What events led to the Indian Removal Act of 1830?
The rapid settlement of land east of the Mississippi River made it clear by the mid-1820s that the white man would not tolerate the presence of even peaceful Indians there. Pres. Andrew Jackson (1829–37) vigorously promoted this new policy, which became incorporated in the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
Why did Andrew Jackson do the Indian Removal Act?
At the time, Jackson said the removal would "incalculably strengthen the southwestern frontier,” and would enable new states like Alabama and Mississippi to “advance rapidly in population, wealth and power." By the end of his presidency in 1837, his administration negotiated almost 70 removal treaties that led to the ...
Who pushed the Indian Removal Act?
In 1830, just a year after taking office, Jackson pushed a new piece of legislation called the "Indian Removal Act" through both houses of Congress. It gave the president power to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi.
What led up to the Trail of Tears?
The Indian Removal Act of 1830, the impetus for the Trail of Tears, targeted particularly the Five Civilized Tribes in the Southeast. As authorized by the Indian Removal Act, the Federal Government negotiated treaties aimed at clearing Indian-occupied land for white settlers.
Why was Indian Removal Act passed?
The Indian Removal Act was put in place to give to the Southern states the land that belonged to the Native Americans. The act was passed in 1830, although dialogue had been ongoing since 1802 between Georgia and the federal government concerning the possibility of such an act.
Why does Jackson think his policy is kind and generous?
Why does Jackson think his policy is kind and generous? because they are "kindly" offering him a new home, and to pay all of the expenses of his whole settlement.
How did the Indian Removal Act affect America?
Intrusions of land-hungry settlers, treaties with the U.S., and the Indian Removal Act (1830) resulted in the forced removal and migration of many eastern Indian nations to lands west of the Mississippi.
Why did Andrew Jackson oppose the National Bank?
Jackson's distrust of the Bank was also political, based on a belief that a federal institution such as the Bank trampled on states' rights. In addition, he felt that the Bank put too much power in the hands of too few private citizens -- power that could be used to the detriment of the government.
When was the Indian Removal Act passed?
May 28, 1830 CE: Indian Removal Act. On March 28, 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, beginning the forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans in what became known as the Trail of Tears. Not all members of Congress supported the Indian Removal Act.
Who opposed the Indian Removal Act?
Not all members of Congress supported the Indian Removal Act. Tennessee Rep. Davey Crockett was a vocal opponent, for instance. Native American s opposed removal from their ancestral lands, resulting in a long series of battles with local white settlers. But the forced relocation proved popular with voters.
How many Native Americans died on the Trail of Tears?
More than 46,000 Native Americans were forced—sometimes by the U.S. military —to abandon their homes and relocate to “Indian Territory” that eventually became the state of Oklahoma. More than 4,000 died on the journey—of disease, starvation, and exposure to extreme weather . Today, the Trail of Tears is a National Historic Trail stretching ...
What was the push toward the west coast of North America?
It was intensified by the belief in manifest destiny, federally issued Indian removal acts, and economic promise. Pioneers traveled to Oregon and California using a network of trails leading west. In 1893 historian Frederick Jackson Turner declared the frontier closed, citing the 1890 census as evidence, and with that, the period of westward expansion ended. Explore these resources to learn more about what happened between 1810 and 1893, as immigrants, American Indians, United States citizens, and freed slaves moved west.
What was the removal act of 1830?
Congressional debates concerning the Indian Removal Act, April 1830. The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, especially in Georgia, which was the largest state in 1802 and was involved in a jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee. President Jackson hoped that removal would resolve the Georgia crisis.
When did the Indian Removal Act take place?
In response, the national government passed the Indian Removal Act on May 28, 1830, in which President Jackson agreed to divide the United States territory west of the Mississippi into districts for tribes to replace the land from which they were removed. In the 1823 case of Johnson v.
What did Jackson believe about the removal of Indians?
According to historian H. W. Brands, Jackson sincerely believed that his population transfer was a "wise and humane policy" that would save the Indians from "utter annihilation". Jackson portrayed the removal as a generous act of mercy.
What tribes were affected by the Indian Removal Act?
Besides the Five Civilized Tribes, additional people affected included the Wyandot, the Kickapoo, the Potowatomi, the Shawnee, and the Lenape. The Indian Removal Act was controversial. Many Americans during this time favored its passage, but there was also significant opposition.
What is the purpose of the Indian Act?
