee’s land even more desirable. During the spring and winter of 1838- 1839, 20,000 Cherokees were removed and began their journey to Oklahoma. Even if natives wished to assimilate into America, by law they were neither citizens nor could they hold property in the state they were in. Principal Chief, John Ross and Major Ridge were leaders of the Cherokee Nation. The Eastern band of Cherokee Indians lost many due to smallpox. It was a year later that a Treaty was signed for cession of Cherokee land in Texas. A small number of Cherokee Indians assimilated into Florida, in o...
In 1830, President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act. This let him negotiate with the Native Americans for their lands. Although the si...
In the 30 years after the Civil War, although government policy towards Native Americans intended to shift from forced separation to integration into American society, attempts to "Americanize" Indians only hastened the death of their culture and presence in the America. The intent in the policy, after the end of aggression, was to integrate Native Americans into American society. Many attempts at this were made, ranging from offering citizenship to granting lands to Indians. All of these attempts were in vain, however, because the result of this policies is much the same as would be the result of continued agression.
The overall population of Indians in the US had been decreasing ever since the first explorers land in the new world carrying vicious diseases that the Indians were not immune to. Although overall the population was shrinking the density of Indians in the Southwest part of the United States was increasing. With more western settlers claiming land, Indians were forced to move to areas that other tribes had also fled to. “For many years, Jackson had protested the practice of treating with Indian tribes as if they were foreign nations” (Feller n.p.). When the Indians created somewhat of a society and started to claim land in states such as Georgia, state governments started to take matters into their own hands. Jackson saw this as an opportunity to do something about the Indian conflicts and decided to back the states and their jurisdiction against the Indian land claims. He accomplished this by not allowing the Federal Government to protect the Indians by removing treaties they had previously put in place. Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830 which allowed him to move the Indian tribes outside of the state boundaries. This seemed to a solution to the problem which it was, but the act also caused chaos and devastation to the Indian tribes and their families. A famous tribe of Indians, the Cherokees, rejected the treaty and were forcefully moved by military forces.
In 1830, President Andrew Jackson decided to try and get Congress to pass the “Indian Removal Act.” However, it wasn’t a very fair act. Even though this act allowed more free land and resources, it violated many people’s rights. Andrew Jackson didn’t care what the Cherokees thought, he still thought he was right about everything. This was very cruel of him to do. It’s like he didn’t ever care about the people.
Can you imagine soldiers from a foreign place coming to your door and forcing you and your family to leave your home to never return again? The Cherokee did not expect this to happen to them either. The Indian Removal Act was formally adopted in 1825 during the presidency of John Quincy Adams. In the reelection of 1828, Andrew Jackson would take the presidential seat after defeating John Quincy Adams. In 1830, President Jackson would sign and set the Indian Removal Act into motion. This legalized the moving of the Indians into the western Indian colonization zone in order to open up the southern cotton lands. In the beginning of the 1830’s there were around 125,000 Native Americans that lived on the land that their ancestors had maintained,
America, since it’s establishment, has been considered the land of the free. However, throughout history, the accuracy of that statement must be questioned. Between the Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the extended slavery of Blacks, the true capacity of American savagery was exhibited. Despite the prosperous and beneficial results economically and in terms of expansion, their depravity didn’t come without moral and social consequence. After seeing America's brutal capabilities exhibited in the forced removal of the Indian tribes, as well as in the enslavement of Africans, other countries’ positive views of America diminished.