Summary Of Andrew Jackson's Speech Concerning The Indian Removal Act

Ednica Maxineau

An Analysis of President Andrew Jackson’s Speech
Concerning The Indian Removal Act

When we look back on history in America and discuss the topics regarding human rights and oppression, the first thing that might come to mind is slavery of the black population and white supremacy. However, we often tend to forget about other groups that were also subjected to discrimination, racism, and oppression. One group in particular which faced harsh conditions and discrimination were the Native Americans. The Native Americans were described as uncivilized savage hunters by the American government compared to the Europeans who were looked upon as civilized and respected. The Native Americans faced racial and religious discrimination.

When the U.S started to rapidly expand westward, there were major conflicts between white settlers and the Native Americans who occupied those regions. The need to push Native Americans out of their ancestral lands led to President Andrew Jackson’s speech concerning the Indian Removal Act on December 6, 1830. The Indian Removal Act was put in place by the United States government to move the Native Americans west of the Mississippi River into what was described to be “Indian Territory” (Bentley, 2011, p. 679). In his speech, President Andrew Jackson stated that the Indian Removal Act would “ Place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters.” It was very evident that the Native Americans were in fact portrayed as savages and unequal to the American people. President Andrew Jackson described the Indian Removal Act as an advantage that would bring obvious benefits to the lives of the Native Americans people, when in reality they were taking away the hunting grounds and ancestral lands of the people. The Native Americans were given the choice of assimilating to American ways and religions or to evacuate their properties and take part of the removal. The government believed that the first two tribes that do agree to be removed might be used as an example to induce other tribes to seek the same “Obvious

Although President Andrew Jackson painted a very positive image on the Indian Removal Act, the outcomes were far from positive. One particular brutal outcome of the Indian Removal Act was the trail of tears. The trail of tears was the name given to the migration of the Cherokees, who suffered an eight hundred mile migration from the eastern woodlands to Oklahoma (Bentley, 2011, p. 679). During the migration period, this group experienced starvation, death from disease and difficulties of relocation. The Native Americans were subjected to a foreign and unknown land far from their home which presented great challenges for their