Indian Removal Act Rhetorical Analysis

Improved Essays
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was one of America's greatest rhetorical manipulations; as well as, a tragic fate for thousands of Native Americans. President Jackson addresses Congress stating, "It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government...in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation” (President Jackson's address to Congress). The language used not only misrepresents what actually occurred during relocation, but also twists the historical legacy of the Indian Removal Act. President Jackson uses “happy” and “great pleasure” giving the impression the natives and the executive and legislative branches are joyous of the impending doom for the tribes. However, the relocation of thousands of natives to new and unfamiliar lands was neither positive or joyous, but a greedy plot to acquire more …show more content…
The historiography of Native Americans after European colonization is rather limited compared to American history, or even African American history in the United States. The lack of credible resources leaves anyone trying to research or obtain a clearer picture of the events with the words of President Jackson, and the possible hypothesis, not much occurred after relocation. The assumption is rather plausible; without knowing the historiography, one could assume Native Americans did quite well after relocation. Casinos, tax exemptions, sovereignty all seem to represent collective tribes that benefited from relocation as President Jackson illiterates. However, the assumption is completely false, and the lack of historiography only supports the counter hypothesis, the legacy is tarnished and forgotten, because of the atrocious treatment the natives experienced at the hand of capitalism, expansionism, and American

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    There’s a saying that questions “do the ends justify the means”? This means does the outcome outweigh everything sacrificed to get there. In the early to mid nineteenth century, America was hurt socially, technologically, economically, and politically due to the Trail of Tears, President Andrew Jackson, and Industrialization. Beginning in the late 1700’s and advancing into the 1800’s, the Native Americans that had lived in America for the past 12,000 years gradually lost the majority of their land.…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The history of slave records in the United States of America during 1790 withstands the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution, as well as the “Indian Removal Act of 1830”. During the era of the Declaration of Independence slaves were treated unjustly as to white males. During a slave's life, they were mistreated, worked in harsh climates and were put upon hard hours as opposed to white people. Slaves worked on plantations. Unlike, the north, the south had more plantations.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Whereas, Jackson wrote, “On Indian Removal” to persuade Congress that the American Indians should relocate: “It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Cherokee Removal

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “For us today, Indian removal may well retain its moral simplicity, but the issue as it unfolded was exceedingly complex. Not all white Americans supported Cherokee removal; not all Cherokees opposed it; and the drama itself took place against a complicated backdrop of ideology, self-interest, party politics, altruism, and…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Indian Removal Act In 1828 Andrew Jackson had own presidency and had succeed by changing things with the government. One of many was him having a special relationship with the common people. He removed about 10 percent of workers and replaced with loyal friends and followers. In the 1800’s Native Americans had been living next to white neighbors, taking on their culture.…

    • 435 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Removal Act of 1830 was signed by seventh President of the U.S., Andrew Jackson. This act allowed the President to explore unsettled lands pushing the Indians west. The act was not in specific removal of Indian tribes, but in order to acquire their land with treaties. Andrew Jackson professed the Indian Removal Act would be best for the tribes to get away from the whites and it gave them their chance to escape U.S. power. In Jackson's eyes, removing the Indians will also grant them a happiness that they find on their journey.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States of America is a large and populous country with over 300 million people spread out among the states, but it wasn’t always that way. In the 1830s the U.S government was struggling to expand its nation into the frontier. As a result, many people including Andrew Jackson and even Indians like Elias Boudinot found it necessary to move and push the Native Americans west. Jackson strongly believed that the Native Americans should move further west because it will save them from annihilation and will allow white settlers to use and find new land expanding America’s growth (Doc A). This shows how Jackson supported the native American removal because it benefited both people, the Native Americans and white settlers.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine your family made a beautiful quilt full of their history and lineage, one that has been passed down to each generation. Now imagine that someone offered to buy that quilt from you, promising a good amount of money and another, “better”, quilt. This is like the Cherokee’s situation. The president promised new and better land, but it wasn’t as good as it sounded. When the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was passed, it gave the president, Andrew Jackson, power to talk to the tribes and negotiate them into signing a treaty saying that they will move to the Indian Territory.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Indian Removal: Is it justified? The Act of Removal of the Cherokee Indians was a rough era in history. The Removal of the Indians happened because the citizens of Georgia wanted to mine on their land. The Cherokee Indians had refused to let them mine on their land because the land belonged to the legally and they were not going to let some strangers come and take their land away from them. How would you like it if someone came into your house and told you to leave?…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This action caused the Indians to suffer, and many of them died along the way. Jackson’s message to congress regarding the Indian removal explained that many Indian tribes were becoming extinct and asked congress to consider setting aside territory west of the Mississippi specially for the Indians (Doc. J). This proposal was used to solely benefit the eastern territory to benefit farmers and working men by opening up lands. Jackson benefitted himself economically at a cost, which was removing the Indians from the territory without their consent, proving his egotistical behavior. Correspondingly, responses from the Cherokee tribe verified Jackson’s injustice.…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Andrew Jackson was born in a settlement within the Carolinas in 1767, and at the age of 13, he joined a local regiment in the Revolutionary War. The British captured Jackson, and as a prisoner he was forced into cleaning a British officer’s boots. Jackson read law for two years before becoming an exceptional lawyer in Tennessee. He was then appointed as the state’s constitutional convention representative, and 12 months later, he became a U.S. senator. The election of 1828 was a return to a two party system, and Jackson decisively defeated John Quincy Adams.…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    American Expansion Dbq

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In his message to Congress, President Jackson stated “The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves. The pecuniary advantages which it promises to the Government are the least of its recommendations. It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country now occupied by a few savage hunters.” In this source, he argues the evacuation will stabilise their position with Indians, although the forced relocation became known as the “Trail of Tears” as it caused a 25% death rate for the tribes involved.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In 1830, Jackson put forth The Indian Removal Act, which proposed that all of the Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River would be moved west, into Indian Territory. Through this, Jackson believed that he was helping the Indians because in his opinion, having settlers and Indians living in close proximity was not beneficial to either group (“Indian Removal Act” 1). This Act was controversial because many Native American tribes were already promised land, which they were now being forced to leave (“Indian Removal Act” 2). The Cherokee Indian tribes living in Georgia were strongly against the Indian Removal Act due to a treaty with the state claiming that they could keep their land as long as they wanted if they assimilated into American culture (O’Brien 3). The Cherokee tribes had kept their end of the treaty by speaking English and sending their children to schools, but the state of Georgia wanted the land because they had found gold there and the land was fertile for growing cotton.…

    • 1588 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    that the Indian Removal has many positive effects on the government, the individual states, and the Indian people (Jackson). The document says it gives Andrew Jackson the pleasure to announce the Congress that the goal to remove Indians from east of the Mississippi after nearly 30 years almost ends happily (Jackson). He says two important tribes, Choctaw and Chickasaw already accepted emigration, and he hopes the rest of the tribes will do the same thing. Next, he says this Indian Removal will benefit the United States, individual states and the Indians as well (Jackson). He lists some advantages for the Indians such as the removal will save them from the depredations of Whites and free them from the power of the States.…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    He commented "It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly thirty years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation” (Library of Congress, Jackson, 1830). At that time however only two tribes agreed to leave their land, the others were not in agreement with the Indian Removal Act. In response, the American Indians fought back on a political level, Chief John Ross who represented the majority of the American Indians who did not want to leave their lands tried to diplomatically and legally maintain autonomy with the United States…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays