Jacksonian Democracy: Stereotypes, Racism, And Native Americans

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Native Americans lost everything once white settlers set foot on America. Their entire lives changed right in front of their eyes, all because people were taking things that didn’t belong to them. The white settlers took everything from them, almost all of them died, or had to relocate; today Native Americans are still going through the same stereotypes and racism, and are seen as very dangerous. During the 1820s, a military hero became a symbol of expanding America. That hero was Andrew Jackson. He rose at a time when national politics became extremely democratic, and created a trend that many historians call Jacksonian democracy, which brought many limitations. Free blacks, women, and Native Americans were not able to vote. But, many Southern voters had expectations that Andrew Jackson would help …show more content…

John Marshall ruled that Georgia’s seizure of Indian lands was unconstitutional in 1832, and the federal government had treaty obligations to protect the Indians, though Jackson refused to act on the ruling. Jackson urged Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This law was to negotiate a peaceful exchange of Indian lands in the south for new lands in the “Indian Territory,” which is now Oklahoma. The Choctaws and Chickasaws agreed to accept lands in the West, but many other groups resisted relocation, and this resisting caused violent conflicts. The United States military removed the Creeks from their lands, and the Seminoles fought the Second Seminole War, which ended with U.S. troops forcing most of them away from Florida. After this, troops forced more than 15,000 Cherokees to travel from the Southeast to Oklahoma. Many died of disease, exposure and hunger. “The name of the route they followed is known as the “trail of Tears,” which comes from the Cherokee nunna-da-ul-tsun-yi, for the “trail where they cried” (history

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