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.” Jackson explains the removal of the Native Americans in terms of protecting their safety from white people. In order to protect the ‘uncivilized’ Natives, they must be kept separate, and as such, they must be removed. In Jackson’s mind, the Natives had to be shown as uncivilized barbaric people who simply were never going to be able to coexist with white Americans. “When independence was declared and a new government established committed to liberty and justice for all, the situation of the Indians within
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But as the treaties were easily revocable and more often than not, revoked, without the consent of the Native tribes protected under them. “Indians are dealing with the magnamity of a rich and powerful nation, one that is not about to divest itself or its non-Indian citizens of large acreage in the name of its own laws. (Clifford, 284)” This land claim lawsuit was between the Mashpee Indians and the Federal Government. It shows how the ethnocentrism of the American nation overshadows any tiny Indian tribe deemed inferior. The Indian Removal Act, signed into laws by Andrew Jackson and congress in 1830 ratified an agreement to move all Native tribes west of the Mississippi in exchange for the lands they currently held. The exchange that Andrew Jackson had proposed in December of 1829 was a voluntary transfer, one that must be ratified by both parties and could not forced upon the Cherokee. However, Jackson made it clear that any resistance to the laws would be met with force. Other tribes signed treaties with the US government some time after the ratification of the Indian Removal Act; the Cherokee resisted their removal by legal means. They argued that the anti-Cherokee laws that Georgia had enacted sometime after gold was found on Cherokee land were unconstitutional and won their case in 1832. Andrew Jackson however, refused to enforce the decision. It was after this that a …show more content…
In1807, Doublehead, a fearsome Cherokee chief and warrior sold Native land without approval from the council of the Cherokee nation; he was named a traitor by the Cherokees. Due to the immense loss of land, the Cherokee elders decided that any land sales with their approval would be a crime punishable by death. In past years, they had been selling land to the United States government and now the nation was so small that they simply couldn’t afford to lose any more land. So the Cherokee council made this sale of land a crime punishable by death. He was eventually killed after a long struggle but the Cherokee nation shed no tears for him. After this event, the Cherokees were divided into two groups, one who accepted the white way of life and the other who, seeing what greed could do to a person, shuns it. The Treaty of New Echota in 1835 is one of the most important treaties that was signed into effect during this time. The treaty, signed by a few elders of the Cherokee nation, was an agreement to move to Indian Territory. Even though the majority of the Cherokee and their new government opposed the treaty, the United States used it as a basis for forcing the Cherokee to the
But as the treaties were easily revocable and more often than not, revoked, without the consent of the Native tribes protected under them. “Indians are dealing with the magnamity of a rich and powerful nation, one that is not about to divest itself or its non-Indian citizens of large acreage in the name of its own laws. (Clifford, 284)” This land claim lawsuit was between the Mashpee Indians and the Federal Government. It shows how the ethnocentrism of the American nation overshadows any tiny Indian tribe deemed inferior. The Indian Removal Act, signed into laws by Andrew Jackson and congress in 1830 ratified an agreement to move all Native tribes west of the Mississippi in exchange for the lands they currently held. The exchange that Andrew Jackson had proposed in December of 1829 was a voluntary transfer, one that must be ratified by both parties and could not forced upon the Cherokee. However, Jackson made it clear that any resistance to the laws would be met with force. Other tribes signed treaties with the US government some time after the ratification of the Indian Removal Act; the Cherokee resisted their removal by legal means. They argued that the anti-Cherokee laws that Georgia had enacted sometime after gold was found on Cherokee land were unconstitutional and won their case in 1832. Andrew Jackson however, refused to enforce the decision. It was after this that a …show more content…
In1807, Doublehead, a fearsome Cherokee chief and warrior sold Native land without approval from the council of the Cherokee nation; he was named a traitor by the Cherokees. Due to the immense loss of land, the Cherokee elders decided that any land sales with their approval would be a crime punishable by death. In past years, they had been selling land to the United States government and now the nation was so small that they simply couldn’t afford to lose any more land. So the Cherokee council made this sale of land a crime punishable by death. He was eventually killed after a long struggle but the Cherokee nation shed no tears for him. After this event, the Cherokees were divided into two groups, one who accepted the white way of life and the other who, seeing what greed could do to a person, shuns it. The Treaty of New Echota in 1835 is one of the most important treaties that was signed into effect during this time. The treaty, signed by a few elders of the Cherokee nation, was an agreement to move to Indian Territory. Even though the majority of the Cherokee and their new government opposed the treaty, the United States used it as a basis for forcing the Cherokee to the