In 1830, encouraged by President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which gave the federal government the power to relocate any Native Americans in the east to territory that was west of the Mississippi River. Though the Native Americans were to be recompensed, this was not done fairly, and in some cases led to the further destruction of many of the eastern tribes. By early 1800’s, the white Americans established settlements further west for their own benefit, and later discovered gold. Furthermore, Georgia's attempt to regain this land resulted in the Cherokee protesting and taking this case to the United States Supreme Court. Even though the court came to the decision of favoring the Cherokee, Jackson ignored it and with
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.” The state of Mississippi had the right to extend a burden--some jurisdiction over them, and “the general government will be obliged to sustain the States in the exercise of their right.” He, as President, could be their friend only if they removed beyond the Mississippi, where they should have a “land of their own, which they shall possess as long as Grass grows or water runs ...and I never speak with forked tongue.” A harsh policy was nevertheless; quickly put in place.
The act allowed President Andrew Jackson to provide the states with federal funds to remove the civilized tribes and reject the Indians from letting them to be part of the European-American society. The Indians did establish schools, develop written language and laws and even became sedentary farmers. Even though they had done all this to become a citizen they were still not recognized. They gave up hunting to adapt the European-American culture. The policy was designed to remove the Native Americans by the American government.
Andrew Jackson’s Effect on the Cherokee Indians and the Trail of Tears In March of 1832, the case of Worcester v. Georgia was ruled in the U.S. Supreme Court. This case nullified a Georgia law that was contrived to control the way that the U.S. citizens accessed the Cherokee country. Chief Justice John Marshall believed that only the federal government should be allowed to do that. He believed that the tribes were autonomous, just as Georgia was. Marshall was seeking to preserve the influence that the federal government had, and at the same time he was allowing the tribes freedom from the rule of state governments.
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.
They called the path they took the Trail of Tears because of the bad conditions and many Cherokees died along the way. The three sources about the Trail of Tears/Indian Removal Act help the reader understand the event because they get different stories of how people feel about getting rid of the Natives. The History channel Trail of Tears video shows Jackson is overpowering and doesn’t care about the Natives because he wants the Natives join the U.S. or leave. According to the History
Indian tribes now found themselves less self sufficient and were pushed into agriculture, weaving, and other fields to generate money to afford the new American dependence. A people who were recently fierce warriors and hunters now led a more sedentary agricultural lifestyle and had lost their free standing position. Indian chiefs found their tribes economically heavily dependent on trade with white Americans unlike their independence, and would be willing to give up their land holdings that they would otherwise not be willing to part with, in exchange for goods or to pay up outstanding debts. The effectiveness of this plan also sparked a resistance among natives, spearheaded by Tecumseh, creating new ideas about unification against the white man and the dependence from them. In summation, Thomas Jefferson’s policies on American Indian relations majorly affected native populations.
The conflict between the Americans and the Natives for the Native’s lands caused the government to created an Act to move the Natives. This compromise was the Indian Removal Act, “An Act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories and for their removals west of the river Mississippi” (United). The Act was passed on May 30, 1830 (Removal), and moved the Natives’ across the country from Georgia to Oklahoma (adamelhamouden). The Removal Act was for all Indians, but there were many other treaties that the government used to move the Natives. The Cherokees used the Treaty of New Echota.
The Trail of Tears event of the removal of the Indians happened in 1838. “At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations.”(History.com Staff). In this event, the Cherokee community of Native Americans was forced by the US government to move from their native home in the Southern part of the contemporary America to what is known as the Indian territories in Oklahoma. Arguments over land, restrictions, and laws were common amongst the Indians and settlers/whites. The settlers also called the “white men” believed that the movement of the Indians would bring peace.
Many Cherokees adopted customs, beliefs and lifestyles of white Americans; they profoundly assimilated White culture because in this way they hoped could survive as a nation in their homeland. However, in 1830, the Indian removal act of 1830 was signed by Andrew Jackson and suddenly everything changed. “The Indian Removal Act in 1830 forced the relocation of more than 60,000 Native Americans to clear