The Concept Of American National Identity Essay

On may 28, 1830 the Indian Removal Act was passed by the congress and was signed by the current president at the time Andrew Jackson. The Indian Removal Act authorized the president to grant unsettled lands west of Mississippi in exchange for the Native Americans land. This forced Native American tribes to march their way west of Mississippi. Some tribes left in peace but most of the tribes resisted. In 1835 the agreement to, Treaty Of New Echota allowed Jackson to order Cherokee removal. Some Cherokee leaders signed the treaty and left but people under the leadership Chief John Ross resisted until they were forced to move to a new location 1838. Their forced journey to their new location was called the Trail Of Tears. Ever since, Native Americans have been living in reservation lands and the government has taken notice but don’t know if they should give them land or money. The government should be giving Native Americans land instead of money because the reservation lands are not

In 1830, the Jackson administration instated the Indian Removal Act. This act removed the Native Americans from their ancestral lands to make way for an increase of additional American immigrants. This act forced many Native American tribes from their homes including five larger tribes, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creek, and Seminole. These tribes had populations were estimated to be around 65,000 people strong that lived in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. (Foner, 2012) The American Indians fought for their rights and beliefs through the American court system. Their other objective other than fighting for their rights was but in the end, they were forced out of their homes to move

In the 1820s and 1830s, Georgia ordered a cruel battle to remove the Cherokees, who held dominion within the borders of Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee at the time. In 1827 the Cherokees fixed an basic government. The Cherokees were not only reshuffling their government but also declaring to the American public that they were a free nation that could not be removed without their permission. An angry Georgia legislature responded by intending to extend its authority over the Cherokees living in the states declared boundaries. The state took over the Cherokee lands; overthrew their government, courts, and laws; and settled a process for snatching Cherokee land and distributing it to the state's white citizens. In 1830 reps from Georgia and the other southern states pushed through Congress the Indian Removal Act, which gave U.S. president Andrew Jackson the ability to debate removal treaties with the Native American tribes.

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;

The indian removal act was an act that gave the president the right to move any indians east of the mississippi river. If they choose not to leave they would become citizens of that state. Tribes in the Southeast didn't agree with this treaty and they were forced off their land. This is a great reason why jackson was more like a king in office, he gave himself the power to move citizens because he wanted to. He wasn't representing the people of the country or making a decision that was better for the greater good.

In May of 1830 President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act. This act was intended to expand the Americas into Indian territory and then relocate them west of the Mississippi. The “Five Civilized Tribes,” that included the Seminoles, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and the Cherokees. All these tribes went voluntarily except for the Cherokee.

In 1830, Congress passed a law that provided for the removal of all Indian peoples

Indian removal Act of 1830 into law.  This gave the Federal Government the authority to remove Native Americans from their land in the south in exchange for land out west in what is modern day Oklahoma.  The law said that the government had to negotiate fair treaties peacefully.  However Jackson frequently ignored this and forcefully removed the Native Americans from their land.  The Choctaw became the first to lose their land.  In the winter of 1831, they left their land under threat of invasion from the army.  The trip from Alabama to Oklahoma was a brutal and difficult one.  Of the 15,000 Creeks that made the passage to the Indian Territory, 3,000 of them had died.  They had very little food and water, and they received no assistance

The states had run out of room for available farmland. They could not move west because the Indian’s were occupying that land. Jackson signed the law in 1829. He negotiated with the Indians to exchange their land in the east for land in the west that was outside the borders of the United States. Jackson set aside all the land west of the Mississippi River for the Indians. In theory, the Removal Act was a peaceful and reasonable way for the Indians and the Americans to come to an agreement without fighting. It was until Jackson’s successor that things began to get violent with the trail of tears and the forceful removing of the Indians. Jackson just set in motion the

Americans have not only defined themselves by their religious, ethnic and racial identity, but also by their individual freedom and common values. America has become a nation where its people can fight for what they believe in. Our founding fathers have formed America to be “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Being apart of the American culture and living on the land founded by our leaders specifies the meaning of the American Identity.

Although Indian removal act, or the trail of tears, is generally associated with the 1830 act of Congress, the process was already beginning by the late 1700s. President Andrew jackson and President Martin Van Buren were long advocates of the act. Pressure of white settlement led small parties of Choctaws, Cherokees, and Chickasaws to move west of the Mississippi, and by 1807 they were settling in Arkansas, Indian Territory, and east Texas. There they could hunt and raise their crops. This voluntary removal to escape conflict with white settlers and government agents thus preceded forced removals.

American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them in this quest for land. The treatment of the Indians during this time period was harsh, cruel, and violent to say the least. It is in this treatment that Americans came to view the Indians as a ?racialized other? and

In 1830, congress passed The Indian Removal Act, which became a law 2 days later by President Andrew Jackson. The law was to reach a fairly, voluntarily, and peacefully agreement for the Indians to move. It didn’t permit the president to persuade them unwillingly to give up their land by using force. But, “President Jackson and his government

Indian removal act – Passed in 1830, this act forced Native Americans to leave their tribal lands and settle on federal lands to the west of the Mississippi River.

In 1620, a group of Christians, known as the Pilgrims, made their way to the New World in hopes to flee persecution. They docked their ship “The Mayflower” at a harbor in what is now known as Massachusetts. They called this colony Plymouth. Upon arriving, they were sick, cold, weak, and low on supplies. Not to mention they were months behind schedule. Not long after their arrival, the Pilgrims were met by a native of the land, the Wampanoag Indian chief, Massasoit. Chief Massasoit welcomed them in a very friendly way and helped them to get back on their feet. In the narrative Mayflower, author Nathaniel Philbrick’s extraordinary retelling of a familiar story, not only are the people and events of America’s past brought to life, he also magnifies on the gruesome proceedings of bloodshed and war. In this fair account, he gives the perspectives of both the natives and the colonists during their many struggles that came not long after the Mayflower had reached land. He goes far beyond documenting the myth of the first Thanksgiving between the natives and the pilgrims, as he explores the hunger for power, political and religious control, and land.