The Indian Removal Act Essay example

In 1830 the US government called for the relocation of the native American tribes who stayed east of river Mississippi to the lands that were west of the river. The president worked out a deal of land exchange with the tribes that were located in the land. This was known as the Indian removal act. The native American was to migrate voluntarily even though most United States citizens did not follow these orders.

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

The Cherokee removal process dates back as early as the times of the first European encounters. When the explorers arrived in the New World, lack of immunity from disease played a role in decimating the native population. Smallpox, measles, and typhus spread everywhere and eventually, only around sixteen thousand natives remained by the 1700's. Even with the overwhelming victory of the British during the French and Indian war, the Cherokee were able to preserve many aspects of their society such as their own local governments and maintaining their crops. Nevertheless, the monarchy still ruled the region and even by the end of the Revolutionary War when the Americans had won, Constitutional policies were implemented to contain and control the native peoples. Peaceful relations existed in the beginning, but it was not until powerful resistance from the Cherokee that forced change among the settlers who kept pushing for westward expansion.

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.

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

In 1831, the Cherokee nation went to court against the state of Georgia. They were disputing the state’s attempt to hold jurisdiction over their territory. Unfortunately, because they are not under the laws of the constitution, the Indian’s right to court was denied. It was not until 1835 that the Cherokee finally agreed to sign the treaty, giving up their Georgia land for that of Oklahoma.

First of all, the Indian tribes claimed their land. For example, article #2 stated, “ The Cherokee lived in what is now northern Georgia more than-one hundred years before the Georgians arrived.” This means that the Indian tribes started settling in the land way before the actual Georgians arrived. Also, article #2 stated, “ In the case of Worcester vs. Georgia (1832), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state of Georgia couldn't force the Cherokee off of their land.” This shows that the U.S. even agreed that the Indian tribes had no right of moving from the land they claimed. Even though the U.S. government offered the Indian tribes more than “one square mile per person”

The Market Revolution adversely affected the liberty of Native Americans residing within the United States because they were seen as an obstacle to the country’s economic progress. As the Market Revolution ideas of commerce and expansion took hold in the minds of the people, these white citizens shared the view that Native Americans were hindering the goal of expansion. It was the United State’s God-ordained right to occupy and settle the land westward (Manifest Destiny), and the Native Americans were in the way. The conflicts with Native Americans has existed in America since the first settlers, but with the increased emphasis on commerce and development brought by the Market Revolution, the relations worsened. In 1823, during the case of Johnson v M’Intosh, the Supreme Court claimed that Native Americans only had the “right of occupancy” on their land, and that they did not own it. In 1830, under Jackson’s administration, the Indian Removal Act was created which tried to move the 5 Civilized Tribes out of their lands. Finally, in the Trail of Tears during 1838-1839, 18,000 Cherokee men, women, and children were forcibly removed from their lands and relocated to Oklahoma by federal soldiers. Soon

Samuel Worcester challenged the constitutionality of the Georgia act because they had convicted him of residing in the Cherokee nation without obtaining a state permit and swearing an oath of loyalty to the state. Worcester wanted to challenge the authority of those who imprisoned him and at the same time establish the rights of the Native Americans in the United States, which were being oppressed by people like Andrew Jackson, who believed that “philanthropy could not wish to see this continent restored to the condition in which it was found by our forebears,” and that we should instead move the Native Americans so they can once again enjoy a land free of our “cities, towns, and prosperous farms,” even though these Native Americans had conformed to our society and in fact wanted to stay in their ancestral lands (Jackson 1).

The term “kill the indian, save the man” began in the year 1887. It was a phrase the U.S government used to change the ways a Native American was taught.The federal government's goal was to ‘americanize’ the Native Americans. In steps to achieve their purpose, in 1830, President Andrew Jackson passes the Removal Act. This bill required Native Americans to colonize in the Indian Territory West of the Mississippi River.

"One by one Indian peoples were removed to the West. The Delaware, the Ottawa, Shawnee, Pawnee and Potawatomi, the Sauk and Fox, Miami and Kickapoo, the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole. In all some 90 thousand Indians were relocated. The Cherokee were among the last to go. Some reluctantly agreed to move. Others were driven from their homes at bayonet point. Almost two thousands of them died along the route they remembered as the Trail of Tears." For decades, the state of Georgia sought to enforce its authority over the Cherokee Nation, but its efforts had little effect until the election of President Andrew Jackson, a longtime supporter of Indian removal. In 1838 the U.S. government forced the Cherokee Indians out of their land

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 Indian Removal Act was the legislation that opened the door for current economic struggle of the Native American communities. President Andrew Jackson signed the policy

Indian removal act – Passed in 1830, this act forced Native Americans to leave their tribal lands and settle on federal lands to the west of the Mississippi River.

From “friendly neighbors” to “noble savages” the view from the early settlers to Americans and their government in the Eighteenth Century, certainly deteriorated over history. The Federal Government did not view the Indians to have the same rights as the white man. Native Americans were told that they had some legal status within the nation, through treaties that assured them that lands would be theirs forever. This was basically a façade. This came about over time because the white men wanted more and more of the rich lands that the Indians had claimed. The treaties were not being honored by Congress and this caused more problems between the Indians and the white settlers.