Jackson and Indian Removal

1. Jackson and Indian Removal

2. Relations with Native Americans “The consequence of a speedy removal will be important…It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites and perhaps cause them…to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community.” President Andrew Jackson, 1830 “We wish to remain on the land of our fathers. We have a perfect and original right to remain without interruption.” Cherokee public appeal, July 17th, 1830

3. Relations with Native Americans The steady migration of American settlers into western territories caused conflict with the Native Americans who resented and resisted white encroachment.

4. Relations with Native AmericansNative American Cultural Survival Strategies Native Americans tried a variety of strategies to cope and retain their land and culture. • In the early 1800s, two Shawnee brothers, Tecumseh and Prophet, tried to build a Pan-Indian movement in the Old Northwest, but this movement was brought to an end with the death of Tecumseh in the Battle of Thames during the War of 1812. • In upstate New York, a Seneca named Handsome Lake urged Iroquois to adopt a lifestyle based on temperance, education, farming, and peace in an effort known as cultural revitalization • In 1813, Creeks attacked settlers in Georgia and Alabama in a series of raids. In 1814, however Native American forces were defeated at the Battle Horseshoe Bend, Alabama. The defeat was a diaster for Native Americans. As a result, the Southwest was open for settlement.

5. Relations with Native AmericansNative American Cultural Survival Strategies • The Cherokee attempted to survive and retain their culture by combining elements of Native American and white culture, as strategy known as cultural adaptation. • The Cherokee developed a written language, published newspapers, opened schools, converted to Christianity, raised cotton, and adopted a written constitution. The strategy, however, did not save them.

6. The Removal Policy • The federal government used a combination of treaties and force to move Native Americans to lands west of the Mississippi. • Repeatedly Native Americans were forced to give up lands that had been guaranteed by treaty. • In 1830, Congress, with the support of Jackson, passed the Indian Removal Act. The measure required that the remaining eastern tribes move to lands west of the Mississippi River.

7. The Removal PolicyWorchester v. Georgia • In the landmark supreme court case Worchester v. Georgia in 1832 the Cherokee challenged Indian Removal. • In his decision, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the state of Georgia had no authority over Cherokee territory and upheld the Cherokee nation’s legal right to their land. The Supreme Court is dependent upon the executive branch to enforce its decisions. • Jackson’s reputation as a military commander and general had been established in large part by Jackson’s relentless warfare against Native Americans in the Southwest. Because Jackson harbored deep animosity toward Native Americans, his sympathy laid with land hungry western settlers and states. • Jackson responded to the ruling by defiantly declaring, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” • Jackson defied the Court’s decision and continued with a policy of Indian Removal.

8. The Removal PolicyThe Trail of Tears

9. The Removal PolicyThe Trail of Tears In 1838, the United States Army forcibly removed about 17,000 Cherokee from their ancestral lands and marched them on an 800 mile trek to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. About one-fourth of the Cherokee died from disease, exhaustion, and exposure on what is sorrowfully known as The Trail of Tears.