Andrew Jackson's Removal Of Native Americans

One of our presidents defied the Supreme Court, murdered people, and destroyed thousands of lives. This could only be one person in U.S. history, Andrew Jackson. He did many horrible things during his life, some were barbaric and were unprecedented for his time. He forced thousands of Native Americans from their homelands during the Trail of Tears. He had many traits that made him that made him do many bad things.

The government of early America was not kind to people of any color besides white. The president at the time, Andrew Jackson, had spent many years in the army campaigning, taking Native American land and passing it on to white farmers. In the year 1830 he signed for the Indian Removal Act. This allowed the government to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi for land in the west called "The Indian Colonization Zone." This law only allowed the government to negotiate fairly for the exchange of this land but Jackson and the military forces consistently ignored this facet of the act and forced the natives out of their land.

This article makes the anger of these Native Americans understandable and acceptable that they would continue to fight the U.S. for so long. Most of the massacres that were mentioned in this section killed mostly women and children. They were hitting the Native American’s where it would hurt they most. The were essentially trying to tell them that if they did not cooperate that the U.S. will make sure to wipe out every generation starting with the youngest. 4.

Part two of the Northeast covers the death and destruction those europeans caused with diseases, where 90% of the population died in some instances. Pure greed over their land, with the terrible massacres that happened to the tribes was also covered and how they wore down the Indian’s to not fight. The Southeast covers generally the same tragic situations that took place with the tribes in that region. It also covers the distinction of the farming techniques they acquired along with trading techniques and their cultural relationships among other natives and Europeans. The Southwest covers archeological questions and the deep history with many tribes including the Apacheans who migrated southwards from Canada and Alaska.

About 150 colonists were killed by Indians, but were the Indians really to blame (Fausz 63)? The colonists, in the eyes of the Indians, were stealing their land, killing their people, and taking their food. Although some Indians tried to make peace with the colonists, the colonists still felt threatened and started chopping their heads off. In the eyes of the colonists, the Indians were uncivilized savages. All they wanted was to be rich and have a better life.

Once intercepted by the local South Carolina militia, they battled and 20 whites were killed and double that of African rebels were also murdered. Due to this rebellion/revolt and the fear of more revolts, laws with even harsher slave codes were enacted. One act to come out the Stono Rebellion was the “Negro Act of 1740”, which restricted slave assembly, movement, and education. This act also restricted the importation of slaves directly from Africa for 10 years because the Africans were beginning to outnumber the whites. Slave owners who treated their slaves too harshly were subject to fines under the Negro Act in a way to implicit the idea that harsh treatment might contribute to rebellion.

Throughout American history the American indians have been cheated and mistreated ever since we came to colonize. Even today as they struggle for support from the government, the need for funding and support was no greater than it was in the 1970’s. These natives were often stripped of their land and heritage and forced to live in reservations with horrible conditions. That all changed on February 27th of 1973 when the self alleged AIM group founded by Russell Means, Dennis Banks, and other notorious tribe leaders stormed the small town of Wounded Knee which was built on the grounds of a sacred burial site were more than 150 indian women and children had been laid to rest after a recent massacre. The militant group held the town for 71 days

The disease decimated the local population and was one of the main reasons for the fall of the Aztec and Inca empires. Likewise, on the eastern coast of North America, the disease was introduced by the early settlers and led to the death of millions of natives. The damaging effects of smallpox is often considered an example of biological warfare. Another aspect contributing to smallpox in the Americas was the slave trade because many slaves came from regions in Africa where smallpox was endemic. Smallpox affected all levels of society.

Most Native American tribes were riddled with diseases, often wiping out the whole tribe, or mostly all except for a few. Those few left were often younger, and had to reinvent themselves and their tribe. Often, the survivors of several different groups would come together to form a different group. Disease wasn’t the only threat to the native people, as many were enslaved and often wouldn’t survive the harsh conditions. The enslavement, the transport of illnesses, and natives refusing to give up their land took a toll on the relationship between the Natives and Europeans.

The colonists barely made it through winter as they had assistance with all necessary aid by the six or seven people who were immune of diseases. Only fifty out of one hundred colonists have survived the time of suffering. In the article, “Colonial America Depended on the Enslavement of Indigenous People”, Marissa Fessenden states, “In 1637, they burned a village on the banks of the Mystic River in southeastern Connecticut, killing 400 to 700 Pequots.” The colonists had murdered natives by destroying their homes and territory. During the Pequot war, many of their tribe members were lost. This weakened the natives in war as they had very little men to send to resist the colonists.