Andrew Jackson Indian Removal Act Essay

Robert V. Remini shows that Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act benefits the Native Americans. Andrew Jackson made notice of the issue with the Indians in his inaugural speech on March 4, 1829. He declared that he wanted to give humane and considerable attention to the Indian’s rights and wants in respect to the government and people. Jackson knew that meant to get rid of all remaining tribes beyond the Mississippi River. He (Jackson) believed that the Indians would be better off in the west; without the influence from the white man or local authority. Jackson hired two Tennessee generals to go visit the Creeks and Cherokees to see if the Indians would leave voluntarily. In that, those who did not leave would be protected by the

“Build a fire under them. When it gets hot enough, they’ll move”. There are many opposing opinions as to if Andrew Jackson abused his presidential power under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and accordingly, each side can be justified. However, there is more solid evidence proving that Andrew Jackson did indeed misuse his duties as president by transforming the free movement of Indians to a forced one. Although many believed that Andrew Jackson demonstrated a genuine concern for the well being of the Native Americans, Jackson abused his power as president by unfairly enforcing the Indian Removal Act that did not authorize him to repeal treaties or force the relocation of Indians.

The Cherokee people were forced out of their land because of the settler’s greed for everything and anything the land had to offer. Many Cherokee even embraced the “civilization program,” abandoning their own beliefs so that they may be accepted by white settlers. Unfortunately for the Cherokee though, the settlers would never accept them as an equal citizen. A quote from historian Richard White says it very well, “The Cherokee are probably the most tragic instance of what could have succeeded in American Indian policy and didn’t. All these things that Americans would proudly see as the hallmarks of civilization are going to the West by Indian people. They do everything they were asked except one thing. What the Cherokees ultimately

In 1830, the Jackson administration instated the Indian Removal Act. This act removed the Native Americans from their ancestral lands to make way for an increase of additional American immigrants. This act forced many Native American tribes from their homes including five larger tribes, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creek, and Seminole. These tribes had populations were estimated to be around 65,000 people strong that lived in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. (Foner, 2012) The American Indians fought for their rights and beliefs through the American court system. Their other objective other than fighting for their rights was but in the end, they were forced out of their homes to move

The Indian Removal act of 1830 was passed by President Jackson. President Jackson wanted the Natives land so he made false treaties with them in order to speed up the process of taking their land. Some of the Natives agreed to go to Indian territory on their own but, the majority of them didn’t like the idea of leaving their home. Many of the natives fought and raided the settlers many of the natives tried to make peace with the white men. Soon many of the Natives grew weary and finally decided to cede their land and move to Indian Territory. Still many Natives had to be forced to make the journey. Many of the natives didn’t survive the journey. The Five Tribes that were removed were the Choctaw,Creek,Chickasaw,Cherokee, and the Seminole.

While the government may have been thinking for the betterment of their people, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was not a justified action. The settlers bullied and attacked the original inhabitants, the Indians, into giving up their land. Perhaps to the government this may have seemed justified considering it was beneficial to them, but they essentially stole land that was not theirs to take. In an attempt to feign compassion for these original inhabitants, President Andrew Jackson states in his 1829 case to congress that this Act will help the Indians, “…to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community” (Jackson, First Annual Message to Congress, 2).

Andrew Jackson, The United States seventh president, was possibly one of the worst human beings to be president and treated the Native Indians horribly. He, was a bully and used his position to get acts and petitions like the Indian Removal Act passed, to help push Native Indians around so he could get his own way. The Indian Removal Act in and of itself seemingly doesn’t contain that much power, however it was all the power Jackson needed. The circumstances of Jackson’s character and the debates surrounding the Act also lend and interesting lens to examine what Jackson intentions were. When looking at Jackson and how he managed to relocate the Native it becomes substantially more integral to examine all the documents with a wide scope to see how he even managed the relocation of Natives.

Andrew Jackson has gone down as one of the best presidents in United States history and that’s because he did many great things to improve the United States. Throughout his presidency he constantly abused his power as the president and did many things that expanded the powers of the president. One of the biggest things that President Jackson did while in office was pass the Indian Removal Act. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was when Jackson forced all the Indians to move to the land acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, while the Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional. Many of the Indians went peacefully, but many of the Indians also decided to protest and take it to the Supreme Court (Darrenkamp). While the court did side with the Indians Jackson and Congress forced the Indians to give up their land. The federal troops were called in to escort the Indians to their new land. Fifteen thousand Indians were forced to move and while on their way about a third of the Indians died, and this event became to be known as the Trail of Tears (Darrenkamp). Jackson had

     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

There were several motives for the removal of the Indians from their lands, to include racism and land lust. Since they first arrived, the white Americans hadn’t been too fond of the Native Americans. They were thought to be highly uncivilized and they had to go. In his letter to Congress addressing the removal of the Indian tribes, President Jackson

The Indian Removal Act, inspired by Andrew Jackson; the 7th president of the US and the enhanced ambition for American settlers to find more land in the southwestern regions of North America. The Indian Removal Act enabled Jackson the power of negotiating removal treaties with Indian tribes east of the Mississippi. Among these tribes were: Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaws and Seminoles. Very few authenticated traits were signed. The Choctaws were the only tribe to agree without any issues. All other attempts resulted in War and blood shed for both white settlers and Indians. The conflict with the U.S. and Indians lasted up until 1837. In 1838 & 1839 Jackson forced the relocation of the remaining Cherokee Indians;

Andrew Jackson’s impact on America had both negative impacts and positive impacts. For negative impacts, he was a man slaughterer of native Indian tribes and treated them unfairly. He caused a problem when he initiated the nullification crisis and force act. For positive impacts, he destroyed the national bank. He did both bad things and good things, and to understand all of them is important.

Jackson’s removal policy did not sit well with a lot of groups; many were uncomfortable about it but agreed it had to be done. President Jackson showed great leadership apart from everything else, and handled the Indian Removal act when no one else wanted to address the growing issue of Indian problem. Most government officials saw little to gain from addressing this and would do nothing. Some historians believe the president’s motivation was clearly out of concern for the Indians customs, their culture and their language, but his first concern was the safety of the military, Indians occupying the east might jeopardize the defense of the United States.

One of the defining moments of President Andrew Jackson’s career, if not the most significant, was the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This was a controversial bill at the time and the impact from it is still felt today. The Indian Removal Act directly led to the displacement of thousands of Native Americans; including four thousand deaths during the Trail of Tears, the forced march from Georgia to Oklahoma. While overt racism played a clear role in relocating Native Americans past the Mississippi, it is possible that other factors were at play. The living conditions in many of the states were poor for Natives and Jackson hoped that giving them a new location to live could remedy these problems while opening the land up for white settlers.

The seventh president of the United States; Andrew Jackson, was not only notorious for his success as a general but also for his actions as president. The Removal Policy is still discussed today because of the question of whether or not the removal of Native Americans benefited them or not. The intent of Jackson's actions is controversial because it is not clear if he acted in the best interest of Native Americans or for white settlers. Robert Remini's writing Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars he concludes that Jackson's removal act was the only way to protect the Native Americans from conflict with impeding settlers. Albert Cave writes in Abuse of Power: Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal act of 1830, that Jackson broke promises