An act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi. Enacted by. the 21st United States Congress. Citations.
What did Andrew Jackson do to help the Indians?
Andrew Jackson sought to renew a policy of political and military action for the removal of the Indians from these lands and worked toward enacting a law for Indian removal. In his 1829 State of the Union address, Jackson called for Indian removal. The Indian Removal Act was put in place to give to the Southern states the land ...
What did Jackson say about the Indians?
M'Intosh, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision stating that Indians could occupy and control lands within the United States but could not hold title to those lands. Jackson viewed the union as a federation of highly esteemed states, as was common before the American Civil War.
When did the Cherokees move west?
A few tribes went peacefully, but many resisted the relocation policy. During the fall and winter of 1838 and 1839, the Cherokees were forcibly moved west by the United States government. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died on this forced march, which became known as the "Trail of Tears."
How many Cherokees died in the Trail of Tears?
During the fall and winter of 1838 and 1839, the Cherokees were forcibly moved west by the United States government. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died on this forced march, which became known as the "Trail of Tears.".
What was the removal act of Jackson?
The act enabled the Jackson administration to exchange lands west of the Mississippi River with Indian nations, which were then required to leave the eastern United States. While Jackson insisted that their departure would be voluntary, the act authorized money later used to support the military-led forced removals of Native peoples.
What is the purpose of the Indian Act?
An Act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi [excerpt]
Is it lawful for the President to protect Indians?
And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the President to cause such tribe or nation to be protected, at their new residence, against all interruption or disturbance from any other tribe or nation of Indians, or from any other person or persons whatever.
What was the name of the group that negotiated a land swap with the Cherokee?
government representatives in 1835 and agreed to a land swap in the Treaty of New Echota. The Cherokee chief and national council argued that the treaty was fraudulent since the nation's duly constituted government had not been consulted, yet the U.S. Senate ratified the pact. Under President Martin Van Buren, Jackson's successor, federal agents rounded up the Cherokee in late 1837 and early 1838, driving them off their land and into detention camps in Tennessee and Alabama. A few Cherokee eluded their captors by hiding in the Smoky Mountains; today, their descendants are known as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
What was the name of the journey that the Cherokee people took to the Mississippi River?
The Trail of Tears is the name given to the forced migration of the Cherokee people from their ancestral lands in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina to new territories west of the Mississippi River. The journey, undertaken in the fall and winter of 1838–1839, was fatal for one-fourth of the Cherokee population.
What did the Cherokee do to become European?
The Cherokee had made significant efforts to assimilate into European-American culture. Many of them adopted Western dress and gave up hunting and gathering for a market economy based on export-oriented agriculture and became literate. In the 1820s the nation adopted a formal government with a written constitution.
Why was the Trail of Tears designated a National Historic Trail?
These journeys have come to symbolize the tragedy and injustice in the Native-American experience. The Trail of Tears was designated a National Historic Trail in 1987 through an act of Congress.
What did Georgia do to the Cherokee?
Georgia's state government asserted jurisdiction over the entire Cherokee territory, annulled the nation's laws, annexed the land, and began distributing plots by lottery.
What was the effect of the Louisiana Purchase?
The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 doubled the size of United States territory. The expansion of white settlements in North America started encroaching on Native-American lands, ultimately creating the pressures that led to the removal of Native Americans. President Thomas Jefferson and others proposed setting aside tracts of the western lands for the indigenous nations.
What was the Cherokee case?
The Cherokee Nation took its case to the United States Supreme Court. The legal battles that ensued raised profound questions concerning states' rights, the status and sovereignty of indigenous nations, and the separation of powers between branches of the federal government. In the first of two rulings on the matter, Chief Justice John Marshall denied the Cherokee legal standing as U.S. citizens before the Court. However, in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), Marshall held that Georgia could not extend its law over the sovereign lands of the Cherokee nation, and had no authority to displace the indigenous people.
What was the Indian Removal Act of 1830?
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was a landmark in relations between the U.S. government and the American Indians. Before then, the federal government officially respected the legal and political rights of the Indians. The act changed U.S. policy by giving the president the power to grant Indian tribes unsettled western ...
How many Indians were evicted in the 1830s?
The U.S. military evicted about 100,000 eastern Indians in the 1830s. Up to 25 percent of the Indians, many in chains, died on forced marches westward. The sad trek of the Cherokee in 1838–39 is remembered as the Trail of Tears. Even more reluctant to leave their native lands were the Seminole of Florida.
