Indian Betrayal Essay example

The law was passed that all Natives had to leave. Cherokees believed even if they stayed they would still have to deal with all the troublesome White neighbors, therefore their best option was to leave. There was nothing they could do because the whites were too powerful as said in doc 5. “It is argued that they can never remain quiet where they are;n that they will always be infested by troublesome whites; and that the states, which lay claim their territory, will always preserve in measures to vex and annoy them.” The Natives didn’t understand why the white people wanted them gone so bad, because the white people tried so hard to change the Natives culture to make them act like the white people. The Natives changed they way they acted, worked, and how they looked. In doc 7 it says “ The Cherokees have been reclaimed from their wild habits. Instead of hunters, they have become the cultivators of the soil instead of wild and ferocious savages, thirsting for blood, they become the mild “citizens.” The Cherokees were really upset, because not only were they leaving what had now become their norm they were also leaving their land which had been passed down through their family. The Cherokees started a petition to the United States asking for them to fulfill their treaty they had made. In doc 9. It says “ Cherokee people used no violence but humbly petitioned the Government of the United States for a fulfillment of treaty

They were declared a dependent sovereign state and only the federal government had any say so in their affairs. Treaties were signed and land was sacrificed in order to retain some semblance of independence but the states got greedy and wanted it all. It was the Indians who followed the treaties and never went after their lost land or left their borders but the Americans continued to encroach on them. The Memorial Of the Cherokee Nation explained how Indians were tricked into selling land that belonged to the Nation so that Indian territory became American territory despite the people having no right to sell land given to the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee government fought the breaks in the treaties but the judicial decision was overruled and the Cherokees were still forced to move. Besides the breaches in the treaties, the Cherokee tribe was one of the five assimilated tribes meaning they adopted European customs and religions. The Cherokee had become civilized as was the European’s goal and they fought their battle through the legal system not in a war. In this sense, the Indian Removal was unjust and

John Burnett witnessed the helpless Cherokees pulled from their homes and driven at bayonet point. They were herded into wagons and headed westward. Most of the Cherokee people did not have sufficient cover to protect against the harsh climate. By the time the westward journey ended, four thousand Cherokees had died all because the whites wanted their land. The Cherokee sent an envoy to Jackson to which Jackson decreed that all of their land must be given to the white people [Doc 3].

Another cause for poor relations between Native Americans and European Settlers was the constant push for acquiring new land by the Colonists. The Native Americans did not just want to give up their land and this resulted in war between the Indians and the Colonists. During this time Native Americans were sold into slavery belittled and removed from their land, due to the fact that the Colonists had more advanced technology and weapons. One of the major wars was the French and Indian War which resulted in the removal of Native Americans from their land and many casualties on both sides. Over time many battles were fought over land, even after America was an established country with presidents, laws, and court systems. Native Americans were continually pushed out of their land for hundreds of years while they were forced to move west. The constant push of Native Americans out of their land would cause an event known as the Trail of Tears where thousands of Indians were removed from their land by the Indian Removal Act. “In 1830 the Congress of the United States passed the "Indian Removal Act." Although many Americans were against the act, most notably Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett, it passed anyway. President Jackson quickly signed the bill into law. The Cherokees attempted to fight removal legally by challenging the removal laws in the Supreme Court and by establishing an

“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.

Even though the U.S. got more land from the Indian Removal Act and gave the Indians a new home with covered expenses it was a downcast for many Native tribes and a miserable event throughout history. In the writing of John G. Burnett’s Story of the Cherokees, he discusses how terrible and sad the removal of the Indians were and how it negatively affected the Indians. Specifically, “Woman were dragged from their homes”(2),”Children were often separated from parents, with the sky for a blanket and the earth as a pillow.”(2) In general, all of the Indians and even the women and kids were treated horrible as if they were seen as savages, and as if they were animals. Although, when being treated like savages, were the Indians the true savages or

There were a variety of key factors that have led to the removal of the Cherokee Indians. One of the key factors that had promoted the removal of the Indians was the belief system of Manifest Destiney. The young colonists believed it was their mission from God to use the land given to them to the fullest. The colonists also believe they are to spread Democracy. This belief system caused the Cherokee Indians to lose most their land. The settlers annexed Florida from the Spanish not only because of their neglect, but they wanted to defeat the Native Americans. They wanted the large farmland they had in Florida. The Black Hawk War in the North caused the removal of many Sauk Indians to Kansas from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Regardless if the land was purchased Indians, the Americans believed they were entitled to all the land on the continent. They lost land through battle, treaties, and were forced to hand over land if they wanted the colonists support. A key factor of the Indian removal was the adoption of European culture. As many assimilated to the European culture, they were faced with prejudice

