Andrew Jackson Indian Removal Analysis

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States, he won the presidential race for his support of farmers and workingmen. His role as president led him to pass nine treaties and Indian Removal Act, although everything he passed was not what was promised. There are now questions about what the removal was, how Jackson got it passed, and is it what the Indians expected it to be? President Jackson got the Indian Removal Act passed on May 28, 1830, when it was passed it said that the move west would be voluntary and peaceful, although Jackson and his administration had other plans for the Indians and their land.

As Southerners expanded west into the land of the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaw, and other Indian nations the United States overlooked and abused the Indians. The Federal Government decided to force them out of their land, making the land available for white settlements. Andrew Jackson played an important role in the Indian removal. He had a complicated relationship with the Indians due to the controversial issues on the Indian Removal Act.Consin Jackson forced Congress to pass this act since he believed that it would not only benefit the Indians as well as America. The Indians, as well as others, disagree with the government's thoughts and beliefs, however, most had no say in the ruling of this Act. The passing of this act brought conserved throughout the entire country, as some Americans believed the Natives were subject to these new state legislatures while others believed the

Before the passing of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, lands west of the Mississippi River were Indian territory. Americans were not to settle on those lands or invade into the Indian’s space. Andrew Jackson was interested in having these Indians removed from this land to use it for American expansion. At first he explained that by removing indians from this land whites would be less likely to experience any dangers that these people could bring. Also he felt that Americans could better populate the land and create cities and towns to make the land more useful. With the settlements of powerful cities and towns, Jackson believed, that the land would be less likely to be invaded and if invasion was to be brought into the and there would be

In 1830 Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. The Indian Removal Act, also known as the Trail of Tears, gave the power to forcefully remove Indians from their land east of the Mississippi river to the west of the Mississippi. Though Jackson is now hated for this Act, in the 1830s it was seen the most necessary thing to do. In document 41 Jackson states, “It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites…” To average Americans, mostly white men, Indians took up the space needed to settle and stood in the way of American progress. It is obvious that the Mississippi River was beneficial to anyone who was looking for settlement for the purpose of transportation, trade, farming, etc,. With that being said, Jackson and other White settlers thought that it was necessary to gain ownership of the Indians’ land one way or another. For this reason, Jackson was someone who kept his word and was all for the common man. Citizens loved the fact that Jackson was able to take control and relate to the former president, George

When Andrew Jackson became the president of the United States, he had in mind to remove Cherokee Indians from their society and place them on new lands provided by the Louisiana purchase. A bill was signed in 1830, known as the “Indian Removal Bill”, which made Cherokees migrate from Georgia, westward of the Mississippi river. The Cherokees had to be moved from their lands because the environment they were leaving in was not suiting them well and they were becoming a threat to the new government established by the United States.

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

Jackson wrote “I suggest for your consideration….setting apart an ample district west of the Mississippi….to be guaranteed to the Indian tribes as long as they shall occupy it….” (Doc D). Although Jackson forced the Native Americans to leave, he gave them a land in the west of Mississippi as long as they live in it. Now that Jackson gave the Native Americans a land, there will be no more conflicts between them and the white people. Some of the Native Americans did not want to leave their land such as the Cherokee because they had the right to stay since it is the land of their fathers and because they were the ones who came to the lands first. In the Memorial of the Cherokee Nation, the Cherokees said “The country west of the Arkansas territory is unknown to us…. The far greater part of that region is….badly supplied with food and water…. All our neighbors… would speak a language totally different from ours, and practice different customs….” (Doc E). Cherokees did not want to leave for many reasons such that the west of the Arkansas region is unknown to them, the greater part of the region is badly supplied with food and water, and all of their neighbors speak different language

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.

Jackson had no sympathy for the Native Americans and during his presidency, it became a national policy to remove them by force. After independence, the United States created treaties with the tribes so there would be less conflict. Despite these treaties, Native Americans were still being pushed off. “The law did not say that Indians should be removed by force, and in 1831 the Supreme Court ruled that Indians have a right to their land. An angry Jackson disagreed. Groups that refused to move west voluntarily were met with military force, usually with tragic results.”(Hart, 2005) This quote shows that Jackson would do what he wants even if it isn’t right. When the Native Americans tried to defend their land cruelty occurred. Under president Martin Van Buren, more than 17,000 Cherokee were taken from their homes in Georgia and were sent west. “A soldier who took part in the Cherokee removal called it ‘the cruelest work I ever knew.’”(Hart, 2005) This shows that even some of the people that took part in it thought that it was cruel. Though this was not while Jackson was president, he was the one that started the mass removal of Native Americans so he was to blame for the cruelty that ensued after his presidency. Some might argue that Jackson was only trying to get more land for the settlers and that the Native Americans had a long time to

Andrew Jackson was convinced that he was helping the Natives by forcing them out of the land they have thrived on for many, many years. He believed that by doing this, the Native Americans will “enable them {Native Americans} to pursue happiness in their own way” (Document A). This statement is not true because the Natives were already content and secure on the land they resided on. By removing them, he took away their happiness. Native Americans treat their land as if it is their own child, so the Indian Removal Act was very depressing for them. Jackson also said that by removing the Indians, it will prevent a war between the two groups. This is a false argument because instead of preventing a war, it actually sparked many wars between the two groups. While this was very saddening for the Natives, it was very good for American citizens. By conquering this land, it allowed the states “to advance in population, wealth, and power” (Document A). It allowed the Americans to gain gold and let them expand America as a whole. The Cherokees did not want to be removed from their land. In Document B, the Cherokees state that they want to “remain on the land of their fathers” because they feel that

On May 28, 1830 the president of the United States of America, Andrew Jackson signed the

As the 19th century began, land-hungry Americans poured into the backcountry of the coastal South and began moving toward and into what would later become the states of Alabama and Mississippi. Since Indian tribes living there appeared to be the main obstacle to westward expansion, white settlers petitioned the federal government to remove them. Although Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe argued that the Indian tribes in the Southeast should exchange their land for lands west of the Mississippi River, they did not take steps to make this happen. Indeed, the first major transfer of land occurred only as the result of war.

The United States expanded rapidly in the years immediately prior to and during the Jackson Presidency as settlers of European descent began to move west of their traditional territories. White settlers were highly interested in gaining Native American land and urged the federal government to allow them to obtain it. President Andrew Jackson encouraged Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act in 1830, which gave the federal government the authority to move consenting eastern Native American tribes west of the Mississippi River. It has been debated whether the Indian Removal Act benefitted or harmed the welfare of Native Americans, and it can be argued that the Indian Removal Act of 1830 had an extremely negative impact on the eastern Native

The Cherokee Indians are one of the most well-known American Indian tribes here in the U.S. However, once the Europeans came to the new world and started to expand their territory, this did not bode well for them. Many tribes were enraged by the expansion into Native American lands. Even when the Europeans had promised that they would not encroach onto their lands. Gold was said to be on the lands of the Cherokee and this made the Europeans want to break their promise to the Indians even more so now that they knew that gold was said to be there.

Andrew Jackson was elected in the same year to find a solution to the problem. In 1830, Jackson gives a message to Congress on Indian Removal. In this speech, Jackson says, “The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves.” Jackson believed that Indians should be removed for the better of everyone, even the Indians themselves. The question, “Can Georgia assert power over the Cherokee Indians?” was presented to the Supreme Court in the 1831 Cherokee Nation v. Georgia and 1832 Worcester v. Georgia. In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia Chief Justice John Marshall defined the Indians as “a domestic, dependent nation”, and in Worcester v. Georgia, Marshall stressed