Indian Removal Act Essay

The Trail of Tears left by the Cherokee Indians “Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race.” -― Martin Luther King Jr The Trail of Tears helped the Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion lead to the Civil War in many ways. The Trail of Tears caused more tension to rise in the United States.

The natives would have to voluntarily give their land to the White Americans without conflict. There was so such right or leniency for anyone, even the president, to forcefully take land. The president and the government ignored the letter of the law and took native land by force. The Choctaw nation was the first nation to be expelled from their land altogether, In the middle of winter, the people from the Choctaw were made to walk to the Indian Territory.

Andrew Jackson disobeyed a direct order from the Supreme Court, which it means he was above the law. I really wonder how Americans tolerated him, at that time, he was cruel to the Indian common man. Because of him, the Native Americans have the worst end of the Trail of Tears. They are the ones who are forced out of their traditional homes and sent away on a journey of pain and death. Those who had fallen ill, most of the time died, and those who had the will to move on were able to make it to the end and start new lives.

Creating a string of event After the Civil War, where the United States relocated most American Indians west of the Mississippi River due to an act signed by President Andrew Jackson called the idiom removal act. Making them able to get the resources they sought out. US government forced Native American tribes to live in certain areas called Indian Reservations exchange for living on the reservation; tribes were often paid some money called an annuity. The natives faced many economic issues on the reservation. Nomadic tribes lost their entire means of subsistence by being constricted to a defined area.

Stand Waite who was one of the tribe leaders chose to stay with the confederacy down to the last man. Colorado volunteers slaughtered over 200 Black Kettle Cheyennes even knowing the Cheyennes were willing to come to an agreement with the government. The Red River War was were the Natives were truly broken in 1874-1875. This war was were some of the major battles ensued. Just like the battle of Washita which was a very bloody battle that was more of a slaughter than a battle.

Thousands of Cherokees died on the journey to their destination due to harsh conditions, “whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera and starvation”. Protection of territory was promised to them but later ended in 1907 when Oklahoma became a state. The Indian territories have completely disappeared. America desired more land and spread of influence.

This treaty broke all former promises to Native Americans that they would be able to stay on what little land they had left. Consequently, they were marched 800 miles across harsh terrain in horrible conditions, dying by the thousands, despite promises that the trek would be made safe. This journey would come to be known as The Trail of Tears. As a result, Native Americans no longer had access to their hunting grounds, their sacred spaces, or the land they were familiar with. Not only were Native Americans killed, but their very spirit was crushed to the point of no return.

But the actual policy of the administration was to encouraged removal by all possible means, fair or foul. Jackson as usual spoke publicly in a tone of friendship and concern for Indian welfare. In a letter of instruction to an agent who was to visit the Choctaws on October 1829 (evened before the Removal Act was passed) he outlined the message from “their father,” the President, urging them to emigrate. The threats were veiled. “They and my white children are too near each other to live in harmony and peace.”

We had nothing the rest of that night we all became cold and hungry children younger than i were freezing to death at it was that day our Chief decide he must end this war that next day it was warm with rays of sun peeking through the clouds, Chief Joseph said to the leader of the U.S army ,“My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever”. That's what ended the Nez Perce War of 1877. I will never forget theses days of hardship losing my loved ones and home. They took us to new reservation i'm not all happy here

In 1830, president Jackson persuaded a new piece of legislation called the "Indian Removal Act" through both houses of Congress. It gave the president

Soon after becoming president, Jackson passed the former act which called for the relocation of native tribes from their homelands to a designated “Indian territory” in present-day Oklahoma. While Jackson had a clear idea of his plans, he befriended the tribes and promised them prosperity, friendship, and the possibility of becoming civilized children of God. In other words, he, the symbol of reassurance in America, stabbed the backs of all natives. Beyond the question of Jackson 's morality, what was the ultimate reason behind the removal? The answer to this is simple: white settlers wanted to grow and cultivate on Indian lands, and they attained this when the government pushed the natives out of their lands.

The Indian Removal Act was put in place to get land from the Indians to expand America. Courts told Jackson that he couldn 't take the Indians land. While the law was passed by congress. Andrew Jackson didn 't care he forced them walk to new land and hundreds of Indians died which was the Trail of Tears.

The Dawes Allotment Act of 1887 authorized individual allotment of reservation lands to to be tribal citizens and granted citizenship to the allotte upon the termination of the trust status of the land. This created a checkerboard map where Native Americans were mixed with whites. Hence the word, "checkerboard" effect. The Act affected Natives by taking away millions of acres of their land. Furthermore, this Act is the reason why many Native land is separated into nations.

Many tries including the Muscogee, Creek, and Seminole tribes were removed from their homes, but it was the Cherokee tribe that suffered the most. For the Cherokee nation the struggle to stay on their land they occupied in the state of Georgia, came long before the Indian Removal Act. In the 1820’s the state of Georgia was trying to convince the federal government to remove the Cherokees living with the states

The Indian Removal Act was signed into law in 1830 by President Andrew Jackson. The act provided for the general control over the Native Americans from east of the Mississippi River to lands west, which was the Indian’s Territory. Even though, the removal was meant to be voluntary, the removal became a law. Thousands of Indian people including nearly the whole population of Indians that had lived in the southeastern United States were moved to the west. The first removal treaty to follow the passage of the Indian Removal Act was with the Choctaw Nation in 1830.