INDIAN REMOVAL ACT

1. INDIAN REMOVAL ACT Based on the current living conditions of the Americans and natives was the Indian Removal Act justified?

2. INDIAN REMOVAL ACT In 1830 Congress, urged on by President Andrew Jackson, passed the Indian Removal Act which gave the federal government the power to relocate any Native Americans in the east to territory that was west of the Mississippi River. Though the Native Americans were to be compensated, this was not always done fairly and in some cases led to the further destruction of many of the already diminishing numbers of many of the eastern tribes.

3. OFFICAL INDIAN REMOVAL ACT DOCUMENT

4. ANDREW JACKSON’S VIEW “Does Humanity weep at these painful separations from everything, animate and inanimate, with which the young heart has become entwined? Far from it. It is rather a source of joy that our country affords scope where our young population may range unconstrained in body or in mind, developing the power and facilities of man in their highest perfection. These remove hundreds and almost thousands of miles at their own expense, purchase the lands they occupy, and support themselves at their new homes from the moment of their arrival. Can it be cruel in this Government when, by events which it cannot control, the Indian is made discontented in his ancient home to purchase his lands, to give him a new and extensive territory, to pay the expense of his removal, and support him a year in his new abode? How many thousands of our own people would gladly embrace the opportunity of removing to the West on such conditions! If the offers made to the Indians were extended to them, they would be hailed with gratitude and joy. And is it supposed that the wandering savage has a stronger attachment to his home than the settled, civilized Christian? Is it more afflicting to him to leave the graves of his fathers than it is to our brothers and children? Rightly considered, the policy of the General Government toward the red man is not only liberal, but generous. He is unwilling to submit to the laws of the States and mingle with their population. To save him from this alternative, or perhaps utter annihilation, the General Government kindly offers him a new home, and proposes to pay the whole expense of his removal and settlement."

5. TRAIL OF TEARS • 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. The land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States. Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians’ land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk thousands of miles to a specially designated “Indian territory” across the Mississippi River. This difficult and sometimes deadly journey is known as the Trail of Tears. • The Cherokee Nation was allocated land in Georgia as a result of the 1791 treaty with the U.S. Government. In 1828, not only did whites for settlement purposes desire their land, but gold was discovered. Georgia tried to reclaim this land in 1830, but the Cherokee protested and took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court decided in favor of the Cherokee, however, the President and Congress forced the Native Americans to give up their land. 1838 called in federal troops in to “escort” approximately 15,000 Cherokee people to their new home in Indian Territory. On the way, approx. 1/3 of the Cherokee people died. This event, known to the Cherokee as “The Trail Where They Cried”, is better known as the Trail of Tears

6. Map of Trail of Tears

7. LIVING CONDITIONS WHITE AMERICANS NATIVE AMERICANS Many American Indians are living in substandard housing. About 40% of on-reservation housing is considered inadequate. The overall percentage of American Indians living below the Federal poverty line is 28.2% • Average family incomes of the non-poor are about six times as large as the poor • Seventy-one percent of the expenditures of the families of poor individuals is for food, shelter, utilities, and apparel, compared to 46 percent for families of the non-poor. For those in poor, single-parent families, the share spent on these necessities is 80 percent

8. WAS IT JUSTIFIED? The Indian Removal Act was not justified because the Native Americans claimed their land before us and they were treated unfairly and diminished many of the early eastern tribes. Most Native Americans aren’t living as well as we are, many live in poverty.

9. SOURCES PRIMARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES http://www.history.com/topics/trail-of-tears The Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears: Cause, Effect and Justification by Angela Darrenkamphttp://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/7402 http://www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=airclivingconditions http://www.irle.berkley.edu/publications/livingfam.html • Citation: President Jackson's Message to Congress "On Indian Removal", December 6, 1830; Records of the United States Senate, 1789‐1990; Record Group 46; Records of the United States Senate, 1789‐1990; National Archives and Records Administration (NARA] • http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collld=llhj&fileName=024/llhj024.db&recNum=24 • http://eldiablo.weebly.com/the-offical-removal-act.html