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how did andrew jackson justify the treatment of the american indians in the west

by Cecile Pouros Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Jackson urged Indians to assimilate and obey state laws. Further, he believed that he could only accommodate the desire for Indian self-rule in federal territories, which required resettlement west of the Mississippi River on federal lands.

What did Andrew Jackson do about the Indian Removal Act?

Abstract: Andrew Jackson's experience with the Indians was an ambivalent relationship. From his childhood along the South Carolina-North Carolina border through his two terms as president, he had extensive interaction with both friendly and enemy Indians. As a child in South Carolina, Jackson grew up around the peaceful Catawba Indians.

How did Andrew Jackson interact with the Native Americans?

Feb 08, 2022 · View Transcript. On December 6, 1830, in his annual message to Congress, President Andrew Jackson informed Congress on the progress of the removal of Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi River to land in the west. In the early 1800s, American demand for Indian nations' land increased, and momentum grew to force American Indians further ...

How did Andrew Jackson's policy lead to the trail of Tears?

President Jackson authorizes Native peoples’ removal from Georgia. President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, authorizing the Army to force Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes, including some of his former allies in the War of 1812, out of Georgia and surrounding states. This sets the stage for the Cherokee Trail of Tears and other forced …

How did the government treat Native Americans during the Jacksonian era?

US President Andrew Jackson oversaw the policy of "Indian removal," which was formalized when he signed the Indian Removal Act in May 1830. The Indian Removal Act authorized a series of migrations that became known as the Trail of Tears. This was devastating to Native Americans, their culture, and their way of life.

How did Andrew Jackson justify his intention to move Native Americans westward?

Terms in this set (12) How does Jackson justify Native American removal in his message to Congress? "What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages..." They recognized the tribes as separate nations and agreed to acquire land from them only through formal treaties.

How did Andrew Jackson support the Indian Removal Act?

According to Jackson, moving the Indians would separate them from immediate contact with settlements of whites, free them from the power of the States, enable them to pursue happiness in their own way, and would stop their slow extinction.

What was the treatment of Native Americans like under Andrew Jackson?

Jackson's attitude toward Native Americans was paternalistic and patronizing -- he described them as children in need of guidance. and believed the removal policy was beneficial to the Indians. Most white Americans thought that the United States would never extend beyond the Mississippi.

What did Andrew Jackson believe about the Indians?

But Jackson did believe that Indian civilization was lower than that of whites, and that for their own survival, tribes who were pressed by white settlement must assimilate as individuals or remove to the west out of harm's way.

Why did Jackson support Indian Removal did Removal help to preserve or to destroy Native American culture explain your answer?

He felt this offered the best hope to preserve peace and protect the Indians from being scattered and destroyed. Opening new land to white settlement would also increase economic progress. Jackson insisted that the Indians receive a fair price for their lands and that the government pay all expenses of resettlement.

What were the arguments against the Indian Removal Act?

Jackson warned the tribes that if they failed to move, they would lose their independence and fall under state laws. Jackson backed an Indian removal bill in Congress. Members of Congress like Davy Crockett argued that Jackson violated the Constitution by refusing to enforce treaties that guaranteed Indian land rights.

What was Andrew Jackson's beliefs?

While Jackson believed in a strict construction of the Constitution and in states' rights, he believed that when the Constitution had delegated power to the federal government, the federal government had to be supreme. Jackson also valued the Union and was not willing to see it compromised or to let it disintegrate.

What was Andrew Jackson's relationship with the Indians?

