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Dbq Indian Removal Act

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The Indian Removal Act was a law issued through our 7th president, Andrew Jackson, on the 28th of May, 1830. It was passed through Congress, authorizing the president to negotiate with southern Indian tribes for their relocation to territory west of the Mississippi River. This would, of course, be in exchange for their ancestral homelands, a trade being made between the United States and five Native tribes. A general resettlement of the the Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Seminole Natives would transpire, and between 1830 to 1840, approximately 60,000 Natives went through migration. Though many may argue that this was an act unconstitutionally passed, the amendments of our constitution say quite otherwise. The actions President Jackson …show more content…
Since our government has eminent domain, as referred to in the 5th amendment, the states of America have a right to United States land as long as the people who live on it are justly reimbursed. Jackson is given the rights to our land, no matter the laws of the people who live on it, as long as he provides repayment for their relocation. He did, in fact, agree to providing them this payment as well as the land west of the Mississippi River. Because of the just compensation, he truly did not violate anything stated in the constitution, and clearly followed the guidelines of the 5th amendment. In regard to the Supreme Court decision, Jackson was simply defending the rights of the states, in particular, of Georgia. Because of the 10th amendment, it was guaranteed its reserved rights, those allowing it to relocate the Natives. The Supreme Court was not providing Georgia with any rights regarding the laws it made concerning Indians. Jackson therefore had a just reason to go against its ruling of the Worchester v. Georgia case, merely securing the states’ rights of the 10th …show more content…
He worked to form organized, official treaties which granted the United States rights to the Indians’ lands. In return, he would provide them financial compensation or rights and privileges. For instance, in the treaty of Greenville, much of Ohio was acquired by America. As well as this, in the Treaty of New York, a significant portion of the Creek indians hunting grounds were ceded to the United States. With this, his work in forming Native treaties to obtain more land, Washington set precedence for future Native negotiations to come. Andrew Jackson as well utilized this precedence to support his interests. If he were to compensate the tribes he relocated, he would be doing just as our very first president did. In doing this, he greatly aided in America’s western expansion. From the purchase of lands, America’s overall size expanded in great

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