Indians As Foreign Powers In The 1820s

When Europeans first arrived to America, Indians were living in eight present states: Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, the Virginias, Alabama, and the Carolinas (Museum). Slowly, the Cherokee were forced to sign treaties giving away land to the new nation. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson finally worked to pass a treaty that would force all Indians west of the Mississippi River. It wasn’t until Andrew Jackson

Jackson had been fighting Native Americans for their land before he became a president. In 1788, Jackson and several white settlers tried to force the Cherokee Indians off their homeland in Georgia.2 The Cherokees fought to keep their land from white settlers and they even brought their case to the Supreme Court. Under the Constitution, the United States government must negotiate with the tribe leaders before seizing their land. Many political figures tried to bribe, threaten, or use military force to make tribe leaders sign the treaty so they would leave, however some of them would not budge so easily. Some political

America, land of the free, home of the brave, unless you’re not white. The United States of America was built on immigrants, but the more proper term would be imperialists. It is widely known that Native Americans were here first, but they barely acknowledge it. Instead children are taught about Christopher Columbus, the pilgrims, and the founding fathers. Colonists felt the need to kill, annex, and annihilate an entire culture to capitalize off of “undiscovered” lands. As a result, Native American culture is almost extinct, the impact that colonists had on Native Americans were catastrophic; natives were forced to change their way of life and culture to adjust to new conquerors brought by Columbus, when westerners kept pushing west, battles and massacres ensued and Natives were forced to assimilate into American culture. Native Americans are still ignored and are pushed to the back burner. We claim that we are progressive, but the Dakota Pipeline Project seems to contradict that statement. Today, we still aren’t progressing and it shows when we still have a holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus “discovering” the new world.

In 1835, President Andrew Jackson proclaimed that the Native Americans were to be removed from their homeland. Jackson claimed that the Native Americans were “savage hunters” among the “civilized population.” Also, during this time Jackson was preparing for his second term where he refused to help the Native Americans for then he would be conflicting against the whites.

Until 1828, the federal government agreed that Cherokee had rights to their land, but when Andrew Jackson was elected President, that all ended. Jackson refused to believe that the tribes were sovereign and thus viewed Indian treaties, as an absurdity

During his presidency, Jackson 's Indian policies transformed the concept of Manifest Destiny into a reality. Jackson , along with many Americans, possessed a Eurocentric view and failed to recognize Native tribes as civilized sovereign nations. In 1834, Chief

The Cherokee natives wanted to keep the land they knew and have lived on, they don’t want the land Jackson’s providing and strongly disagree. Although the natives owned the land first and did nothing wrong Jackson forced them to move killing thousands. In document 9 from the Memorial of the Cherokee Nation the natives state, “We wish to remain on the land of our fathers. We have a perfect and original right to remain without interruption or molestation...On the soil which contains the ashes of our beloved men we wish to live- on this soil we wish to die…” Jackson took the natives homeland, the only place most have known without a care showing he is not democratic. Similarly, the map from document 10 shows the minimal amount of land Jackson gave the natives after forcing them off their home land. This map is from the Indian Removal Act in the 1830’s where Jackson did not compromise or try at all to preserve the natives land. Andrew Jackson could have prevented the Trail of Tears but instead refused to listen to their complaints or compromise with them. Finally, Daniel Webster’s Reply to Jackson’s Bank Veto is a message that questions Jackson and his beliefs. Document 5 states Jackson has too much power and because he is unknown he is dangerous and shouldn’t be trusted. He is also turning social classes against each other creating mass issues. “It manifestly

Imperialism is a policy that has positively impacted nations and their development for centuries. This was especially true during the late 1800s and early 1900s, when many European nations began to expand far beyond their borders. Imperialistic policies were not only good for the development of countries that were expanding, but in many cases, the countries that were being expanded into as well.

When we look back into history, we are now able to fully comprehend the atrocities the Indians faced at the hands of the historic general and President, Andrew Jackson. It can be seen as one of the most shameful and unjust series of political actions taken by an American government. However, as an American living almost 200 years later, it is crucial to look at the motives possessed by Andrew Jackson, and ask whether he fully comprehended the repercussions of his actions or if is was simply ignorant to what he was subjection the natives to. We must also consider weather he truly had the countries best interest in mind, or his own.

According to that same document “ State of the Union Speech” Andrew Jackson said that “why would a civilized good man want to live in a country covered with forest and filled with thousand of “savages” instead of the great republic they built filled with cities,towns and happy health people.” This suggests that Andrew Jackson thought that the way the Native Americans had the United States land before was not as great as his founding fathers made it and by keep the Native Americans around they might turn their perfectly good land to what they had before which for Jackson that would be the worst thing to happen. Also According to “Memorial of the Cherokee Nation” the Cherokee said that “they wish to remain on their land the land that their father build for them.” They have a perfect and original right to remain without

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

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

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States. During his presidency, Jackson took part in removing Native American Indians to the west. Because he was the President and he was the face of America at the time. Americans today blame him for the harsh removal of the Indians and make Jackson out to have been racist against the Indians. Although, during the Creek War Jackson found an abandoned Creek Indian baby. He took the baby to the Creek Nation and tried to find a mother to take the baby but no one wanted it. So, Jackson sent the baby home to his wife and they adopted him. They would later name him Lyncoya. This to me defeats the idea that Jackson hated the Indians. If he hated the Indians wouldn’t Jackson have just left the

The United States perspective on the Native people has drastically changed from President to President. “George Washington originally started the ‘Indian Civilization Campaign’, which encouraged the Native people to adopt Western-European culture along with Christianity.” (Sturgis, pg 5) The United States was to recognize the Native groups as the owners of the land they inhabit, with the rights to sell or retain them. This ideology was later adopted and implemented by Thomas Jefferson who believed that it was, “established by Jus gentium for America, that a white nation settling down and declaring that such and such are their limits, makes an invasion of those limits by any other white nation an act of war, but gives no right of soil against the native possessors.” (Sturgis, pg 5)

Jackson was a groundbreaking President in many regards. He was an orphan and did not come from the upper class. He was the first President to actively campaign for votes and when elected in 1828, he would continue the previous policies for moving Native Americans to the Indian Territory as he believed this is what the voters wanted. During this time, many Southern states restricted the rights of Indian Nations. Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi all stripped Native Americans of their civil rights, abolished the tribal unit, rejected ancestral land claims, and would not allow them to vote or testify in court. Before the Indian Removal Act, Native Americans signed various treaties with the federal government in regards to keeping their land.