Andrew Jackson's experience with the Indians was an ambivalent relationship. From his childhood along the South Carolina-North Carolina border through his two terms as president, he had extensive interaction with both friendly and enemy Indians. As a child in South Carolina, Jackson grew up around the peaceful Catawba Indians. During the American War for Independence he served as a scout alongside the Catawbas as members of his community fought the British and their Indian allies from the west, most notably the Cherokees. Serving in this capacity he learned the value of Indian alliances that he carried with him throughout his professional, military, and political career. Jackson came into direct contact with the Indians as he moved to Tennessee, as a young lawyer and businessman. In the western territory, various Indian tribes claimed the land the Whites were settling. Jackson learned to distinguish between the tribes that were recognized by the United States government as having legitimate claims to land and those that were not. Several tribes, particularly the Creeks and the Chickamaugas, a dissident faction of the Cherokees, frequently raided the White settlements in Tennessee, forcing Jackson to fight the Indians in defense of his community. He became an Indian fighter out of necessity and fought the enemy Indians while aligning with the friendly Chickasaws. During the Creek War and the War of 1812, Jackson applied his experience of using friendly Indian tribes to defeat the British and their Indian allies. He rewarded those who were loyal and punished those who joined Britain. He carried this experience to his post-war career as Indian agent, and later, as president, negotiating dozens of treaties with the Indians as he insisted upon removal as the best policy. In these treaties he exchanged federal territory west of the Mississippi River for Indian land in the east. Although he is most well-known for signing the Indian Removal Act, he promoted the rights of Indians at times as he allowed Indian citizenship, encouraged intermarriage between Whites and Indians, frequently had Indian leaders as guests in his home, and adopted an Indian child. He advocated for removal through the exchange of land in treaties to preserve tribal autonomy.

What tribes did Jackson fight?

Several tribes, particularly the Creeks and the Chickamaugas, a dissident faction of the Cherokees, frequently raided the White settlements in Tennessee, forcing Jackson to fight the Indians in defense of his community. He became an Indian fighter out of necessity and fought the enemy Indians while aligning with the friendly Chickasaws.

Where did Jackson grow up?

As a child in South Carolina, Jackson grew up around the peaceful Catawba Indians. During the American War for Independence he served as a scout alongside the Catawbas as members of his community fought the British and their Indian allies from the west, most notably the Cherokees.

What did Andrew Jackson do to the Cherokee?

President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, authorizing the Army to force Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes, including some of his former allies in the War of 1812, out of Georgia and surrounding states. This sets the stage for the Cherokee Trail of Tears and other forced relocation marches.

Where did the Trail of Tears originate?

During the 1830s the U.S. government forced tens of thousands of Native Americans, including many members of the Cherokee, Muscogee Creek, Seminole, and Choctaw nations from their homelands to Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). The phrase “Trail of Tears” originated from a description of the removal of the Choctaw Nation in 1831.

Who painted the Trail of Tears?

The Trail of Tears, painting by Robert Lindneux, 1942. American artist Robert Lindneux, who traveled and lived in the American West, often created Western genre images for collectors. Courtesy Granger Collection, New York.

What did Andrew Jackson do to the Native Americans?

In the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson pursued a policy of Indian Removal, forcing Native Americans living in Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi to trek hundreds of miles to territory in present-day Oklahoma.

What was Andrew Jackson's policy towards Native Americans?

Andrew Jackson’s policies towards Native Americans. Before becoming president, Andrew Jackson had distinguished himself as a champion of white settlers against indigenous people. In the War of 1812, Jackson had led an offensive against the Creek nation in an attempt to clear the Mississippi Territory for white settlement, ...

Where did the Cherokees move to?

As a result, the US government forcibly relocated Cherokees to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.

What was the Trail of Tears?

The Indian Removal Act authorized a series of migrations that became known as the Trail of Tears. This was devastating to Native Americans, their culture, and their way of life.

What tribes were removed from the United States?

The Indian Removal Act was applied to the " Five Civilized Tribes "—Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole —so named by people of the time because they had to some degree assimilated into white European culture and society. In September 1830, Choctaws became the first tribe to sign a treaty and voluntarily relocate to the territory that would become the state of Arkansas. Seminoles refused to leave their ancestral lands in Florida, sparking the Second Seminole War in 1835. Seminole chief Osceola led the resistance, which proved costly to the United States in terms of both money and casualties. The US Army ultimately emerged victorious, however, and forced remaining Seminoles out of Florida and into the area west of the Mississippi River that became known as Indian Territory.

What did Andrew Jackson do before becoming president?

