Preview

Indian Removal Act

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
558 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Indian Removal Act
There was a new debate in Congress about an act that would make the Native Americans move out of their homeland and into west America. It stirred many questions. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was at the time, thought to be justified and acceptable. There were two groups, the people who wanted the Indian’s gone, and the people who believed they should be allowed to stay. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 that forced the Indians out of their territory was immoral, had no effect on the state of Georgia, and it increased conflict between the Native American tribes.

When the Indians were being removed from their territory, they were lead out at gunpoint by the American military. It was immoral because there were 17,000 Indians and 4,000 died due to dehydration, starvation, and disease. The Cherokee had rights given to them. “They were granted their separate existence, as a political community, undisturbed possession and full enjoyment of their lands, within certain boundaries, which are duly defined and fully described and the protection of the United States against all in interference with, or encroachments upon, their rights, by any people, State, or nation,” argues a Maine Senator. As a result, it was truly unethical to kick the Indians out of their territory where they lived peacefully and under the rules.
The Indian Removal Act disregards every set of promises that America had given to them. "What is the population of Georgia, where there is no room for these few Indians? It is less than seven to the square mile. We, Sir, in Massachusetts, have seventy-four to the square mile, and space for a great many more,” states a Massachusetts Congressman. The occupation of Indians in Georgia had little effect on the society or development of it. Georgia wanted to “consolidate their society” but they weren’t going to strengthen their community by kicking people out. Therefore, there was no reason for Georgia to kick out the Cherokees because they had done no

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Indian Removal Act

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The U.S got the Louisiana Territory in 1803. Then during his presidency, Andrew Jackson got Congress to pass the Indian Removal Act. This act stated that all Indians that wished to follow their own tradition must move to the Indian Territory where they would have more than 70,000 square miles of free land. When this act was passed, all Indians but the Cherokee signed the Treaty of Echota agreeing to move. Jackson thought it was necessary to take action against them to enforce the law. But the question is was the U.S justified in passing the Indian Removal Act forcing all Indians to move. I say no, the U.S was not justified in passing the act. The Indians have had a right to this land way before we did.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Trail Of Tears Analysis

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Most people are conscious of the devastating effects The Trail of Tears had on the Cherokee people, some question its necessity and the mindset of President Andrew Jackson to not only let this horrific affair to take lace but to fight tooth and nail for this policy. Despite the plethora of writings in place regarding the injustices that the Native Americans endured during the Trail of Tears very little attention has been given to why the people of that time would allow this forced removal to take place. This paper will analyze the immoral, unconstitutional and illegal engagements that took place during the development of President Andrew Jackson’s Indian Removal Policy as well as the actions instigating the trail of trails and the devastating…

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    2.10 Historian

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I agree with the statement, “The removal of Native Americans from their lands by the Indian Removal Act of 1830 violated their political, legal, and human rights.” The United States’ government was selfish for themselves with the prospering of themselves; the Indians were very understanding to all the treaties the United States forced them to agree with, until the Indian Removal Act; and the spectators of everything that was happening made the Americans look like enemies.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The great Cherokee Nation that had fought the young Andrew Jackson back in 1788 now faced an even more powerful and determined man who was intent on taking their land. But where in the past they had resorted to guns, tomahawks, and scalping knives, now they chose to challenge him in a court of law. They were not called a 'civilized nation' for nothing. Many of their leaders were well educated; many more could read and write; they had their own written language, thanks to Sequoyah, a constitution, schools, and their own newspaper. And they had adopted many skills of the white man to improve their living conditions. Why should they be expelled from their lands when they no longer threatened white settlements and could compete with them on many levels? They intended to fight their ouster, and they figured they had many ways to do it. As a last resort they planned to bring suit before the Supreme Court. Prior to that action, they sent a delegation to Washington to plead their cause. They petitioned Congress to protect them against the unjust laws of Georgia that had decreed that they were subject to its sovereignty and under its complete jurisdiction. They even approached the President, but he curtly informed them that there was nothing he could do in their quarrel with the state, a statement that shocked and amazed them.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    it is mainly unconstitutional due to that fact of America's "Manifest Destiny". As American's greed for more land, Indians are pushed further and further west. "This desire for Indian lands was also abetted by the Indian hating mentallity that was peculiar to some American frontiersman. " The Indian Removal itself is unconstitutional due to that fact that Indians were never truly considered Americans or settlers. They had seeked help from the newly appointed president Andrew Jackson but he would not interfere with the lawful prerogatives of the state of Georgia.…

    • 386 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cherokee Removal

    • 1325 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Cherokee people were forced out of their land because of the settler’s greed for everything and anything the land had to offer. Many Cherokee even embraced the “civilization program,” abandoning their own beliefs so that they may be accepted by white settlers. Unfortunately for the Cherokee though, the settlers would never accept them as an equal citizen. A quote from historian Richard White says it very well, “The Cherokee are probably the most tragic instance of what could have succeeded in American Indian policy and didn’t. All these things that Americans would proudly see as the hallmarks of civilization are going to the West by Indian people. They do everything they were asked except one thing. What the Cherokees ultimately are, they may be Christian, they may be literate, they may have a government like ours, but ultimately they are Indian. And in the end, being Indian is what killed them.”…

