Reasons For Native American Removal

Reasons Given for Native American Removal
Throughout American history there are patterns of injustice, inequality, and cruelty. This thread began when the Europeans discovered their new world was already inhabited by others, the “Native Americans”. Although they both tried to live in peace with each other, the Europeans thirst for power and domination of the new land led to the unjust, and cruel removal of the “native” people from their home. This idea originated under the rule of President Jefferson, and his removal policy, which he believed was the, “only was to ensure the survival of the Indian culture” (Intro. p 28). While the President, and the people, told themselves they were simply helping the Native Americans, they had ulterior motives

Their religion, since it was not Christianity, was not “correct”, and their “uncivilized” mannerisms were a threat to the stability of the new America. Among these reasons, Native American Voices, by Steven Mintz, explains the “justification” given for the removal of the Native Americans, most notably: political differences, philosophical reasoning, biological inequalities, and geographic dominance. The political aspect of this removal is present not only through President Jefferson, but through the states and peoples perspective that the Native Americans are too uncivilized to conform to their government and that their presence is a threat to the stability of the nation. In the beginning, the government policy established a treaty based relationship in which they would, “treat the red man as an equal” (Whipple, p 109). This policy did not last long, and the government began to undermine their agreement with the Native Americans and attempted to eliminate them from the land in order to ensure they would not be challenged politically. The Native Americans had embraced the United States government and culture but still tried to establish and maintain their own political and cultural stance, as they

With all other justifications aside, the people acted as though they were doing what is right by removing the Indians but in reality they had ulterior motives of gaining geographic, and political, wealth and power. The North American lands that the Natives inhabited was extremely valuable in some areas, and since the American population was growing it was an opportunity for the population to expand further and their strength to be in numbers. The wealth of the land is represented through the accounts of Elias Boudinot when he states, “…there are 22,000 cattle; 7,600 horses; 46,000 swine; 2,500 sheep; 762 looms; 2,488 spinning wheels; 172 waggons; 2,943 ploughs” (p 121). This value enticed Americans to further drive the Indians west to take the land and the wealth for their own. After they drove the Natives off this land, they sent them to “a few acres of badly cultivated corn, instead of extensive fields, rich pastures…” (Crawford, p 117). Therefore, it is clear that a driving force for the removal policy was the want for the land they inhabited. Furthermore, on a more political level the land meant the American population could grow without the interference from the growing Native American population. Andrew Jackson supports this with the statement that, “It will relieve the whole State…of