In the War of 1812, Jackson had led an offensive against the Creek nation in an attempt to clear the Mississippi Territory for white settlement, and under President James Monroe, he had participated in the First Seminole War, which devastated the Seminole tribe of Florida.

Who led the Seminole resistance?

Seminoles refused to leave their ancestral lands in Florida, sparking the Second Seminole War in 1835. Seminole chief Osceola led the resistance, which proved costly to the United States in terms of both money and casualties.

What did the Indian Removal Act do?

In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, which gave the federal government the power to exchange Native-held land in the cotton kingdom east of the Mississippi for land to the west, in the “Indian colonization zone” that the United States had acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

What was the best way to solve the Indian problem?

Some officials in the early years of the American republic, such as President George Washington, believed that the best way to solve this “Indian problem” was simply to “civilize” the Native Americans.

What was the name of the trail of tears?

This difficult and sometimes deadly journey is known as the Trail of Tears.

How many Native Americans lived in Georgia in the 1830s?

Indian Removal. The Trail of Tears. Can You Walk The Trail of Tears? Sources. At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives ...

Who was the president of the Cherokee?

President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to expedite the removal process. Scott and his troops forced the Cherokee into stockades at bayonet point while his men looted their homes and belongings. Then, they marched the Indians more than 1,200 miles to Indian Territory.

What was the Indian problem?

The 'Indian Problem'. White Americans, particularly those who lived on the western frontier, often feared and resented the Native Americans they encountered: To them, American Indians seemed to be an unfamiliar, alien people who occupied land that white settlers wanted (and believed they deserved).

How many states are there on the Trail of Tears?

The Trail of Tears is over 5,043 miles long and covers nine states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Today, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is run by the National Park Service and portions of it are accessible on foot, by horse, by bicycle or by car.

Why did Andrew Jackson want to remove the Indians?

During Andrew Jackson’s presidency, which lasted from 1829 until 1837, he believed in the removal of the American Indians to help avoid annihilation. During these years, the Indian Removal Act was passed, and was the first major law within the time frame. This act, passed in 1830, stated that all the Indian tribes residing east of the Mississippi River needed to pack up and move to the west of the river , although the relocation was only voluntary. Jackson did this in the hopes that they would give

What was the Indian Removal Act?

In May 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which forced Native American tribes to move west. Some Indians left swiftly, while others were forced to to leave by the United States Army. Some were even taken away in chains. Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, strongly reinforced this act. In the Second State of the Union Address, Jackson advocated his Indian Policy. There was controversy as to whether the removal of the Native Americans was justified under the administration

Was Andrew Jackson a hero?

Perhaps one of the most interesting of those stories is that of Andrew Jackson’s. To some, he was a hero, but to others, he was their worst enemy. Being raised in the mountains of the Carolinas, he became the first “backcountry president” of the United States (Wilentz, 13). His fame, though, began years before his presidency. Jackson’s reputation was established during the War of 1812, namely

What did Jackson do to help the Native Americans?

Jackson supported the removal of Native Americans at least a decade before his presidency. As an army general, he had spent years leading brutal campaigns against the Creeks in Georgia and Alabama and the Seminoles in Florida -- campaigns that resulted in the transfer of hundreds of thousands of acres of land from Indian nations to white farmers. As such, the same became his top legislative priority when he became the President of the United States in 1829. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law, which provided the federal government with powers to exchange lands with Native tribes and provide infrastructure improvements on the existing lands. While the Act was criticized by many, including Christian missionaries, Jackson viewed the demise of Indian tribal nations as inevitable, pointing to the advancement of settled life and demise of tribal nations in the American northeast.

What did Jackson do to the Cherokee?

While the Supreme Court ruled against legislative interference by the state of Georgia, Jackson vigorously negotiated a land exchange treaty with the Cherokee, fearing open warfare and a broader civil war.

What was the Trail of Tears about?

Trail of Tears: Truth behind Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act and the tragedy it inflicted on Native Americans. In 1830, Jackson signed into law the Indian Removal Act, forcing the relocations of thousands of Native Americans from their traditional lands, resulting in widespread death and disease. By Neetha K.

