Indian Removal Essay

Morally, Andrew Jackson dismissed prior ideas that natives would gradually assimilate into white culture, and believed that removing Indians from their homes was the best answer for both the natives and Americans. Politically, before Jackson treaties were in place that protected natives until he changed those policies, and broke those treaties, violating the United States Constitution. Under Jackson’s changes, the United States effectively gained an enormous amount of land. The removal of the Indians west of the Mississippi River in the 1830’s changed the national policy in place when Jackson became President as evidenced by the moral, political, constitutional, and practical concerns of the National Indian Policy.

Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal The generalization that, “The decision of the Jackson administration to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River in the 1830s was more a reformulation of the national policy that had been in effect since the 1790s than a change in that policy,” is valid. Ever since the American people arrived at the New World they have continually driven the Native Americans out of their native lands. Many people wanted to contribute to this removal of the Cherokees and their society. Knox proposed a “civilization” of the Indians. President Monroe continued Knox’s plan by developing ways to rid of the Indians, claiming it would be beneficial to all.

Andrew Jackson, who was currently the president at the time, signed into law the Indian Removal Act in 1830, ordering Native Americans to move from the east to the land west of the Mississippi River. Then in 1838, U.S. Army troops gathered 17,000 Cherokee people and forced them out of their homes a... ... middle of paper ... ...sessing gold in Native American territories brought America great wealth and at the same time gave freedom in the usage of land. Acquiring land from Native Americans led to the western expansion which enlarged American territory and brought great prosperity to the nation. Critics now blame Jackson for executing the removal, but the idea of the policy was not only his. Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams also shared the same opinion and contributed in carrying out the removal act.

During the 1820’s, as the eastern population grew, southern states urged the federal government to remove Indians from their lands. The government tried to appease the southern states by proposing treaties with the tribes. The Indians felt that the land was rightfully theirs, so they did not agree to these treaties. Since the Indians were not agreeing with the government, President Andrew Jackson approved and signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This act allowed the president exchange Indian lands for land west of the Mississippi River.

The settlement of America brought conflict and disease to the Native Americans. Conflict over land ownership soon became a problem and there were harmful side effects. Perhaps one of the most harmful side effects was the proverbial slurs and attitudes towards the Native Americans. These vulgar comments and attitudes made back at the beginning of the coexistence of the Native Americans and the Europeans are found amongst us still today. The early concepts of the "good Indian" or "noble savage" quickly were replaced by reducing the native inhabitants to "wild savages" who were standing in the way of expansion under the motto of "manifest destiny."

The migration was the original Cherokee nation that begun with the early 1800. The Cherokees wearied of the white encroachment that had moved Westtown for settlement of the areas of the country. The old settlers are voluntarily moved for the 1817 of lands for Arkansas. The Cherokees were forced to migrate to the Indian Territory. The white resentment of the Cherokee had been based on building and reaching the pinnacle of the discovery of Gold in the northern Georgia.

The impact of American expansion has turned upon the Indians and confronted them with social and economic crises never before experienced. As a result, many tribes torn apart, in many cases extinct, and their identity was lost. Indians also lost their original lands as a result of direct and indirect contact with the Europeans. The whites wanted more lands for their developments, and because of this greed, they created direct policies to clear the Indians off their lands. For example, one form of direct policy that the whites used to rob Indians of their lands was by signing treaties.

The Cherokee possessed land that white farmers wanted for growing cotton (History). Another thing that prompted Indian removal was the discovery of gold in northern Georgia mountains (“A Brief History”). They would do whatever it took to take that land away. The white farmers even stole their animals, destroyed their towns, burned their homes, all in the attempt to run the indians out (History). President Andrew Jackson, who was saved by the natives in the battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, surprisingly supported this effort and signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 (A Brief History).

During that time Thomas Jefferson began the President of the Unites States and he made treaties with the Chickasaw tribe guaranteeing their land (Zinn). In 1814 Andrew Jackson a war hero fought battle with the Creeks known as Battle of Horseshoe Bend. In this battle he seized lot of land of the Creeks in Alabama and Georgia. The battle caused a lot of death on the Creeks side. Also the Creeks tried the non-violent resist by adopting the white civilization so that they could live in peace.

Perhaps the worst aspect of Jackson 's administration was his removal and treatment of the natives. Specifically, Andrew Jackson forced the resettlement of several native american tribes against the ruling of the Supreme Court. The Indian Removal Act drove thousands of natives off their tribal lands and forced them west to new reservations. Then again, there are those who defend Jackson 's decision stating that Indian removal was necessary for the advancement of the United States. However, the cost and way of removing the natives was brutal and cruel.