Abstract: My primary source is the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This Act forced the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole tribes to move west of the Mississippi river. My secondary sources were sections pulled from the book Give me Liberty by Eric Foner. These sources shed light on the unfortunate force of Indians off their own land. Also some of the Articles of the Indan Removal Act or discussed.
In my last blog post I wrote about Indian Removal on part of Jefferson. I spoke of how he was corrupt in his treatment of the Indians; making them think they were being treated fairly when they weren’t. I wanted to continue to elaborate on the removal of the Indians. They were constantly being forced into new territories because of the westward expansion of the Americans. I spoke in my last post mainly of Jefferson forcing the Indians into new lands, but he was not the only one. The Indian Removal Act was signed and put into action by President Andrew Jackson in 1830.
The Indian Removal Act forced tribes out of their territories in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. The removal forced them west of the Mississippi river; many traveled what the Indians called the Trail of Tears which went from Georgia to Oklahoma. According to Give Me Liberty by Eric Foner “At least one-quarter perished during the winter of 1838-1839 on the Trail of Tears.”
Americans constantly tried to make the removal of the Indians seem kind and justified. In article 3 of the Indian Removal Act it states “And be it further enacted, That in the making of any such exchange or exchanges, it shall and may be lawful for the President solemnly to assure the tribe or nation with which the exchange is made, that the United States will forever secure and guaranty to them, and their heirs or successors, the country so exchanged with them; and if they prefer it, that the United States will cause a patent or grant to be made and executed to them for the same.”(Jackson) It seems as if the Indians are going to have their land protected and all of this is done with good intentions.
In another part of the Act in Article 5 the Indians are told that the president can” cause such aid and assistance to be furnished to the emigrants as may be necessary and proper to enable them to remove to, and settle in, the country for which they may have exchanged; and also, to give them such aid and assistance as may be necessary for their support and subsistence for the first year after their removal.”(Jackson)
Part of the reason Indians were never treated fairly was the stigmas placed on them. Jackson continued to “refer to them as savages.” (Foner) There was also the case of Johnson vs. M’Intosh in which “the court had proclaimed that Indians were not in fact owners of their land, but merely had a “right occupancy.” Chief Justice John Marshall…claimed that from the early colonial era, Indians had lived as nomad and hunters, not farmers.” (Foner) Maybe if the Indians had not had such negative views and considered occupants then they would have had a chance of staying where they were living.
Another crude part of the Indian Removal Act was the power given to the president. In every single Article of the act power was presented to the president, but none to the tribes. In the second Article he is given the power to “to exchange any or all of such districts, so to be laid off and described, with any tribe or nation of Indians now residing within the limits of any of the states or territories, and with which the United States have existing treaties, for the whole or any part or portion of the territory claimed and occupied by such tribe or nation, within the bounds of any one or more of the states or territories, where the land claimed and occupied by the Indians, is owned by the United States, or the United States are bound to the state within which it lies to extinguish the Indian claim thereto.”(Jackson)
Although most Americans agreed with the Indian removal there were people who wanted to help. The Seminoles, the last tribe to move west were offered refuge by slaves in Florida. They helped each other out. This spurred the Second Seminole War in which “some 1,500 American soldiers and the same number of Seminoles were killed” (Foner)
I realize I am supposed to be telling the readers what has happened to the Indians and keep my personal opinion at bay, but it is quite hard. I truly find myself bothered by the treatment of the Indians. It is unfortunate that they were viewed as savages and not owners of their own land. It seems barbaric of Americans to force someone out of their own home and relocate them so far away. I realize this was a different time and those actions were not thought much of and it was an every man for himself or more so every society for themselves. I am truly and deeply bothered by the mistreatment of people.
Works Cited
Jackson, Andrew. "Indian Removal Act." Indian Removal Act. Soliver. Web. 24 Oct. 2010. http://www.cerritos.edu/soliver/Student%20Activites/Trail%20of%20Tears/web/removal%20act.htm.
Foner, Eric. "Chapter 10: Democracy in America." Give Me Liberty!: an American History. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2008. Print.
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