Research Paper On The Indian Removal Act Of 1830

The Indian Removal Act of 1830: An American Indian Genocide

Sally Kawamura
Alex Holowicki
HIST 152
9 December 2015
Prior to the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land throughout Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida. However, territorial expansion of the United States caused by the settlements of both Europeans and Americans began to push the boundaries of Indian territories further inland. By 1838, the Cherokee community was forced to surrender their land to the east of the Mississippi River and migrate to present day Oklahoma. This journey was referred to as the "Trail of Tears" due to the devastating effects it had on the native people. The forced exodus of the Native

American communities was an act of genocide. Those who supported the Indian Removal Act often did so as a result of a misguided sense of patriotism and ambition for America and thus caused Native Americans to perish in large numbers due to diseases and appalling conditions.
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group".

The forced exodus of Native American communities in the United States, which led to thousands of deaths, was deliberate and systematic. By the 1780's, the U.S. Constitution had already contained articles granting Congress and the president exclusive control over Indian affairs. The Indian Removal Act granted Jackson power to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi. Under these treaties, the Indians were to give up their lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for lands to the west. Although the removal was supposed to be voluntary and peaceful, the southeastern nations that resisted to relocate were forced to leave through military force. The Choctaw Indians in 1831 were the first to be relocated, then the Seminole followed the Choctaw in 1832, then the Creek in 1834, then the Chickasaw Indians in 1837 and lastly the Cherokee Indians in 1838. By 1837, more than 46,000 Native Americans had been forcefully relocated from their homelands, thus opening about 25 million acres for mainly white

settlement.
The Trial of Tears was a direct result of the enforcement of the Removal Act. The Trial of Tears created a period of immeasurable misery and despair among the Native Americans who had been relocated against their will. Vast majorities of families were separated and many had only clothes on them, all other possessions were left behind. John G. Burnett, a soldier involved with the roundup of Cherokees, described the operation by stating that, "Men working in the fields were arrested and driven to the stockades. Women were dragged from their homes by soldiers whose language they could not understand. Children were often separated from their parents and driven into the stockades with the sky for a blanket and the earth for a pillow". In addition, tribes were prearranged into wretched and miserable traveling caravans in order to make the relocation process more efficient. During the trail, the Cherokee passed through unbearable living conditions; the Cherokee lacked sufficient shelter, food and protection. On the other hand, they were usually forced to march in chains or manacles.
In most cases, if the poor living conditions did not kill them, severe disease outbreaks did.

Tribes were plagued with diseases such as dysentery, pneumonia, whooping cough, pellagra and tuberculosis, which usually wiped out entire families. A Cherokee survivor later recalled, "Long time we travel on way to new land. People feel bad when they leave Old Nation. Women cry and made sad wails. Children cry and many men cry, and all look sad like when friends die, but they say nothing and just put heads down and keep on go towards West. Many days pass and people die very much". Consequently the Trail of Tears resulted in over 4,000 deaths among the Cherokee people and scholars have speculated that the camp conditions might have been responsible for perhaps one-third to one-half of all the deaths associated with the Trail of

Tears.
The Trial of Tears is a perfect expression of the U.S. government's act of inhumanity towards the Native Americans. The mass exodus of the Native Americans was an act of genocide; Native Americans were forcefully and intentionally relocated, thus leading them to perish. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 resulted in the deaths of thousands of Native Americans so that Europeans could continue their territorial expansion in the United States.