Indian Removal Dbq

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America became known as the land of the free and the home of the brave on July 4th, 1776, as we learned in our Constitution books. However, as it declared itself an independent nation, it joined in the ranks of the hypocritical ruling countries that dominated the world at the time. In the Declaration of Independence, the writers expressed the sorrow that was felt among all of the Americans and the grievances they had suffered due to England’s abuse and negligence. In my opinion, what the Americans had done to the Indians was worse. According to Zinn on page 125, “Indian removal was necessary for the opening of the vast American lands to agriculture, to commerce, to markets, to money, to the development of the modern capitalist economy.” Unlike …show more content…

In 1814, he became a national hero by killing eight hundred Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. When the Indians like the Cherokee fought back or rebelled in ways that are insignificant in comparison to the Revolutionary War, whole villages were destroyed (page 130). Much like Southern Paternalism, wherein supporters of slavery justified it by claiming slavery benefited everyone involved, Andrew Jackson claimed, “We bleed our enemies in such eases to give them their senses.” (Page 127) This was Jackson’s response after signing the treaty of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, which took away half the land of the Creek nation and was, "the largest single Indian cession of southern American land. It took land from Creeks who had fought with Jackson as well as those who had fought against him.” (Page 129) His justification was that they were bettering the Indians, allowing them easier lifestyles because they were introducing them to modern civilization. What I don’t understand is how come groups like the American Antislavery Society that we learned about in Chapter 15, did not fight for the rights of the Indians. Their arguments included that it was inhumane to enslave others; when did it become humane to punish others to fight for their land and …show more content…

In Georgia, some Cherokee Indians tried to adapt to the U.S by becoming farmers. The Cherokee chief Sequoyah developed a written language for his people and had a newspaper that was written in both English and their language. These friendships and attempts of integration of societies makes it seem as though peace between the two. Despite their attempts to integrate with America, Zinn notes on page 136, “none of this made them more desirable than the land they lived on.” However, is this really surprising, considering that the Indians were acting as laborers for others on their own land. A few years after peace had taken over, sanity broke

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