What issues and events led to the mass removal of Native Americans in the 1840s? What role did Andrew Jackson play in the Trail of Tears? What does his response to the removal reveal about Jackson’s vision of democracy?
Early 1830s, hundreds of Native Americans lived on acres of land in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. However, the Europeans that began to inhabit the western frontier were scared of the Native Americans that they came in contact with. They were scared of what they did not know and they wanted the land that the Native Americans were living on. At first white Americans thought that if they could simply civilize Native Americans and make them more like white Americans then they would be more open to European ways. However, as the number of white Americans grew the land owned by the Native Americans was craved even more. White Americans began …show more content…
The President at the time, President Andrew Jackson was an advocate of what he referred to as “Indian removal.” In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, giving the federal government the power to exchange unsettled land west of the Mississippi for Native American lands within the existing state borders. During this time some tribes moved peacefully but many resisted to relocation policy.
In the winter of 1831, the Choctaw Native Americans, one of the five peaceful tribes, was the first Indian nation to be totally kicked off of their lands by the U.S. Army. They traveled to the new Indian Territory on foot without any supplies, food or help from the government. In 1836, the Creeks, another member of the Five Civilized Tribes were driven from their lands. By the 1840s, a countless number of Native Americans had been driven from their lands by white settlers with the approval of the federal government. This became known as the “Trail of
Early 1830s, hundreds of Native Americans lived on acres of land in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. However, the Europeans that began to inhabit the western frontier were scared of the Native Americans that they came in contact with. They were scared of what they did not know and they wanted the land that the Native Americans were living on. At first white Americans thought that if they could simply civilize Native Americans and make them more like white Americans then they would be more open to European ways. However, as the number of white Americans grew the land owned by the Native Americans was craved even more. White Americans began …show more content…
The President at the time, President Andrew Jackson was an advocate of what he referred to as “Indian removal.” In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, giving the federal government the power to exchange unsettled land west of the Mississippi for Native American lands within the existing state borders. During this time some tribes moved peacefully but many resisted to relocation policy.
In the winter of 1831, the Choctaw Native Americans, one of the five peaceful tribes, was the first Indian nation to be totally kicked off of their lands by the U.S. Army. They traveled to the new Indian Territory on foot without any supplies, food or help from the government. In 1836, the Creeks, another member of the Five Civilized Tribes were driven from their lands. By the 1840s, a countless number of Native Americans had been driven from their lands by white settlers with the approval of the federal government. This became known as the “Trail of