Indian Removal : The Cherokee, Jackson, And The Trail Of Tears

Francis Paul Prucha, a scholar of Native American history, believed that there were four courses of action. First, there was genocide, but nobody was demented enough to propose it. Second, there was immigration; which Indians did not want to join the white man’s culture. Third, they could enforce existing treaties and protect the Natives. Or fourth, removal, which was Jackson’s pick because it would work.

The Cherokees had lived in the interior southeast, for hundreds of years in the nineteenth century. But in the early eighteenth century setters from the European ancestry started moving into the

     The generalization that, “The decision of the Jackson administration to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River in the 1830s was more a reformulation of the national policy that had been in effect since the 1790s than a change in that policy,” is valid. Ever since the American people arrived at the New World they have continually driven the Native Americans out of their native lands. Many people wanted to contribute to this removal of the Cherokees and their society. Knox proposed a “civilization” of the Indians. President Monroe continued Knox’s plan by developing ways to rid of the Indians, claiming it would be beneficial to all. Andrew

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

The call for the removal of the Cherokees to the “Great American Desert” across the Mississippi River echoed stronger than in previous years.[1] In October of 1828 in present day Dahlonega, Georgia, active gold mines were discovered near Cherokee land. For many whites, the time to completely remove the Cherokees from the lands came. The newly elected President Andrew Jackson agreed to do so with his signature on the Indian Removal Act. Jackson lived in the backcountry of North and South Carolina for quite a bit of his youth as well as the territory of Tennessee. This paper is focusing on the rise of Andrew Jackson as a war hero to presidency and his Indian policy that led to the heart-wrenching expulsion of the Cherokee Indians in the

Robert V. Remini argues that Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act of 1830 was socially motivated by humanitarian impulses, and that Jackson’s actions where driven by the desire to save the culture and populace of the Native

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;

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.

Most Americans have at least some vague image of the Trail of Tears, but not very many know of the events that led to that tragic removal of several thousand Indians from their homeland. Indian lands were held hostage by the states and the federal government, and Indians had to agree to removal to preserve their identity as tribes. Trail of Tears is an excellent snapshot of a particular situation and will be eye opening to those who are not familiar with the story of the southern tribes and their interactions with the burgeoning American population. The Trail of Tears has become the symbol in American history that signifies the callousness of American policy makers toward American Indians in 1839 and 1839.

Jackson sweetened the removal option by describing the ages old migration of the Europeans in order “to better their condition in an unknown land our forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects. Our children by thousands yearly leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions. Does Humanity weep at these painful separations from everything, animate and inanimate, with which the young heart has become entwined? Far from it” (Past, 188). Removing the Indians, in Jackson’s sense, proved “the policy of the General Government toward the red man is not only liberal, but generous” because the red man “is unwilling to submit to the laws of the States and mingle with their population. To save him … [from] utter annihilation, the General Government kindly offers him a new home, and proposes to pay the whole expense of his removal and settlement” (Past, 188-189).

The Cherokee people were forced out of their land because of the settler’s greed for everything and anything the land had to offer. Many Cherokee even embraced the “civilization program,” abandoning their own beliefs so that they may be accepted by white settlers. Unfortunately for the Cherokee though, the settlers would never accept them as an equal citizen. A quote from historian Richard White says it very well, “The Cherokee are probably the most tragic instance of what could have succeeded in American Indian policy and didn’t. All these things that Americans would proudly see as the hallmarks of civilization are going to the West by Indian people. They do everything they were asked except one thing. What the Cherokees ultimately

A long time before this land was called the United States, the Cherokee people used to live in this land in the valleys of rivers that drained the southern Appalachians. These people made their homes, farmed their land, and buried their dead. Also these people, who are now called Indians claimed larger lands. They would use these for hunting deer and gathering material, to live off of. Later these lands were called Virginia and Kentucky. As it is mentioned in the text, these people had their own culture and own way of life. They had their own gender roles and religion; even eating food had a different definition than the white man’s culture. They had equality between genders, and other members of the tribe had equal rights to talk. But

Before President Jackson assumed the role of commander-in-chief, the policy towards the Indians was ambivalent. The Indians were treated as separated sovereignties marooned in individual states. The American government also encouraged them to assimilate into the white society and moved to the further west. However, as the hunger for more land to accommodate more population grew, the ambiguous policy towards the Indians caused serious tensions among the state, federal and Indian governments. [1] When President Jackson took the office, he believed that the removal was essential to all parties involved in the land dispute. The federal government should deal with the issue pronto. Jackson believed that a speedy removal would be important to the individual states, the United States and the Indians because the action would stop the possible conflicts among the parties. In addition, not only would the removal strengthen and defend the southwester

On May 28, 1830 President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act which was undoubtedly a controversial decision that impinged a manifold of Indians. The seventh president of the United States forced relocation of tens of thousands of Native Americans to the west of Mississippi, a land so inhospitable. What were the reasons for which Andrew Jackson extracted the Indians from their Native grounds?

With every young country comes mistakes, and every good leader comes an awful one. When President Andrew Jackson got elected into office, a massive amount of problems erupted and many policies were broken. The main policy that Jackson broke was passing the Indian Removal Act: the forced removal of the Five Civilized Tribes to relocate to land west of the Mississippi. The Five Civilized Tribes were groups of Indians who took up territory within the United States but upon agreement of the United States government, acted as Europeans in order to be allowed to stay living within the territory. However, with the unconstitutional act and Jackson wanting more land, the loyal tribes had no other option but to leave and encounter the tragedy event known as the Trail of Tears. Along of the journey on the Trail of Tears came ghastly hardships that are defined to be one of the worst human tragedies in history. Therefore, Jackson was not justified in his policy involving the Native Americans due to the tribes being unreasonably forced to moving, which lead to one of the worst human tragedies that is known today.