Indian Removal Dbq Essay

Gemma Young

History 10

Dr. Bunn

February 14, 2023

Jackson’s Indian Removal Decision - Change or Continuity?

On May 28th of 1830, the Indian Removal Act was enacted by president Andrew Jackson. This act provided funding for uprooting the “Five Civilized Tribes” east of the Mississippi river and moving them into the territory now known as Oklahoma (Foner 393). Hot-tempered Jackson and his followers were eager to settle onto their land and establish farms, but the tribes resisted. Although the process of Indian removal was intended to be a peaceful exchange of lands, things became violent under Jackson’s orders. Militia invaded the native land and violently forced them on a devastating trek to new territory promised for them. Thousands of the

The government had been acquiring native land through cessions from as early as the 1720s (Document A). These land treaties had been a common occurrence for over a century. Jackson was no different in that sense, as the Indian Removal Act was seemingly rooted in the same motivations for expansion as the settlers that came before him. Furthermore, the majority of Americans during and leading up to the Indian Removal Act shared the same view of the Indians’ future as inhabitants of the United States. Most leaders of the country agreed that the Indians should be moved westward, so the territories in the Southeast could be further developed (Foner 280). Prominent figures such as Thomas Jefferson wanted to encourage the Indians to pursue agriculture in the west so their land could be utilized (Document F). Adding on to this idea, other government officials went so far as to dictate that the Indians’ had no claim to their land. In 1823, the case of Johnson v M’Intosh, the Supreme Court decided that tribes solely had a “right of occupancy” to their land. Likewise, President James Monroe proclaimed that the tribes had no right to keep their land from the common people in Document I. Like his late mother and countless other Americans, Jackson believed the Indians should be transported away (Presidential Podcast). The federal policies leading up to 1830 were similar to Jackson’s removal decision. In ways, Jackson’s expansion into Indian territory was akin to the federal policies and land cessions