Andrew Jackson And The Trail Of Tears

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President Andrew Jackson was elected President of the United States in 1828. Commonly referred to as the "people's president," Andrew Jackson personified the American people's idea of democracy. Citizens recognized his strong-willed personality as one that would help alleviate prejudice and help the "common man" attain the same rights as the rich and well-off. It was presumed that President Jackson would aid citizens in acquiring equal voting rights, be able to participate and serve in government positions, and support states' rights.
Andrew Jackson's presidency took place during a histrionic territorial evolution directly succeeding the War of 1812. White residents called for both the state and national governments to address the Native Americans, also referred to as Indians, who owned the land in the American's states as the American population increased. Almost all of the white citizens were in favor of ridding their lands of Native Americans and sending the Native Americans westward. However, the removal of the Native Americans caused what is known as the "Trail of Tears," the fatal coerced migration of Native Americans. Consequently, thousands of lives were lost.
Although many annalist concur with the specifics of President Jackson's Native American removal policy, there are those who question the president's motives behind the policy. The article poses the questions, "Did Jackson's racist antipathy to the Indians pave the way for the 'Trail of Tears'? Or did he support this policy out of a humanitarian desire to protect Native Americans from the impending wrath of white settlers and their state governments who refused to negotiate with the southern tribes as sovereign nations?”(p.2)
Those who believed that President Jackson...

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...y was not influenced by humanitarian impulses, but rather greed, bigotry, and the sense of entitlement. The policy was seen as a way to rid the United States of “a population of useless and bothersome” (p.15) people. I pose the question, what evidence is there to support the idea that the Indians were in fact “useless and bothersome”? The United States disregarded the treaties that had already been signed to ensure safety for the Indians. The Americans were simply greedy people who wanted more land even though they had not yet fully occupied the land they possessed. If the Indians were not dominant or superior why would the Americans go through the trouble of confirming treaties for Indian land? In my opinion, the Indian removal policy amounted to the cataclysm of the Native Americans living in the United States. It was presumptuous, illiberal, grim, and imminent.

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