Dbq Indian Removal Act

The Indian Removal Act, known to be a government document had been signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The document allows the president to give away unsettled land west of the Mississippi River in return for Native Americans grounds within state borders. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in order to move the Indian tribes living on the east of Mississippi River to the lands of the West. The reason the Indian Removal Act was passed was that Americans needed to settle on the Native American land. The 1830 Indian Removal Act was passed as a prevalent law for the voters who were searching for movement to rich farmlands in the Southern United States to grow food and cotton. Local Indian grounds were required for transportation

routes for pioneers and new terrains were required for new financial advancements. The imagined audience in the source appears to be the Native Americans who are being forced to leave their land and move West of Mississippi River and the White settlers who are being brought in to buy this property. The Indian Removal Act seems biased because it states, “it shall and may be lawful for the President of the United States to cause so much of any territory belonging to the United States, west of Mississippi river, not included in any state or organized territory…”, which shows that the Congress and President Jackson favored the treaty a lot more because as Americans they wanted more land and have more power over the other tribes.
The main point of the Act is to demonstrate that the President could giveaway land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that consented to surrender their countries.

As a motivation, the law permitted the Indians financial and material help to go to their new areas and begin new lives and ensured that the Indians would live on their new property under the security of the United States Government until the end of time. Many consented to move, but some battled for their entitlement to stay on their eastern land and despite the fact that they won in court, they were still forced to migrate west. As stated in the Indian Removal Act, “within the bounds of any one or more of the states or territories, where the land claimed and occupied by the Indians, is owned by the United States, or the United States are bound to the state within which it lies to extinguish the Indian claim thereto”, which shows this source makes more of an argument than an observation. It appears to be more of an argument because President Jackson wants to clear out all the land where the Indians reside, and his followers had no limits on them to convince, bribe and threaten the resident tribes to move and sign the treaties. The Congress and President Jackson were so passionate and adamant in making the Indians leave with their tribes that they were ready to go to any lengths to complete their

task.
The author's tone does seem to shift when he states, “it shall and may be lawful for the President to cause such tribe or nation to be protected, at their new residence, against all interruption or disturbance from any other tribe or nation of Indians or from any other person or persons whatever...” The author's tone appears to be a bit aggressive and defensive while trying to defend the orders passed under enforcement of the act.

The author constructs his argument based on the orders passed by the President under the Indian Removal Act, which are completely biased towards the Native Americans. The source favors the Americans a lot more than it does for the Indians and the tribes that are being moved to the West. The author focused more on the orders issued by the President to remove the Indians rather showing the conflicts the Native Americans faced during the migration. The language used is biased towards Americans as they are ready to use all the land and leave the Indians to face hunger, diseases, and exhaustion. The author is relatable but with a biased opinion, he relates only to the American’s side of rules as they were ready to threaten, bribe and even starve them to death. They never considered the point of view or the conditions that Indians had to face in order to survive the whole movement after issuance of the Indian Removal

Act.
The Indian Removal Act has an important historical significance since it prompted the expulsion of Native Americans from their territories in the Southeast. It additionally prompted them being compelled to go to Oklahoma in a movement known as the "Trail of Tears." This journey of migrating from east to west came to be known as “Trail of Tears” because the migrants faced hunger, diseases, exhaustion and thousands of people died due to these circumstances. Those contradicting westbound extensions were gathered together and coercively kept to the reservations. Ultimately, this led to the Great Plains wars of the 1860s-1880s.