What were the five tribes that were settled in Oklahoma?
Members of what were known as the Five Civilized Tribes—the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole —did not want to trade their farms for unknown land in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma ). These tribes were well established on their native lands. They had homes, governments, and children in missionary schools, and some had trades other than farming.
What did Andrew Jackson do to the Indians?
They wanted the Indians to be removed, and President Andrew Jackson strongly agreed. On May 28, 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act into law. The act aimed to relocate the eastern Indians west of the Mississippi, to the Great Plains. At the time the region was considered to be the Great American Desert—a place where whites would ...
Where did the white settlers spread?
Mellon Collection, 1942.8.34. In the early 1800s white settlers spread throughout the territory east of the Mississippi River. By the mid-1820s it was clear that they would not allow the presence of even peaceful Indians near their settlements.
What act was used to displace Indians from their tribal lands?
Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830. The U.S. Government used treaties as one means to displace Indians from their tribal lands, a mechanism that was strengthened with the Removal Act of 1830.
Which two presidents argued that the Indian tribes in the Southeast should exchange their land for lands west of the?
Although Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe argued that the Indian tribes in the Southeast should exchange their land for lands west of the Mississippi River, they did not take steps to make this happen. Indeed, the first major transfer of land occurred only as the result of war.
What tribes did Jackson help?
Over the next decade, Jackson led the way in the Indian removal campaign, helping to negotiate nine of the eleven major treaties to remove Indians. Under this kind of pressure, Native American tribes—specifically the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw—realized that they could not defeat the Americans in war.
What did Jackson do to help the Indians?
To achieve his purpose, Jackson encouraged Congress to adopt the Removal Act of 1830. The Act established a process whereby the President could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands. As incentives, the law allowed the Indians financial and material assistance to travel to their new locations and start new lives and guaranteed that the Indians would live on their new property under the protection of the United States Government forever. With the Act in place, Jackson and his followers were free to persuade, bribe, and threaten tribes into signing removal treaties and leaving the Southeast.
How many removal treaties did Jackson sign?
In general terms, Jackson’s government succeeded. By the end of his presidency, he had signed into law almost seventy removal treaties, the result of which was to move nearly 50,000 eastern ...
What war did the Seminole tribe fight in?
The Seminole tribe in Florida resisted, in the Second Seminole War (1835–1842) and the Third Seminole War (1855–1858), however, neither appeasement nor resistance worked. From a legal standpoint, the United States Constitution empowered Congress to "regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes.”.
How many Cherokees died in the Trail of Tears?
The best evidence indicates that between three and four thousand out of the fifteen to sixteen thousand Cheroke es died en route from the brutal conditions of the "Trail of Tears.".
Overview
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law authorized the president to negotiate with southern (including Mid-Atlantic) Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for white settlement of their ancestral lands. The Act was signed by Andrew Jackson and it was stron…
Background
When Europeans and Native Americans came into contact during colonial times or in the early United States, the Europeans felt their civilization to be superior: they had writing, Christianity, and believed their notions of private property to be a superior system of land tenure. European settlers adopted a practice of cultural assimilation, wherein Cherokee peoples were forced to adopt aspects …
Support and opposition
The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, especially in Georgia, which was the largest state in 1802 and was involved in a jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee. President Jackson hoped that removal would resolve the Georgia crisis. Besides the Five Civilized Tribes, additional people affected included the Wyandot, the Kickapoo, the Potowatomi, the Shawnee, and the Lenape.
The Indian Removal Act was controversial. Many Americans during this time favored its passag…
Vote
On April 24, 1830, the Senate passed the Indian Removal Act by a vote of 28 to 19. On May 26, 1830, the House of Representatives passed the Act by a vote of 101 to 97. On May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson.
Implementation
The Removal Act paved the way for the forced expulsion of tens of thousands of American Indians from their land into the West in an event widely known as the "Trail of Tears," a forced resettlement of the Indian population. The first removal treaty signed was the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek on September 27, 1830, in which Choctaws in Mississippi ceded land east of the river in exchange for payment and land in the West. The Treaty of New Echota was signed in 1835 an…
See also
• Worcester v. Georgia
External links
• Indian Removal Act and related resources, at the Library of Congress
• 1830 State of the Union on Indian Removal; Text at 100 Milestone Documents