Indian Removal Why did Jackson use force to remove Native Americans and what was the result of this decision?

When you hear “Native American” what images pop into your head?

Chief John Ross

The Five Civilized Tribes By the 1820’s most Native Americans east of the Mississippi River had given up their land and moved west Those that were left were in old northwest and south

The Five Civilized Tribes The Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Creek nations lived in parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee The Seminoles of Florida were a combination of Creek, Florida Native Americans, and African Americans who had escaped slavery Together these tribes were known as the “Five Civilized Tribes” because they had adopted much of the “white” culture

The Five Civilized Tribes The Cherokees has become more “white” than any other tribe They farmed, wore “white” clothing, owned plantations with slaves, practiced Christianity, had an alphabet (Sequoyah), and a government modeled after the U.S. They claimed status as a separate nation and started their own newspaper The Phoenix

Sequoyah

Cherokees after 1820

A Fight for Land In 1829, gold was found in northern Georgia and whites flooded onto the land Additional pressure came from cotton farmers who wanted to use N.A. lands for farms In 1825 and 1827 Georgia passed laws forcing Creeks to give up most of their land In 1828 Georgia tried to force Cherokees of their land and refused to recognize them as a separate nation

A Fight for Land 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which allowed Jackson to give N.A. lands in the west in return for their lands in the east; many northern tribes resettled peacefully Georgia’s actions against the Cherokees were challenged in the Supreme Court case Worchester v. Georgia (1832)

Worchester v. Georgia John Marshall ruled that the Cherokees had rights to the land because they had been guaranteed the land through treaties Under the Constitution, treaties the supreme law of the land Jackson said “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”

Jackson’s Reasoning Read the quotes from Jackson on the following slides and list the reasons he gives for wanting to move the tribes Then determine whether your group thinks he is a friend or enemy of the Natives? A frenemy?

Jackson’s Reasons #1 My original convictions upon this subject have been confirmed by the course of events for several years, and experience is every day adding to their strength. That those tribes can not exist surrounded by our settlements and in continual contact with our citizens is certain. 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, and without appreciating the causes of their inferiority or seeking to control them, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear.

Jackson’s Reason #2 Our conduct toward these people is deeply interesting to our national character. Their present condition, contrasted with what they once were, makes a most powerful appeal to our sympathies. Our ancestors found them the uncontrolled possessors of these vast regions…Surrounded by the whites with their arts of civilization, which by destroying the resources of the savage doom him to weakness and decay, the fate of the Mohegan, the Narragansett, and the Delaware is fast overtaking the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. That this fate surely awaits them if they remain within the limits of the states does not admit of a doubt. Humanity and national honor demand that every effort should be made to avert so great a calamity.

Jackson Reason #3 Toward the aborigines of the country no one can indulge a more friendly feeling than myself, or would go further in attempting to reclaim them from their wandering habits and make them a happy, prosperous people.

Removal of Choctaws Choctaws signed first treaty giving up land in 1830 and moved west to what is now Oklahoma The Federal Government did not provide enough supplies or food An army lieutenant wrote that one group “walked for 24 hours barefoot through the snow and ice” before reaching shelter

Removal Routes

John Ross’s Speech Ever since [the whites came] we have been made to drink of the bitter cup of humiliation; treated like dogs...our country and the graves of our Fathers torn from us.... The existence of the Indian nations as distinct independent communities within the limits of the United States seems to be drawing to a close.... You are aware that our Brethren, the Choctaws, Chickasaws and Creeks of the South have severally disposed of their country to the United States and that a portion of our own Tribe have also emigrated West of the Mississippi--but that the largest portion of our Nation still remain firmly upon our ancient domain....Our position there may be compared to a solitary tree in an open space, where all the forest trees around have been prostrated by a furious tornado.

Trail of Tears The Cherokees were forced to move in the winter of 1838-1839 Guarded by 7,000 soldiers and forced to walk hundreds of miles 116 day grueling march Little food or shelter: out of 15,000 Cherokees, 4,000 died along the way

The Seminoles The Seminoles of Florida refused to move fought a war against U.S. for seven years Resulted in many Seminoles hiding in the Everglades Even more were finally forced west

Choctaw Cherokee Chickasaw Creek Seminoles