Andrew Jackson 4

The day that the first colonist set foot on this land, the Native Americans fate was sealed. What happened to the Native Americans was less than respectable on our part. They were stripped of all dignity, one layer at a time. The United States was irresponsible in carrying out the Indian Removal Act of 1830 by encouraging coercion and deceit, outright breaking of existing treaties and making empty promises they never intended to keep. Also the Americans thirst for land made it almost inevitable that the Indians were going to be removed . The slow disappearance of the Indians, specifically the five “civilized” tribes east of the Mississippi River: Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw and Seminoles began well before the actual ratification of the Indian Removal Act. Before this Act was actually realized, the process of removing the Native Americans had already begun as European Americans advanced to the west. Native Americans were once a peaceful people for the most part, now forced to fight a losing battle. President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law in May of 1830. The Act authorized the President to negotiate with the southern Native Americans for their land and improvements on that land. There was also a provision that authorized him to provide funds for transportation of the Native Americans to the west. However, the Indian Removal Act failed to give actual legal authority to seize the land of Native Americans who did not wish to relinquish their land.
Many saw the Native Americans as uncivilized nations that were unable to adjust into our culture. Attempts were made, but any progress was intentionally ignored giving way to paternalism and the assumption that they would be better off isolated away from the white man where they could live and hunt as they pleased. Thomas Jefferson noted that Native Americans were an intelligent people and if given enough time would gain civilized structure even though they were not as advanced as