Compare And Contrast Jackson And Cherokee Indians

Bridgette Adesuwa Omon Olumhense

DBQ #2

The time period between 1789 and the mid 1830’s was quite ambiguous. With the British gone and the United States now in her building stages, an attiude needed to be taken towards the Native Americans, specifically the Cherokee Indians. The administrations before Jackson treated the Cherokee Indians with a somewhat docile, amiable hand, however much was left to be desired on the side of the United States. Many did not want to share the newly freed land with those that were not their own. Underneath the façade of friendship was manipulation, guarded ethnocentrism and racism. While it may seem unjustified, Jackson’s decision to relocate the Cherokee Indians was a less subtle affirmation of the political,

The original relationship with the Indians was positive, but more was happening than what was on the surface. The Indians were being manipulated from the beginning, and given less than what was taken from them. It was believed that Indians should have the right to their own nation, and should not have their rights taken away from them. (Document B) However, at the time of Washington’s Administration after the war, The Indians were given less than half the land they had before American Independence through the treaty of Holston. (Document A) The friendship extended to the Native Americans was more pretentious than genuine. The Treaty of Holston implicitly stated the idea that the Natives, specifically the Cherokee Indians, were to be led to “a greater degree of civilization” (Document C) and the United States had the potential to benefit off the nation. In a political view, the United States has become recently independent, and wanted the land to themselves. Having the Indians there was hurting their cause. Manifest Destiny wasn’t a prominent thought, but the land so viciously fought for by the Colonists was supposed to be only theirs. In this way, it was believed “guiding” the Native Americans to more of an agricultural lifestyle was beneficial to the United States since then the Indians would not need as much land. (Document F) Of course, the façade of friendship and boundaries was kept with

In the eyes of officials, the Cherokee had knowledge and were more civilized than other “savages” (Document M). The Cherokee were the favored tribe because they not only had schools, but were able to teach the children of the tried traditional gender roles and chores (Document J). The Cherokee had their own alphabet by the 1820s (Document K) and some half-breed Cherokee had even climbed the social ladder to the point of owning slaves (Document L) The Cherokee and the U.S were on fine terms until resentment and nativism disintegrated the bond. Even though the Cherokee were so advanced, white officials still believed the Native Americans to be inferior and less of a race compared to them. It was still the burden and duty of the white men to civilize the Natives at all costs necessary (Document I). Moving the Indian Tribes west of Mississippi was already a thought in the times of Monroe, who believed that it was important to the union. (Document N) However, due to all the advancements in Cherokee life, it would be hard to manipulate the Cherokee into moving west to give the U.S more land. The case of Worchester v. Georgia ended up in the Cherokee’s favor, stating that Georgia law had no place in the treaties and the Cherokee Nation, (Document P) but Andrew Jackson would not enforce it, not only because he felt he didn’t have to, but no one in Georgia would rise to protect the Cherokee from destruction.