The year is 1830. You are out in your farm, gathering food for your dinner. Suddenly, Cherokee Indians burst out of the nearby woods and drag you away by your hair. At their camp, they tied you to a wood pole and build a fire around your feet. The last sensation you feel is sweltering heat as a wave of black consumes you. This is a small taste of what it was like back in 1830. Before the United States was as large as it is now, the U.S. kept bumping elbows with its neighbors, the Indians. President Andrew Jackson introduced the Indian Removal Act to give the U.S. some room. The Creeks and Choctaw Indians already moved out, and only the Cherokee Indians remained. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 and withdrawal of the Cherokee was justified because they were bloodthirsty, the U.S. needed room to grow, and it’s not the worst thing in the world for them.

Once at the highest court available in the State, the Cherokee had kept with their rhetoric that they were not wishing to attack the Europeans or those living near them. They only wished to have the promise of the government that they made to not encroach onto their lands and then everyone can

Settlers would often steal their livestock, kicking Native Americans out of their homes and taking them, and harming any single person who opposed to their invasive tactics.(Thornton290).

In 1832, the Indians signed a treaty which stated that the federal government would provide them with suitable western land and would protect them until they moved. But, with the onslaught of white settlers, the War Department backed down on it’s promise (pbs.org). Also in 1833, a small faction of the Cherokee were tricked to sign an illegal removal treaty, also known as the “Treaty of New Echota.” Led by Chief John Ross, over 15,000 Cherokees signed a petition in protest of this new treaty, but the Supreme court ignores their demands and instead ratified the treaty in 1836 (pbs.org). In all, the Indians shouldn’t have been forced to move since the Americans had cheated them in treaties and trades many times

Ever since the very first colonies were formed, the Native Americans have been forced out of their beloved inveterate lands in order for the Americans to be able to expand their new found territory. Yet, nothing ever changed and the same economic policies continued, bringing nothing but destruction to the Native people. Meanwhile, the political and social policies were dramatically distorted, deceiving the tribes into losing land and cultural values. Jackson’s efforts to remove any and all Cherokee Indians to territory west of the Mississippi in the 1830’s maintained the same economical attitudes as before but changed the social and political policies set by the previous colonies and the United States government towards the Native Americans.

Throughout history, Native Americans faced atrocity after atrocity at the hands of white settlers and losing their land and most of their people was only one of them. During the nineteenth century, the United States’ population boomed, causing people to start to move west in search of riches and vast lands in the “wild west.” However, as white settlers moved west, they started to encounter more and more Native American lands. The white settlers wanted to be able to settle on their lands, claiming that they were “misusing” the land and claiming that the Native Americans were “uncivilized.” The white settlers pled their case to the United States government to forcibly remove the Native Americans and get the rights to their lands. Andrew Jackson,

On May 26th, 1830, congress passed the Indian Removal Act allowing president Andrew Jackson to kick the Native Americans off their land that was west of the Mississippi River and move them to land west of the Mississippi without the tribes agreeing or even knowing about it (“Indian Removal”). What most people don’t know about the Indian Removal Act is that Congress actually didn’t accept the act and decided that the Act was unconstitutional, but Andrew Jackson ignored that fact and continued to remove the the Indians regardless of what Congress said. Most people also do not understand that the Trail Of Tears wasn’t an actual trail, it was what the path of the Native Americans used after they were pushed off their land by Andrew Jackson. Thousands of cherokees were forced to move westward beyond the Mississippi River. In 1813 the United States started the Battle at the Thames and killed the Native resistance leader Tecumseh, and in 1814 General Andrew Jackson had forced the Creeks (a major cherokee tribe) to hand over twenty million acres of their national land after the revolt at Horseshoe Bend (“Garrison, Tim 85-89”).

In 1829, Americans elected Andrew Jackson as their president in the midst of their dispute, having a leader determined to rid their newly forming country of all Indians. This mindset originated from the idea of “Manifest Destiny,” the belief conjured by John O’Sullivan influencing thousands to work towards the United States’ future of taking over the entire continent of North America. It was thought that simpler races were incapable of advancing as a society. With that as motivation, the discovery of gold under the earth that the Cherokee lived on had been the big push to clear the lands as well, either by the Indians’ own will or forcefully. In 1830, the “Indian Removal Act” had been passed by Congress to peacefully negotiate the relocation of Indian territories, but when thousands of Indian tribes declined, they became angry and took drastic measures like killing. Originally, the Supreme Court had defended the tribes. It was declared that the treaties they had made separating nations gave the U.S no right to impose their power in Cherokee boundaries. However, they had no intention of enforcing the idea leaving the land hungry people to continue with the removal. This lack of action not only became a feud between the Indians and the U.S, but some of their own people as