The Indian Problem: The Five Civilized Tribes

Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.

“Build a fire under them. When it gets hot enough, they’ll move”. There are many opposing opinions as to if Andrew Jackson abused his presidential power under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and accordingly, each side can be justified. However, there is more solid evidence proving that Andrew Jackson did indeed misuse his duties as president by transforming the free movement of Indians to a forced one. Although many believed that Andrew Jackson demonstrated a genuine concern for the well being of the Native Americans, Jackson abused his power as president by unfairly enforcing the Indian Removal Act that did not authorize him to repeal treaties or force the relocation of Indians.

On may 28, 1830 the Indian Removal Act was passed by the congress and was signed by the current president at the time Andrew Jackson. The Indian Removal Act authorized the president to grant unsettled lands west of Mississippi in exchange for the Native Americans land. This forced Native American tribes to march their way west of Mississippi. Some tribes left in peace but most of the tribes resisted. In 1835 the agreement to, Treaty Of New Echota allowed Jackson to order Cherokee removal. Some Cherokee leaders signed the treaty and left but people under the leadership Chief John Ross resisted until they were forced to move to a new location 1838. Their forced journey to their new location was called the Trail Of Tears. Ever since, Native Americans have been living in reservation lands and the government has taken notice but don’t know if they should give them land or money. The government should be giving Native Americans land instead of money because the reservation lands are not

In the years leading up to the Indian Removal Act, which was the initial cause of the Trail of Tears, the United States was in a shift. The country was seeing an unrivaled influx of European settlers looking for careers and land. This caused population to skyrocket, in fact in the years 1790-1840, the United States saw a 350% increase in population. In other words, the need for fertile land and viable property was high. At the same time, attempts at assimilation of Indians into American society were proving to be futile. Americans saw the Indians as “noble savages”, who were uncivilized but able to be fit for society if they were converted to Christianity and adopted Anglo-European culture and behavior. With the growing need for land and the rise in tension between Natives and fearful white settlers, something needed to be done in the eyes of the American people. These two things combined is what really set up the foreground for what would become the Indian Removal Act. President Andrew Jackson, in

The Indian Removal act of 1830 was passed by President Jackson. President Jackson wanted the Natives land so he made false treaties with them in order to speed up the process of taking their land. Some of the Natives agreed to go to Indian territory on their own but, the majority of them didn’t like the idea of leaving their home. Many of the natives fought and raided the settlers many of the natives tried to make peace with the white men. Soon many of the Natives grew weary and finally decided to cede their land and move to Indian Territory. Still many Natives had to be forced to make the journey. Many of the natives didn’t survive the journey. The Five Tribes that were removed were the Choctaw,Creek,Chickasaw,Cherokee, and the Seminole.

The Indian Removal Act was very controversial during its time, receiving influence from individuals, local, state and mostly by the federal government. This act gave the president, Andrew Jackson, the authority to make transactions with Indian tribes in the Southern region of the United States. The Indian Removal Act was a deal made by President Andrew Jackson with the Indian tribes, forcing them to leave their occupied land, which happened to be federal territories west of the Mississippi River. President Andrew Jackson’s primary method in Indian Removal was his speech to Congress regarding his opinions on the act, which included many positive outcomes that would happen if the Indians were to leave the territory. He claimed that this act would not only benefit the United States as a whole, but it would also benefit the Indian people. This benefit was called “Manifest Destiny” or the idea of the United States expanding its territories from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. This expansion would benefit the country not just economically, but agriculturally as well. However, “Manifest Destiny” was only an idea, and in order for this idea to become a reality, the governments had to take action. This action in entirety was the removal of the Indian tribes from the southern regions, making them travel through very harsh conditions so that Americans could settle in their former homeland. Overall, the American government wanted to rid the

In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which stated that the government must negotiate treaties with the Native Americans, that would require them to relocate west. At

In the time period of 1800-1850 white Americans expanded across the vast lands on the western side of the continent and regularly encountered conflict with various Indian nations. In these documents, interactions for the various Indian nations were subjected to different cultivation between each tribe per say that there were responses that filled different needs and demands. Some tribes provided benefits such as agriculture and household manufacture and produced the idea that settlements to be blended and conform into one people. Other interactions created conflict because some of our land purchases were not 100% in compliance with the constitution. Yet some Indian nations

Ever since the very first colonies were formed, the Native Americans have been forced out of their beloved inveterate lands in order for the Americans to be able to expand their new found territory. Yet, nothing ever changed and the same economic policies continued, bringing nothing but destruction to the Native people. Meanwhile, the political and social policies were dramatically distorted, deceiving the tribes into losing land and cultural values. Jackson’s efforts to remove any and all Cherokee Indians to territory west of the Mississippi in the 1830’s maintained the same economical attitudes as before but changed the social and political policies set by the previous colonies and the United States government towards the Native Americans.

The Indian Removal Act was a piece of legislation signed by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The Act resulted in the transplantation of several Native American tribes. The law gave the president permission to negotiate with southern Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their lands. This ideology originated from President Andrew Jackson’s call for an American Indian Removal Act in his 1829 State of the Union address.

During Andrew Jackson’s term, America had set its sights on the Indians’ territory. President Jackson decided to create a controversial treaty that would allow America to exchange the Indians’ land for a large piece of land in Louisiana Territory. It was created on May 28, 1830 and sparked much criticism and support throughout the nation. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was justified because the Indians were enemies of America, they were given good land, and they were offered the government’s protection.

The Trail of Tears is a historical title given to an event that happened in 1838.In this event, the Cherokee community of Native Americans was forced by the USA government to move from their native home in the Southern part of the contemporary America to what is known as the Indian territories of Oklahoma. While some travelled by water, most of them travelled by land. The Cherokees took 6 months to complete an 800 miles distance to their destination.

They made transitions such as moving property ownership from females to males, using modern farming technologies, sending children to school, and attending church. These tribes soon became known as the Five Civilized Tribes, but ultimately, they were unable to assimilate due to the issue of land ownership. Communal property was incompatible with absolute property because the Americans believed that occupied land was not equivalent to owning the land. As a result, Southerners re-divided counties in the South, making it easier for them to gain legal title on Native American land . Southerners also formed the basis of a new Indian class. Sons of plantation masters impregnated Indian women and their mixed children were able to sit on tribunal councils. The Southern master class used these mixed-Indians as their proxies. Sitting on tribunal councils, mixed council members were bilingual, familiar with both societies, and had major political power that they used to transform Indian society1. Mixed-Indians were involved in Indian wars, such as one involving warriors of the Creek, Cherokee, and Choctaw tribes against the Chickasaw warriors in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend¹.

The Trail of Tears was a huge turning point seen by Amy Sturgis, as clearly shown in her chapter, “The Trail of Tears as a Turning Point”. Sturgis have separated how the Trail of Tears has affected history into three categories: the world, the US, and for the Cherokee Nation. All three categories intermingle, affecting one another with either a positive or a negative feedback.

?savagery? (Takaki, 44). The natives were then considered to be an unimprovable race. They were incapable of being changed, their traits were inherent and their descent caused them to be this way. The thinking of the Americans was that the Indians had to removed off their lands. One of the leaders in this movement was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was a man who pushed for the advancement of his