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The Indian Removal Act Essay example

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Indian Removal Act In 1830, the Jackson administration instated the Indian Removal Act. This act removed the Native Americans from their ancestral lands to make way for an increase of additional American immigrants. This act forced many Native American tribes from their homes including five larger tribes, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creek, and Seminole. These tribes had populations were estimated to be around 65,000 people strong that lived in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. (Foner, 2012) The American Indians fought for their rights and beliefs through the American court system. Their other objective other than fighting for their rights was but in the end, they were forced out of their homes to move …show more content…

When the Georgia government realized that Worcester was helping the Cherokee, they arrested him a total of three times; the last time, he was convicted along with other missionaries and sentenced to four years in prison. The Cherokee tribe had paid a lawyer to represent Worcester in his case Worcester v. Georgia in the U.S. Supreme court. The Supreme court ruled in Worcester’s favor declaring that the Cherokees possessed the right to live free from the state’s trespasses. Even though the Supreme Court ruled in Worcester’s favor, Georgia ignored the ruling and did not remove the missionaries from prison and continued to remove Cherokees from their land. President Jackson also did not enforce the ruling and told the Cherokee people to either leave the land or fall under Georgia’s jurisdiction. (Garrison, 2004) In the end, tens of thousands of Cherokee people were forced by federal soldiers to leave their homes a move west from Georgia to Oklahoma in what many know as the “trail of tears” (Foner, 2012)
Seminoles
Other tribes such as the Seminoles stayed in Florida and fought for their land alongside slaves that had escaped from Georgia. Georgia sent militiamen into Florida to fight the Indians and African Americans. Hundreds lost their lives on both sides during the Seminole War from 1835 – 1842. In the end, the Seminole people were forced from their

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