The Causes Of The Indian Removal Act Of 1830

Register to read the introduction… 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 government. Chief John Ross attempted to negotiate with the federal government using legal arguments citing federal law and the previous treaties signed between the Indian nations and the federal government between 1785 and 1819. However, President Andrew Jackson wanted to take the land and move the Indians out West therefore, the government ignored their efforts and the federal treaties previously signed. “The Supreme Court declared that Congress had complete constitutional authority over Indian affairs and could abrogate or break its own treaties” (Calloway, 2012, p. 436). So instead of protecting the Native American Indians and their land according to the treaties signed by both parties, the United States government decided to take it from them. Jackson then sent troops to expel the Indians from their lands. One tribal Chief Black Hawk offered to surrender to Jackson however; Jackson rejected this offer and continued to send in American troops to pursue “him [and his tribe] into the Wisconsin Territory and, in the brutal eight-hour Bad Axe Massacre, killed 850 of Black Hawk’s 1,000 warriors” (Henretta et al. 2012, 303). This was not the end of it however, the bloodshed continued when Jackson maintained the Indian removal process. The Federal government drove thousands of Indians to walk over 1,200 miles to the new Indian Territory. During the walk to their new territory the American Indians suffered through devastating times. …show more content…
They suffered sickness such as the whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera and, starvation, these were all epidemics along the way. In this removal nearly 125,000 Native American Indians were forced to leave their ancestral lands that they had cultivated for generations. It included tribes such as the Choctaw, removed in 1831, was the first ejected and became the model for the removal. The Seminole were the second removed in 1832, the Creek in 1834, and then the Chickasaw in 1837 and, finally the Cherokee in 1838, these tribes collectively were referred to as the Five Civilized Tribes. Andrew Jackson continued and renewed the political and military effort for the removal of the Native Americans from these lands with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. In conclusion, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was passed in order to remove the Native American Indians from their ancestral land to use that land for white settlement. …show more content…
It forced the Native Indians to surrender millions of acres of land and to move to west. Throughout the removal many Indians suffered through sickness and death. The Indian Removal Act not only removed the Indians from their rightful lands forcefully but also is responsible for over 4000 deaths of the Native Americans, that today is known as the ‘Trail of Tears’.
Bibliography

Calloway, Colin G. Kill the Indian and Save the Man 1870s-1920s. (In Bedford/St. Martin’s (Ed.), First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History, 4th ed., 2012) 412-483. https://edge.apus.edu/access/content/group/212966/Textbook/Calloway_2012_Ch02.pdf
Henretta, James, Edwards, Rebecca and, Self, Robert: America A Concise History Vol. 1, (Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012), 290-317.
The Library of Congress. Primary Documents in American History: Indian Removal Act. (2012). http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Indian.html U.S. Department of State. Indian Treaty and Removal Act of 1830. (n.d.) http://future.state.gov/when/timeline/1830_timeline/indian_treaties_and_the_removal_act _of_1830.html .