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Indian War

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During the early 1800’s, many of the founding fathers had died and a period of transition existed with new and younger leaders who would try to shape the United States into a nation that they thought it should be in their eyes. Their decisions ultimately helped form our Nation into what it is today. One of these new leaders was President Andrew Jackson. Upon inauguration in 1829, Jackson wanted to settle the ongoing issue of the Indians and the land that they held within the states; as a result most of the energy and resources of his administration were focused on settling the dispute and moving on with the Nation.

Within Jacksons first year in office he had plans to relocate the Indians to west of the Mississippi. With the relocation, Americans would be free to settle the land vacated by the Indians. Jackson’s stance on the issue is that if the Indians are not willing to adapt they had to be removed and relocated. Jackson wanted to preserve the Indian nation, however with expansion of the United States quickly approaching Indian Territory, the Indians needed to be moved instead of killed off.

Ultimately this led to the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The act was written and in theory was supposed to represent a voluntary movement of the Indians and relocate them so that the white settlers could settle the farm the Indian’s fertile soil. But in reality it was to force Indian off their land and be push them further back into the interior of North America, even more then they had previously been sent.

The Indian tribes as a whole were being forced off their land from which their fathers before them have lived on for generations. As Jackson saw it there were three options for the Native Americans. One, to become “industrious citizens” (Jackson, American Passage 4th edition pg. 258); two, “remove to a country where they can retain their ancient customs, so dear to them, that they can cannot give up in exchange for regular society” (Jackson, American Passage 4th edition pg. 258); or three, face extinction. Jackson saw that with the white people having mixed feelings towards the Native Americans the second and third option were the most viable. With the Indians becoming surrounded by densely populated area and not willing to give up their savage ways of life, relocation was the only option that would keep them alive. However, in the late 1820s a number of small “civilized tribes” had become a part of society; some have moved into “cabins, houses, and even mansions” (American Passage 4th edition pg. 258). But with the Indian Removal Act of 1830, there was great unrest among the Indians who remained on the natural land and way of life. In fact some of the Indians refused to receive money for their land. Instead they insisted that too much land had been taken already in the previous 20 years; and would stay and fight for the land if it came to that.

There was more to the Indian Removal Act then to just relocation. The underlying objectives would also aid in “lessening their numbers, and perhaps cause them gradually, under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community” (From A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. III, Published by Bureau of National Literature, 1897, p. 1063, 1082-86.). Jackson did not want to just get rid of the Indians and forget about them; he wanted to bring them into society and help them become citizens of the United States.

There were five tribes involved in the Indian Removal Act: Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, Cherokee and Chickasaw. The tribes did not react in the same way to this government Act. Through series of treaties with each tribe the government slowly gained their lands as they moved the Indians from their homeland. The Cherokee reacted differently to this process for many reasons. First, this tribe was one of the largest tribes in the east; second, they were peaceful allies of Americans; and third, the Cherokees did not want to give up their land. However, what makes them different is that they went and sought help from the Supreme Court. In 1831, John Ross represented the Cherokee nation and appealed to the Supreme Court against Georgia for protection against Indian polices (American Passage 4th edition pg. 259) only to have the Supreme Court rule against them, setting the stage for them to be forcible removed from their land.

The Cherokees did not leave without a fight. In their eyes the land they occupied belonged to them and had been their fathers for generations. They had given millions of acres in the previous twenty years and were unwilling to up more (American Passage 4th edition pg. 259). They were willing to peacefully abide if they could have kept all their land. They had proved this over and over by being faithful to the United States, having signed and abided by multiple Peace Treaties. These treaties had promised them protection only to be broken by the white people. The Cherokees took the longest to relocate, but after much negotiating, the Treaty of New Echota was agreed upon in 1836. The treaty negotiated that the Cherokees would relocate to what is modern day Oklahoma territory. Several hundred left by the deadline, but not all. Almost seventeen-thousand refused to leave their homeland. An army of seven thousand troops led by General Winfield Scott drove the Indians, empty handed from their homes. It is estimated that approximately four-thousand out of the fifteen- thousand died along the way, and has become known as the Trail of Tears. Out of all the one-hundred-thousand southwestern Indians that were relocated more twenty-five-thousand of them died, representing a devastating twenty five percent of their population (American Passage 4th edition pg. 259).

In summary, President Jackson used most of his energy focused on relocating the Indians, through the Indian Removal Act of 1830. It took two terms as President to move 5 Indian tribes to modern day Oklahoma. The Cherokee, who had appealed to the Supreme Court for help, took the longest. In the end they were later escorted by seven-thousand troops and shipped via rail or by water (American Passage 4th edition pg. 260). The Indians were promised with treaty after treaty, of peace and protection. And the Government had always let them down. But for Jackson, he had succeeded in what he set out to do, and that was relocate the Indians.

Bibliography

Ayers, Edward, Lewis Gould, David Oshinsky, and Jean Soderlund. American Passage. 4th. 1. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009. 259. Print.

(From A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. III, Published by Bureau of National Literature, 1897, p. 1063, 1082-86. American Passage. 4th. 1. Boston: Wadsworth, 2009. 260. Print.

A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, Vol. III, Published by Bureau of National Literature, 1897, p. 1063, 1082-86.

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