The Pros And Cons Of Natives In America

Historically, the people of the United States and the Native tribes couldn’t live together, they fought because the two sides competed for superiority. The United States Government sought to put an end to the violent clashes with the American people and the Natives tribes. A resolution was the Indian Removal Act, with this, the United States became safer, wealthier, and stronger; And the Natives, which they saw as inferior, would leave. This Act wasn’t easy for the Native tribes, they left the land their ancestors had built them, and experienced a long road ahead of them to rebuild again.

The Cherokee Removal is a brief history with documents by Theda Perdue and Michael Green. In 1838-1839 the US troops expelled the Cherokee Indians from their ancestral homeland in the Southeast and removed them to the Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma. The removal of the Cherokees was a product of the demand for land during the growth of cotton agriculture in the Southeast, the discovery of gold on the Cherokees land, and the racial prejudice that many white southerners had toward the Indians.

Politics, race, and medicine were all important factors during the Indian Removal of 1830, as they had convinced the people of the United States that removing the Natives from their land was the right step for the nation. Presidents Jefferson and Jackson main goals were to either force the Natives to migrate further away or to force them to assimilate to western culture.

The removal was a nightmare to Indian history in America. Furthermore, in 1832 thousand of Sac and Fox Indians where force across the Mississippi, which was led by Chief Black Hawk. at that time the Indians could do little for themselves, because they did not have strong a military and most of them are not educated to fight the whites back. (US History)

While the government may have been thinking for the betterment of their people, the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was not a justified action. The settlers bullied and attacked the original inhabitants, the Indians, into giving up their land. Perhaps to the government this may have seemed justified considering it was beneficial to them, but they essentially stole land that was not theirs to take. In an attempt to feign compassion for these original inhabitants, President Andrew Jackson states in his 1829 case to congress that this Act will help the Indians, “…to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community” (Jackson, First Annual Message to Congress, 2).

Indian Removal (Zinn Chapter 7) Once the white men decided that they wanted lands belonging to the Native Americans (Indians), the United States Government did everything in its power to help the white men acquire Indian land. The US Government did everything from turning a blind eye to passing legislature requiring the Indians to give up their land (see Indian Removal Bill of 1828). Aided by his bias against the Indians, General Jackson set the Indian removal into effect in the war of 1812 when he battled the great Tecumseh and conquered him. Then General, later to become President, Jackson began the later Indian Removal movement when he conquered Tecumseh¹s allied Indian nation and began distributing

There were several motives for the removal of the Indians from their lands, to include racism and land lust. Since they first arrived, the white Americans hadn’t been too fond of the Native Americans. They were thought to be highly uncivilized and they had to go. In his letter to Congress addressing the removal of the Indian tribes, President Jackson

In the seventeenth century, majority of the countries had their sights set on owning an exploiting the New World resources. In short, they face oppositions from group locals that were already occupying the land known as the Native Americans. The Native Americans had mixed emotions on how to welcome the Europeans to their land as some viewed them as hostile, land grabbers, and other viewed as maybe a friend. Therefore, some of the Native Americans welcome them because of their weaponry and considered them allies and started exchanging culture differences which would have a long lasting effect on everyone culture. In short, the Native Americans started trading with Europeans in skins and hides, receiving wampum in the form of shells and beads

The states had run out of room for available farmland. They could not move west because the Indian’s were occupying that land. Jackson signed the law in 1829. He negotiated with the Indians to exchange their land in the east for land in the west that was outside the borders of the United States. Jackson set aside all the land west of the Mississippi River for the Indians. In theory, the Removal Act was a peaceful and reasonable way for the Indians and the Americans to come to an agreement without fighting. It was until Jackson’s successor that things began to get violent with the trail of tears and the forceful removing of the Indians. Jackson just set in motion the

The main causes of why the Native Americans had to be removed will be expanded in this short paragraph. The Goldrush in Georgia in 1829 was one cause (“Trail of Tears”), so Fort Armistead constitution in 1832, was to help the Indians against gold prospectors (Blackbarn). Another one of the main causes was the greed

Indian removal is still imbedded into the Native American people at this time. There was still a lot of tension between Native’s that were pro-removal, and those who were against it. For the most part, the stance an Indian took on removal dictated where they stood on the Civil war. The pro-removal side of Indians sided with the Confederate army, and the Indians against removal such as Chief John Ross sided with the Union army. Many Indian tribes fought in the civil war consisting of the Delaware, Creek, Cherokee, Seminole, Kickapoo, Seneca, Osage, Shawnee, Choctaw, Lumbee, Chickasaw, Iroquois, Powhatan, Pequot, Ojibwa, Huron, Odawa, Potawatomi, Catawba, and Pamunkey [City of Alexandria ].Only a few tribes fought on the side of the Confederates, which were the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Catawba, and Creek. There was roughly twenty thousand Native American’s that fought in either the Union or Confederate army’s [City of Alexandria]. No matter what side they were fighting for, Indians on both sides looked to gain the same thing out of adding their chosen side. By fighting with the whites, Natives were looking to end discrimination, end removal from their

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

However, the Congress new Indian policy is still being tested. American Indians living on the nation’s nearly 300 reservation s are among the poorest people in the United States. As much of the world knows, the American Indians were poor. Thus, the Federal government began focusing on improving the economic development in the Native societies. Congress established loans and grants specifically for the Natives to encourage them to fund start-up business.

History has a way of changing humanities views and beliefs, either for better or for the worst. Regardless of change, humans have the power to decide or influence views and beliefs for the better good. With the colonization of North America causing generations of Native Americans grief throughout history, Native Americans should not be subject to any form of discrimination in this country and no american should question that fact. America is a country of respect and If one american feels disrespected, than all americans should feel disrespected. As Sports teams and Hollywood use Native American imagery, they must understand that all americans matter and they can no longer be privileged to disrespect Native Americans.

Action was necessary and accepted as rational by the American people because of their unsustainable racism and greed for land to expand their settlements. The intent was not to burden the Native Americans, but “Jackson fully expected the Indians to thrive in their new surroundings, educate their children, acquire the skills of white civilization so as to improve their living conditions, and become citizens of the United States”(Remini 213). In order to become citizens of the United States the Indians were expected to conform to the societal normalities of the white citizens. Jackson put the removal act in place to diffuse conflict and encourage Native Americans to accept the American way of life as their new culture. The idea was to act in the most humane manner that would help both sides, not necessarily to disregard the Indians heritage or way of life.