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. The Indian Removal act occurred due to the boom in the cotton industry causing Southerners to desire for more land and gold lying upon Indian’s land. Jackson labeled them as savage and ransome and stated their taking up land for white settlers. The Indian Removal act caused many white settlers to encourage Indians into signing removal treaties in order to gain the land they want. Many tribes declined this treaty …show more content…
Jackson stated they are savage and don’t deserve to live in their land. According to Andrew Jackson’s Second Annual message he stated the speedy removal will support the Indians but, many have suffered and been tortured by white settlers leading to the loss of their ancestors land, death, a new landscape to adapt to, and walking hundreds of miles in very harsh living conditions. According to Document A, John G Burnett wrote, “And I have known twenty two of them to die in one night of pneumonia due to ill treatment, cold and exposure” This shown how much the Indians suffered from Americans lack of supplying medication, shelter and warmth during the Trail of Tears. In Document D, John Ross said, “Ever since [the whites came] we have been made to drink of the bitter cup of humiliation; treated like dogs... our country and the graves of our fathers torn from us.” As you can see, the Indians feel sick and tired of being controlled by Americans. They want to be independent and want to live along the graves of their ancestors without it being taken away. In conclusion, the Indian Removal act caused Indians to be treated very poorly due to their land being forcibly taken away and walking the Trail of
The Indian Removal Act was an act that removed native americans from their land because the US wanted it. The supreme court specifically told Jackson to not move the native americans off the land, but Jackson still did. Even though the native americans and the US had an agreement, the US still decided to remove the native americans so they could have the land. The native americans were moved off their land and moved west. This lead to the Trail of Tears.
On may 28, 1830 the Indian Removal Act was passed by the congress and was signed by the current president at the time Andrew Jackson. The Indian Removal Act authorized the president to grant unsettled lands west of Mississippi in exchange for the Native Americans land. This forced Native American tribes to march their way west of Mississippi. Some tribes left in peace but most of the tribes resisted. In 1835 the agreement to, Treaty Of New Echota allowed Jackson to order Cherokee removal. Some Cherokee leaders signed the treaty and left but people under the leadership Chief John Ross resisted until they were forced to move to a new location 1838. Their forced journey to their new location was called the Trail Of Tears. Ever since, Native Americans have been living in reservation lands and the government has taken notice but don’t know if they should give them land or money. The government should be giving Native Americans land instead of money because the reservation lands are not
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 was very controversial during its time, receiving influence from individuals, local, state and mostly by the federal government. This act gave the president, Andrew Jackson, the authority to make transactions with Indian tribes in the Southern region of the United States. The Indian Removal Act was a deal made by President Andrew Jackson with the Indian tribes, forcing them to leave their occupied land, which happened to be federal territories west of the Mississippi River. President Andrew Jackson’s primary method in Indian Removal was his speech to Congress regarding his opinions on the act, which included many positive outcomes that would happen if the Indians were to leave the territory. He claimed that this act would not only benefit the United States as a whole, but it would also benefit the Indian people. This benefit was called “Manifest Destiny” or the idea of the United States expanding its territories from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. This expansion would benefit the country not just economically, but agriculturally as well. However, “Manifest Destiny” was only an idea, and in order for this idea to become a reality, the governments had to take action. This action in entirety was the removal of the Indian tribes from the southern regions, making them travel through very harsh conditions so that Americans could settle in their former homeland. Overall, the American government wanted to rid the
In the years leading up to the Indian Removal Act, which was the initial cause of the Trail of Tears, the United States was in a shift. The country was seeing an unrivaled influx of European settlers looking for careers and land. This caused population to skyrocket, in fact in the years 1790-1840, the United States saw a 350% increase in population. In other words, the need for fertile land and viable property was high. At the same time, attempts at assimilation of Indians into American society were proving to be futile. Americans saw the Indians as “noble savages”, who were uncivilized but able to be fit for society if they were converted to Christianity and adopted Anglo-European culture and behavior. With the growing need for land and the rise in tension between Natives and fearful white settlers, something needed to be done in the eyes of the American people. These two things combined is what really set up the foreground for what would become the Indian Removal Act. President Andrew Jackson, in
This Indian Removal Act allowed state officials to override federal protection of Native Americans. The American settlers had wanted the land for white
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).
When Americans expanded their country west, they interfered with many American Indian Tribes. In a letter he wrote to congress, he explained “This emigration should be voluntary… (but) if they remain within the limits of the states they must be subject to their laws” (Andrew Jackson’s Message to Congress December 7, 1829). Andrew Jackson offered to let the American Indians stay if they followed their laws. But in 1831, Jackson forced the Native Americans out of their homelands starting the Indian Removal. According to a reprinted in Niles Weekly Register, the Cherokee’s said “We wish to remain on the land of our fathers. We have a perfect and original right to remain without interruption or molestation”. Jackson lied to the American Indians about allowing them to stay. Jackson did not act democratically because he did not allow the American Indians to stay and forced them to move west. Jackson was fair to his supporters, but not to
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;
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.
Since there were Indians, the Americans couldn’t colonize in some parts of the land. As a result, the Indian Removal Act came into place. It was decided that the Indians were to be put in New
In the 1830’s America was expanding its border and completing manifest destiny. The one thing standing in the way of Americans moving west was the Native Americans. President Andrew Jackson had a dilemma on his hands. Jackson wanted to create a plan that would make everyone happy. But in the end, Jackson had the Native American removed from their land and led to the “Trail of Tears” where many Native Americans would lose their lives. Looking at the articles by F.P Prucha, Mary E. Young and Alfred A. Cave each one says that the Indians needed to be removed from their land for a different reason.
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.
Action was necessary and accepted as rational by the American people because of their unsustainable racism and greed for land to expand their settlements. The intent was not to burden the Native Americans, but “Jackson fully expected the Indians to thrive in their new surroundings, educate their children, acquire the skills of white civilization so as to improve their living conditions, and become citizens of the United States”(Remini 213). In order to become citizens of the United States the Indians were expected to conform to the societal normalities of the white citizens. Jackson put the removal act in place to diffuse conflict and encourage Native Americans to accept the American way of life as their new culture. The idea was to act in the most humane manner that would help both sides, not necessarily to disregard the Indians heritage or way of life.