    • 1325 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ever since we settled here on this land, we have pushed aside the Native Americans to make room for expansion. The Native Americans have been forced to deal with this new culture moving in by embracing the heritage, combining the two, or fighting back with violence. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson began his Removal Policy and attempted to force all Native Americans from their homes, to west of the Mississippi River. In an attempt to prevent the state of Georgia from taking their land from them, the Cherokee tribe went to court. In Worcester vs Georgia, the court ruled that the state of Georgia had no authority over the territory but Georgia ignored the ruling. The United States Army rounded up the Cherokee and forced them to march west in a movement called the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears is a movement that limited the rights of the Native Americans. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that every man has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Forcing the entire tribe to relocate to a new land is denying the Native Americans of their rights of all three of these things; therefore limited their rights.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One can argue that the taking of the land that by natural right belonged to these Indian tribes was unjust, and that the Jackson policy was against the Supreme Court rule, but like previously mentioned before, certain measures had to be taken in order for the United States to keep going onward and forward on its quest to becoming a great nation. Jackson, and many…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Andrew Jackson Dbq Essay

    • 1704 Words
    • 7 Pages

    According to Sean Wilentz, the Indian Removal “has, in recent historical writing, become the great moral stain on the Jacksonian legacy, much as it was to Christian humanitarian reformers in 1829 and 1830 a policy, supposedly, that aimed at the ‘infantilization’ and ‘genocide’ of the Indians.”6 Many Americans were against this legislation because they believed that Americans were taking the rights of Indians and treating them as slaves. The removal came from the threat Native Americans gave. They wanted to be able to have their own constitution, separating them from the US. One of Jackson’s biggest fears was that “sovereign Indian nations would prove easy prey for manipulation by hostile foreign powers.”7 To Jackson, all Indians were inferiors to whites, and the Indian removal Act was an act that would give land to white settlers. He argued that the legislation would provide land for white citizens, improve security against foreign invaders and encourage the civilization of the Native Americans. Andrew Jackson even argued in one speech, this "will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites; enable them to pursue happiness in their own way and under their own rude institutions; will retard the progress of decay, which is lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the government and through the influences of good…

    • 1704 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Cherokee Indians

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page

    President Andrew Jackson made a stupid decision. An Indian tribe called the Cherokee were forced to move from their land so that the U.S could expand. They had a choice to move to the Indian Territory or stay but live under the Georgia law. Although the Cherokee had some caused trouble, they shouldn’t be kicked out because they had Georgia first, fought on the U.S side during the war of 1812, and were treated poorly by the Americans.…

    • 177 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Indian Removal

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There were some reasons why the Cherokees moved in the first place. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 justified because the Indians did things that are very uncalled for. They did things like, scalping men, women, and children alive. and They also burned them on stakes. Also the Cherokees agree to move because they signed a treaty that if they sign it they agreed to move. Plus when they move they get to receive five million dollars and they also get a lot of land. So the Cherokees agree to move and get land and five million dollars and the Americans don’t want to die.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Move the Cherokee to Indian Territory” by Jack Andrews, it states, “We should also remember that these Indians have waged war on America since 1775.” This quote shows that the Americans and the Indians have been enemies since 1775. The article also says, “In 1776 the Cherokees ravaged American settlements in North and South Carolina, killing men, women and children. In many cases their victims were scalped alive and even burned at the stake.” This shows that the Americans are justified for the seeing the Indians as enemies because of the way that the Indians have treated them in the past. It would be madness to invite someone who had kidnapped and murdered a friend to stay at one’s home. The opposing side might argue that Americans have treated the Indians badly as well by cheating them during trading and breaking agreements. However, if the Indians were to move away to the Indian Territory, they would be free to govern themselves and would not have to deal with any or all Americans ever…

    • 809 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States was trying to force the Cherokee to leave their land, when they should not be forced to leave at all. They were given two options to either stay or leave, but they did not know what to do. People think the Cherokee need to leave because their land was blocking the path for them to expand, but they did risk death if they did leave. The Cherokee should stay and fight for their land because it was given to them from their forefathers as a gift.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the population of America increasing, white settlers were pushing the government to obtain Native American lands in the lower south which would be ideal for growing cotton. With these newly acquired lands, southern plantation owners could expand their property and increase their revenues. However, tribes like the Cherokee, the Seminoles, and the Chickasaw were perceived as interfering with their plans. Andrew Jackson issued the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This act evacuated these Native American tribes out of their home states of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia and moved them to reservations in Oklahoma. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 created a better lifestyle for some Americans but led to the slow and painful demise of the Native American way of life.…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Trail Of Tears

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Removing the Cherokees from their original home was disgraceful choice made by the United States government. Forcing the Cherokees out of their rightful land just so they could use it for resources they didn’t currently have access to was tragic. Historian Richard White said…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays