The Indian Removal Act Jackson and Racism Term Paper

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President Andrew Jackson had long pursued an aggressive approach to Native Americans before 1838-9, when 4000 Cherokee died during the forcible removal program dubbed later the "Trail of Tears"

Five tribes in the Southeastern United States had been dubbed "civilized" because of their willingness to assimilate: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole.

The informal and formal agreements between Native Americans and the federal government began to fall apart due to increasing demand for land.

Greed and white supremacist ideology laid the groundwork for the Indian Removal Act of 1830, revealing stark connections between the Trail of Tears and the legacy of slavery in the United States.

Sheer greed prompted much of the Indian removal policies, broken treaties, and ultimately, forced exile.

A. Burgeoning numbers of settlers into the lands now part of Georgia and Alabama pressured the federal government for support in their endeavor to expand cotton plantations.

B. As military resistance proved futile, several tribes opted for a policy based on appeasement ("United States Department of State Office of the Historian").

C. Several tribes tried to negotiate with the settlers, offering large swathes of land in exchange for living harmoniously alongside.

III. A perceived sense of cultural and moral superiority, coupled with self-righteousness, underwrote the Indian Removal Act and other deleterious legislation.

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A. Andrew Jackson viewed Native Americans as being "savages who threatened American settlers and republican virtues," (Manning and Wyatt 203).

B. White supremasist ideology even permeated American law.

1. In his 1831 ruling on Cherokee Nation v. the State of Georgia, Chief Justice John Marshall declared that Indian Nations' "relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian"

2. "In 1823 the Supreme Court handed down a decision which stated that Indians could occupy lands within the United States, but could not hold title to those lands. This was because their 'right of occupancy' was subordinate to the United States' 'right of discovery.' ("Indian Removal")

IV. The affected Native American groups, who had worked hard to maintain peace, fought as hard as possible via military and legalistic means, but ultimately failed.

A. The Creek and Seminole Wars represented some of the most formidable fighting on the part of Native Americans in the South:

1. The 1814 Battle of Horse Shoe Bend, in which Jackson won a clear victory

2. The Seminoles proved far fiercer as with the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) and….....

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