Indian Removal Act Research Paper

The early 1800’s was a very important time for America. The small country was quickly expanding. With the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition, America almost tripled in size by 1853. However, even with the amount of land growing, not everyone was welcomed with open arms. With the expansion of the country, the white Americans decided that they needed the Natives out.

The 1830's were years of change and uprooting for the Indian tribes in and surrounding Tennessee. They inhabited beautiful lands and tried their best to live peaceful lives. When Jefferson came to administration in Virginia, he quickly gathered that he needed to civilize these people, for they did not live in the same manor he did. He felt he had to punish them for attacking white settlers. When Andrew Jackson became president in 1828, Jefferson's mentality stood out to him. Soon after he was elected he passed a bill to remove all Indians from the east and move them westward. This law, known as the Indian Removal Act, was passed in 1830. Jackson fully believed the Indian nations were standing in the way of white progress and they only way to

On May 28, 1830, Jackson signed the Removal Act, which “authorized the president to grant unsettled lands west of the Mississippi River in exchange for Indian lands within existing state borders.” (Legends, 1) As incentives to the Indians to sign the Removal treaties, the government promised financial assistance for relocation and the protection of the United States government forever. (Indian, 2) In 1831, the Choctaw were the first to leave under threat of United States Army invasion. They were forced to leave on foot without any supplies or food with some in chains. Thousands of Choctaw died. (Trail, 3) In 1835, the Treaty of New Echota was signed which forced the Cherokee to be removed during the Fall and Winter of 1838 and 1839. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died. (Legends, 2) In 1836, the Creeks were also forced from their land. 3,500 Creeks did not survive the journey. This forced march of more than 1,200 miles to the new Indian Territory became known as the Trail of Tears because of the thousands that died along the way from diseases and starvation. (Trail, 3-4) By 1837, President Andrew Jackson’s removal act had removed 46,000 Native Americans from their land, and he already had treaties in place for the removal of more. (Legends

One of the many subjects of critical importance in American history was the relocation of American Indians, known as the Indian Removal. President Andrew Jackson favored the rapid settlement of Western and Southern lands by whites, therefore he wanted to make a drastic change, and he certainly did. In his two terms as president, Jackson worked to implement his vision of a politics of opportunity for all white men (The American Promise, 285). He held the belief that previous efforts to promote the assimilation of Indian peoples had failed. In his 1830 letter to Congress, Jackson announced the benefits resulting from the relocation of the native people, and the “pecuniary advantages” that such movement would bestow on the Anglo American population

The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Jackson in 1830. President Jackson decided to have the Indians moved to lands west of the Mississippi River. Believing this offered the best hope to sanctuary peace and protect the Indians from being dispersed and demolished. This removal was intended to be voluntary but groups of Indians were strongly pressured to go. These migrations often turned into forced marches during which led to many perishing.

In 1830, under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. The purpose of this act was to relocate the Indian inhabitants of the southeastern states to a designated Indian Territory west of the Mississippi and eventually eliminate the Indian population from their homeland. Although the act did not provide authority to remove the tribes by force, military action was utilized to carry out the removal. The consequences for the Native American tribes were devastating as well as long lasting.

Before the Indian Removal Act was proposed, the Cherokee and Seminoles were adapting to the European culture. They lived in areas in the southeast region of the country with the Choctaw, Creek, and Chickasaw. They occupied so much land that many white planters wanted it for themselves. Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act to get the Seminoles and Cherokees out of the land. He wanted them to leave so he can use the land for himself.

The Indian Removal Policy was a significant time in history. The indian removal policy was signed by president Andrew Jackson in the year of 1830. The signing of the indian removal policy was about unsettling lands west of the Mississippi and trading for indian lands in effecting state borders. Some people did not agree with the indian removal policy, some groups went on strike because of this policy they were frustrated with it. There was also some people that did agree to this policy. In the late 1830 the government evicted the Cherokees. About 4,000 of the Cherokees died on the unwilling march which is known as the “ Trail Of Tears.”

The Indian Removal Act would push the Cherokee tribe into strange lands. They would be moving into areas that did not have important resources readily available. The area they would be moved to specifically lacked wood and water. Without wood, it would be difficult to create fires to keep warm, cook their food, and build strong shelter. Without water, it would be difficult to keeps crops alive. Sending the Cherokee tribe into an area where they could not sustain themselves is not far from sending them to their deaths.

Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States of America, was an important component of the Indian Removal. Beginning in 1814, Jackson was influential in negotiating a treaty where the Indian tribes would exchange their land for land in the west. Some tribes agreed to the treaty. As a result, the United States gained control of Alabama, Florida, and parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. However, the Creeks, Cherokee and Choctaws, tribes didn’t leave voluntarily thus they were forced to walk to their new “home.”

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was a law passed by President Andrew Jackson that provided the funds for the removal of the Indian tribes found in South. These tribes were the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. Slave states, following the lead of Missouri who in the 1820s forced its Indian population to leave, saw the opportunity to expand their industry in the fielding of cotton by “converting Indian soil into slave soil.” That along with the finding of gold and simply the desire for land in the Southeast was enough reason for them to begin rooting for the expulsion of the tribes. They believed that because the tribes were “uncivilized” they have no right to the land and were not using it properly.

As the first colonies settled in America relations between the Native American Indians and white settlers ranged from respected friends to enemies. Competition was common between the two groups and the desire from one to convert the other into civilized people was tough. Congress decided to invest and provide Native Americans with literacy, farming and vocational assistance. Treaties was a way to get lands by the two groups, but it was unfair for the Native's when time would pass by and their lands would be taken away. Most of the territories became states but the population of the Native Americans was tremendous. President Andrew Jackson took the population as a conflict in 1830. He decided

Quick! Imagine a life of an Indian and how it felt, it was probably nice to have freedom. Well it wasn’t nice!!! At least for the Indians, the Georgians were forcing the Cherokee to leave their land or live under their laws. But, the Cherokee (one of the Indians tribes) they refused to leave their land and live under the laws of America. The Indians/ Cherokee, did mass murdered the U.S., but the U.S. took their land. The U.S. broken treaties between them and cheated them on trades, they also killed many of their men, women, and children. So they're only retaliating for what the U.S did to them. The Indian Removal Act wasn’t justified because the Americans took their land, killed their men, women, children, they have broken treaties and cheated them on trades.

The tragedy of the Cherokee nation has haunted the legacy of Andrew Jackson"'"s Presidency. The events that transpired after the implementation of his Indian policy are indeed heinous and continually pose questions of morality for all generations. Ancient Native American tribes were forced from their ancestral homes in an effort to increase the aggressive expansion of white settlers during the early years of the United States. The most notable removal came after the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The Cherokee, whose journey was known as the '"'Trail of Tears'"', and the four other civilized tribes, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole, were forced to emigrate to lands west of the Mississippi River, to what is now day Oklahoma, against their

Upon the start of the Indian removal act, America dipped into a dark point in our history. With it’s harsh brutality and forceful nature, we see xenophobia plaque the minds of the Americans. The removal of Native Americans from their homelands was a denial of basic human rights, it forced natives off their land and exposed them to terrible conditions during the relocation process.