Trail Of Tears Research Paper

Robert V. Remini shows that Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Act benefits the Native Americans. Andrew Jackson made notice of the issue with the Indians in his inaugural speech on March 4, 1829. He declared that he wanted to give humane and considerable attention to the Indian’s rights and wants in respect to the government and people. Jackson knew that meant to get rid of all remaining tribes beyond the Mississippi River. He (Jackson) believed that the Indians would be better off in the west; without the influence from the white man or local authority. Jackson hired two Tennessee generals to go visit the Creeks and Cherokees to see if the Indians would leave voluntarily. In that, those who did not leave would be protected by the

Jackson's democrats were committed to western expansion, even though this expansion inevitably meant confrontation with the current inhabitants of the land. More than 125,000 Native Americans lived in the forests and prairies east of the Mississippi. Although many tribes strongly resisted white encroachment on their land, other tribes such as the Cherokees made remarkable efforts to learn the ways of the whites. The Americans were once again sticking to their imperialistic style, and leaving a lasting impact on these small counties which they wished to control and push off their own land. Although certain tribes did seem to be embracing their new ways which the whites had taught them, this was apparently not good enough for whites. In 1828, Georgia legislature declared the Cherokee tribal council illegal and asserted its own jurisdiction over Indian affairs and Indian lands. President Jackson, who clearly wanted to open the land for white settlement refused to recognize the Court's decision, and simply stated that John Marshall had made his decision and it was his job to

Jackson was re-elected with an overwhelming majority in 1832. He now pursued the policy of removing Native Americans from good farming land. He also refused to accept the decision of the Supreme Court to invalidate Georgia's plan to add the territory of the Cherokee.

The Trail of Tears played a part in what is known as the Manifest Destiny, which was the expansion of the colonists to the west. Gold was found on the Cherokee land during the Georgia Gold Rush. The greed that it created was one of the leading causes of the Trail of Tears where thousands of Native Americans were forcibly relocated from their native lands (Cherokee.org). Little did the Native Americans realize that the new nation that was going to be forming around them would affect not only their lives but the lives of their descendants. Even though the Cherokee made efforts to keep their land through the court system and even attempted to assimilate to the American way of life it was to no avail. They tried to agree to treaties with the United States Government. Even though, they were eventually forced to leave their lands. By forcing the Native Americans to abandon their homes, robbing their lands, taking their freedom, and forcing them to adapt and to assimilate into a new land and culture showed how vindictive President Andrew Jackson was regarding the Native Americans. The Trail of Tears was an instance of the United States Government committing genocide against the Native Americans

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

    With the unconstitutional Indian Removal Act, Jackson forced more than one native american tribe to move from their land. He had done this because he says he was looking out for them so the white people and natives didn’t fight anymore. The Native American tribes hadn’t done anything wrong but Jackson still forced them to move. The Cherokee tribe was considered one of the “civilized” tribes since they had a president, dressed like normal people in that time, and had a government like our own. The Cherokee tribe had been forced to move because some wealthy lawyers had signed the treaty and Jackson took the treaty knowing that the president wasn’t the one who had signed it (“Treaty of New Echota”). It wasn’t just the Cherokee tribe that had been forced to move but also the Creek, Chickasaw, Seminole,

The government, and most of the new inhabitants of the New World, believed that the Indians were “unruly, violent creatures” that were beneath them (Masaryk University, Relations Between English Settlers and Indians in 17th Century New England, 42). The only reason why several Indians accepted the terms of Jackson's land policies was due to his skillful rhetoric and sensible speaking skills. Furthermore, the Indians lacked experience in having to make highly significant accommodations among, and for, their people. Jackson had a vast history of public disgust for the Indian society. Prior to his presidency, Andrew Jackson started with a military background in Tennessee that primarily involved revolts against the Indians. He also led a campaign against a group of Indians known as the “Red Sticks” (Cayton, Contact Points: American Frontiers from the Mohawk Valley to the Mississippi, 173). Through this campaign Jackson showed extreme disgust and revulsion towards the Indian people, and consistently discussed how he never felt America was safe so long as the Indians were around. These policies were destructive to the Indian population, and further conveyed Andrew Jackson’s prejudice attitude towards the Indians. Jackson's land policies eventually solely benefitted the white settlers, by taking most land

