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The Idea Of The Indian Removal Act Of 1830

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Indian Removal Many people today would question whether the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was constitutional or not. While the idea took many years to develop, it was in fact, a traumatic experience. When prompted to do so, the Indians of their own land were forced to leave everything they had ever known and walk along what is known as the “trail of tears”. This was a one thousand mile trek that took about two months to complete. According to Steven Mintz’ chapter titled, “Indian Removal” thousands of Natives were lost along the long, treacherous walk. Those who refused to walk were eventually forced to, by being bound together and marched in a double file line down the Trail of Tears. Whether or not it was safer for the Indians to leave their home, it was torture. They were forced to endure things that no human should ever have to go through. Were the Indians forced to leave, because the Americans were too concerned with their own being? Many people today question this, as it has happened many different times in history with many different minorities and groups of people. What makes Americans so much better than anyone else? The first person to raise the idea of the Indian Removal was Thomas Jefferson. In Peter Onuf’s book, “The Mind of Thomas Jefferson”, he notes that Jefferson initiated the idea of the removing process westward. (106). However it was not until Andrew Jackson became president that this process took effect. In the beginning, the idea of removing the

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