Andrew Jackson Versus The Cherokee

When it came to protecting individual liberties, Jacksonians favored the white male population, but totally ignored others. They wanted to move all of the Indians who lived in the eastern lands to western lands past the Mississippi River. Jackson bolstered their case. Even after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Cherokee tribe and its right to remain where it was, Jackson did

On May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act was passed. It stated that the Native American were to be removed from the Southern states (Indian Removal Act). The act ended the Native American’s right to live in the states under their own traditional laws (Indian Removal Act). They were given the options to assimilate and acknowledge the United States’ laws or leave (Indian Removal Act). They were forced to leave their land, their homes, everything they ever knew or face the consequences. They were forced to go to a land that they knew nothing about, and hope that they would be able to survive where ever they ended up. When the Cherokee were forced to leave, out of the 18,000 that left 4,000 died on the way (Primary Documents) As a result of all of the death on the trail, it was named the Trail of Tears (Primary Documents).

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.

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.

Surprisingly, even though many Americans wanted the Indians’ land, some Americans disagreed with the government’s decision over the Indians removal. This can be seen though an account made by John G. Burnett, “I saw helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes, and driven at the bayonet point into the stockades. And in the chill of drizzling rain…. loaded like cattle or sheep into… wagons and started toward the west. One can never forget the sadness and solemnity of that morning,” (Doc. M). This was considered the lowest point of Jackson’s career (Shi and Tindall, 330). Jackson’s administration completely ignored the Indians’ rights as people and forced them to leave everything they’ve ever known, which completely ignores basic human rights much less the basics of a democracy.

    With the unconstitutional Indian Removal Act, Jackson forced more than one native american tribe to move from their land. He had done this because he says he was looking out for them so the white people and natives didn’t fight anymore. The Native American tribes hadn’t done anything wrong but Jackson still forced them to move. The Cherokee tribe was considered one of the “civilized” tribes since they had a president, dressed like normal people in that time, and had a government like our own. The Cherokee tribe had been forced to move because some wealthy lawyers had signed the treaty and Jackson took the treaty knowing that the president wasn’t the one who had signed it (“Treaty of New Echota”). It wasn’t just the Cherokee tribe that had been forced to move but also the Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole,

While Jackson has done wonders for America, he was not perfect. One of his flaws would be the Indian Removal Act of 1830. While the Cherokee’s march did not happen until after Jackson’s presidency, this can still be traced back to Jackson not upholding the rights of Native Americans during his presidency. This Act forced the Cherokee nation to give up their lands and travel to present day Oklahoma. During this journey, the Native Americans were faced with hunger, diseases and exhaustion because of these problems around 4,000 people died. This brutal movement of the Cherokee would become known as the Trail of

In 1830, congress passed President Andrew Jacksons Indian Removal Act. This policy allowed the United States government to extinguish the Cherokee, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, Seminole and many other tribes title to their land. The Indians had to leave the land and life they had always known in the Southeastern United States behind. This disturbing event was named the Trail of Tears because many Native Americans died during the process of marching to an area west of the Mississippi River due to disease, starvation, and the long journey.

Jackson had been fighting Native Americans for their land before he became a president. In 1788, Jackson and several white settlers tried to force the Cherokee Indians off their homeland in Georgia.2 The Cherokees fought to keep their land from white settlers and they even brought their case to the Supreme Court. Under the Constitution, the United States government must negotiate with the tribe leaders before seizing their land. Many political figures tried to bribe, threaten, or use military force to make tribe leaders sign the treaty so they would leave, however some of them would not budge so easily. Some political

This Act gave the United States president the authorization to eradicate all Native American tribes that were long-standing inside the boundaries of the United States onto Indian Territory west of the Mississippi river. During the winter of 1839, the Cherokee Indians were forcibly displaced west by the United States military. Chronicled as the wickedest winter on record, the involuntary journey caused the demise of nearly 4000 Cherokees, later known as the “Trail of Tears”. During this time in

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;

During the ninetieth century the United States began a policy to remove Indians in the lands east of the Mississippi. Under the Indian Removal Act of 1830 Indians were forced to give up their lands east of the Mississippi and forced to move west of the Mississippi. Indian removal did not actually begin there. Prior to the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the United States used treaties and other means to remove Indians from lands that white settlers wanted or moved into. Aside from treaties the United States waged wars on Indians that refused to leave their lands peacefully.

Even though Andrew Jackson was not in office at that time he still managed to pass the action. Congress not having any power in Jackson they did not stop his activities. Jackson took 7,000 Army soldiers that marched down to the Cherokee land and they began to forcibly relocate the 17,000 thousand Cherokee. They invaded their land which was illegal, but he ignored all laws and force them out of their homeland. This led to the Trail of Tears of 1838; The Cherokee nation was exposed to harsh weather, diseases, and starvation. During this march to finding a new homeland about 4,000 thousand Cherokee citizens died because of everything, they were exposed to. Andrew Jackson is the only one responsible for their death. Therefore the Indian Removal Act of 1830, was wrong and it is responsible for the death of all these people in the Trail of

Jackson strongly hated the Native Americans; just seeing what he did to the two Seminole chiefs in Florida defies his hatred towards this group of people. Jackson claimed that they were in America’s way, causing him to move various tribes of the East Coast. One of them was the well-known Cherokee tribe, who strongly opposed the decision, because they already adapted the American culture. Their opposition was taken to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that the Cherokees can stay. Andrew Jackson showed no sympathy and ignored the court’s decision and exterminated them from the East Coast to the West Coast on a winter season; the journey that we call today the Trail of Tears, because of the death of many during the travel.

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.