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

Jackson mistreated and harmed the Native Americans which was oppressive and undemocratic. In Andrew Jackson’s message to Congress, he lied when he stated that, “This emigration should be voluntary… (but) if they remain within the limits of the states they must be subject to their laws,” (Doc 8). The Native Americans had adapted and begun to resemble a civilized society with town meetings, public education, and an alphabet. Less than six months later, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act and would soon take military force to push the Native Americans west into a reserved territory for them in what is present day Oklahoma (Doc 10). It was very undemocratic of Jackson to lie to the Native Americans and oppress them by forcefully moving them to the reserved Indian Territory. The Cherokee however, did not give up easily and took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Their plea to remain on the land of their ancestors without interruption was upheld and clarified that the Cherokee had the right to establish their own nation within the state of Georgia (Doc 9). Jackson ignored the ruling of the Supreme Court and ultimately

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 second incident where Jackson stood by his solicitude for state rights was in the removal of the Indian tribes. Jackson has been associated mainly with his decision to support Georgia in its efforts to remove the Cherokee from their land, despite a Supreme Court ruling against the state. However his enthusiastic support for Indian removal was "undoubtedly one of the reasons he swept the southern states in the 1828 election" . Jackson had Native Indian policy on his mind from the beginning as he saw that Indians were subject to American sovereignty and that national security demanded they be removed. Removal to the West would increase the security of the US from outside attacks. Upon

The territories were united, under one political party, won the war against Britain, created the Second Bank of the United States, and had standing armies along with internal improvements adapting Federalist policies. In the Election of 1824, though a close call, John Adams wins against Andrew Jackson. In response Jackson creates his own political party named the Whigs which was a Democratic Party. Four years later Andrew Jackson was elected the president in 1828. Jackson's plan was to removes Indians to land they thought were useless (Document 3). Removing the Indians would prevent Indian raids most importantly. The Cherokees thrive in Georgia and even find gold. As soon as gold is discovered the United States government takes the land back. Angry, the Cherokees sue in the courts and make it all the way up to the Supreme Court. Efforts are made to protect the Cherokees, but Jackson enforces the laws in America and does not move a finger to protect the helpless Cherokees. Andrew Jackson wants to move all the Indians Westward in the Indian Removal Act (Document 3). Through much debate in the end the Indians were forced to move West called the Trails of Tears to lands inhabited by the Plains Indians who attacked these new Indians who seemed superior with their new machinery (Document

Within United States History, there has been some horrible discrimination upon certain races of people. At the trail of tears native Americans were persecuted against heavily. Until 1828 the federal government had Cherokee rights to their land and in that same year Andrew Jackson was elected president and this all ended. On September 15, 1830, at Little Dancing Rabbit Creek, the Chiefs of tribes and representatives of the United States met to discuss a bill recently passed by the Congress. This day started with all the same good intentions of those today but ended with only a few Native Americans signing the treaty which allowing for the removal of all Indian peoples to the west of the Mississippi River. ( Brill, The Trail

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.

Jackson's democrats were committed to western expansion, even though this expansion inevitably meant confrontation with the current inhabitants of the land. More than 125,000 Native Americans lived in the forests and prairies east of the Mississippi. Although many tribes strongly resisted white encroachment on their land, other tribes such as the Cherokees made remarkable efforts to learn the ways of the whites. The Americans were once again sticking to their imperialistic style, and leaving a lasting impact on these small counties which they wished to control and push off their own land. Although certain tribes did seem to be embracing their new ways which the whites had taught them, this was apparently not good enough for whites. In 1828, Georgia legislature declared the Cherokee tribal council illegal and asserted its own jurisdiction over