What happened to the statue of Andrew Jackson?

On 22nd June, protesters gathered at Lafayette Square outside the White House and attempted to bring down a statue of Andrew Jackson that was commissioned in 1847. While police removed the protestors using pepper spray before the statue was taken down, it was vandalized with the words "Slave Owner" spray-painted across it.

What was the Choctaw removal?

One Choctaw leader portrayed the removal as "A Trail of Tears and Deaths", a devastating event that removed most of the Native population of the southeastern United States from their traditional homelands.

How many Native Americans died on the Trail of Tears?

Potentially, as many as 100,000 Native Americans were pushed out of their traditional land. Historians estimate that up to 15,000 men, women, and children died en route to these first Indian reservations. Causes of deaths associated with the Trail of Tears vary but include disease contracted while in containment camps awaiting removal or while in new lands post-removal, exhaustion, and/or elements while traveling along the Trail, starvation and/or malnutrition, and battle for those resisting removal.

How many states are there on the Trail of Tears?

The Trail of Tears is over 5,043 miles long and covers nine states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Today, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail is run by the National Park Service and portions of it are accessible on foot, by horse, by bicycle or by car.

What was the Indian Removal Bill of 1830?

One of the most bitterly debated issues on the floor of Congress was the Indian Removal Bill of 1830, pushed hard by then-President Andrew Jackson. Despite being assailed by many legislators as immoral, the bill finally passed in the Senate by nine votes, 29 to 17, and by an even smaller margin in the House. In Jackson’s thinking, more than three dozen eastern tribes stood in the way of what he saw as the settlers’ divinely ordained rights to clear the wilderness, build homes and grow cotton and other crops. In his annual address to Congress in 1833, Jackson denounced Indians, stating, “They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their condition. Established in the midst of another and a superior race…they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere [before] long disappear.”

What did Tecumseh do to the Indians?

In the early 1800s, the rise of the charismatic Shawnee war leader, Tecumseh, and his brother, known as the Prophet, convinced Indians of various tribes that it was in their interest to stop tribal in-fighting and band together to protect their mutual interests. The decision by Indiana Territorial Governor (and later President) William Henry Harrison in 1811 to attack and burn Prophetstown, the Indian capital on the Tippecanoe River, while Tecumseh was away campaigning the Choctaws for more warriors, incited the Shawnee leader to attack again. This time he persuaded the British to fight alongside his warriors against the Americans. Tecumseh’s death and defeat at the Battle of the Thames in 1813 made the Ohio frontier “safe” for settlers—at least for a time.

What happened to Mary Campbell?

In a few moments, Mary Campbell’s life changed forever when Delaware Indians kidnapped her and absorbed her into their community for the next six years. She became the first of some 200 known cases of white captives, many of whom became pawns in an ongoing power struggle that included European powers, American colonists and Indigenous peoples straining to maintain their population, their land and way of life.

Who killed the Christianized Delaware Indians?

In 1782, a group of militiamen from Pennsylvania killed 96 Christianized Delaware Indians, illustrating the growing contempt for native people. Captain David Williamson ordered the converted Delawares, who had been blamed for attacks on white settlements, to go to the cooper shop two at a time, where militiamen beat them to death with wooden mallets and hatchets.

What happened in 1782?

In 1782, a group of militiamen from Pennsylvania killed 96 Christianized Delaware Indians, illustrating the growing contempt for native people.

Who was the leader of the Shawnee tribe?

In the early 1800s, the rise of the charismatic Shawnee war leader, Tecumseh, and his brother, known as the Prophet, convinced Indians of various tribes that it was in their interest to stop tribal in-fighting and band together to protect their mutual interests.

Who led the 7th Cavalry?

Three, the Indians are bewildered by our change of policy.”. Custer later led the Seventh Cavalry on the northern Plains against the Lakota, Arapahos and Northern Cheyennes. He boasted, “The Seventh can handle anything it meets,” and “there are not enough Indians in the world to defeat the Seventh Cavalry.”.

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