Indian Removal Act Argumentative

I disagree with the Indian Removal Act. One reason is while the Native Americans were being removed, they traveled on a path called the Trail of Tears, where many Native Americans died. Also, the Indian Removal Act took away most of the freedoms the Native Americans had. This is why I disagree with the Indian Removal Act.

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

Georgia). The state of Georgia never released them from imprisonment and Jackson never intervened. The government also turned a blind eye when dealing with treaties that were previously agreed to with the Indians. In 1791 the Cherokee nation acknowledged themselves to be under the protection of the United States and no other sovereign, also an agreement was made that white men could not be on their lands without passports. Jackson himself offered false promises to the Indians that they would have the lands west of the Mississippi "as long as Grass grows or water runs.

In 1830, President Andrew Jackson addressed Congress stating two Native tribes had accepted the terms of the Indian Removal Act. Jackson said he hoped the two tribes consent would set an example for the other tribes to leave because he thought leaving was an advantage for them. He explained, “It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State governments on account of the Indians.” The two different civilizations didn’t agree, which lead to violent conflicts that lasted centuries. For thirty years, the United States had tried to come to find a way to get the two civilizations reach an agreement. The Indian Removal Act became the United States government’s solution that ended the violent encounters. This Act removed the Natives from northern Tennessee, southern Louisiana, western Alabama and the state of Mississippi, which helped the United

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).

“I fought through the civil war and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew”, remarked a Georgia soldier who had participated in the removal of Indian Natives during the mid-1800’s. As a result of the Indian Removal Act, Indian natives have been perceived as mistreated and cheated throughout history. The Indian Removal Act was passed during the presidency of Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. This act granted authorization to the president to exchange unsettled lands west of Mississippi for Indian lands residing in state borders. Initially, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was passed to expand the Southern United State for farmland and to aid the government in furthering our development as a nation. With this plan in mind, the government provided money to establish districts in the west of the Mississippi River for the Indian natives, ensured trade and exchange in those districts, allowed Native Indian tribes to be compensated for the cost of their removal and the improvements of their homesteads, and also pay one years’ worth subsistence to those Native Indians who relocated to the west.

The Indian Removal Act signed by the president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, caused controversy and the brutal and merciless suffering of the Native Americans during The Trail of Tears. The beginning of the 1830’s was a time when the Native Americans occupied The Deep South. This, however, was problematic for the white farmers who were in need of farmland in order to increase their production of cotton. Nevertheless, Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, coerced the Native Americans to relocate their civilizations to lands west of the Mississippi. A close examination at the tribes that were compelled to move west would show that they were civilized. Thus, Andrew Jackson was not justified in his policy towards

Many historians argue that the Indian Removal Act was not justified. “Members of Congress argued that Jackson violated the Constitution by refusing to enforce treaties that guaranteed Indian land rights.” (Cheathem, 452). In 1791, America signed a treaty with the Cherokees with the intent on “civilizing” them into the traditions of America. By the 1820’s, most Cherokees were “living in log cabins instead of houses made

“What the Removal Bill did not do was as significant as what it did. It did not define precisely the constitutional rights of any tribe that had been removed. It did not make mandatory the allocation of funds for tribal assistance if Congress wanted the money for anything else. It specified no machinery for carrying out the removal. Also, it made no mention that in 1828 gold had been discovered on Cherokee land at Dahlonega, Georgia, and it drew no lines between state or federal rights” (Jahoda 41).

The Trail of exiles was a trail of death. The Indian Removal Act was a controversial idea which many people spoke out against. Many protested over the poor treatment of the Native Americans. On the other hand, settlers supporting the Indian Removal Act stated that this will be an advantage to America gaining more land and wealth.

Did you know that thousands of American Indians traveled half the country on foot? This was because of the Indian Removal Act. The Indian Removal Act is an act which says that the government has the power to move the American Indians to a specified location as long as the American Indians can keep that land forever. The government moved most of them to the now established Kansas because the explorer who explored Kansas called Kansas a desolate desert full of tribes who have no homes. Many American Indians did not like the Indian Removal Act because of the struggle it caused.

In order to do this though they needed the Indians to move. the Indians however refused to move, but eventually the Americans forced them out. The removal of Indians was not justified because it was their land first, the Americans didn’t give them time to move out and the supreme court sided with the Cherokee . Therefore the removal act of 1830 was not justified.

This investigation will explore the question: To what extent was the Indian Removal Act necessary in the eyes of the U.S. Government?

One reason of the unjustification of the Indian Removal Act is the fact that the Cherokees owned the land before the Americans arrived; their tribe have lived on the land for hundred of years. A passage from Georgia Encyclopedia states, “White people in Georgia and other southern states that

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.