The Cherokee Indian Removal in Georgia Order Instructions: It is 1830. The population of U.S. citizens in Georgia was growing rapidly and pushing into the western portions of the state.
However, the Cherokee nation occupied a large area of western Georgia. Treaties signed between the United States and the Cherokees guaranteed them the rights to this land, but settlers had begun to move into these territories, sparking conflicts with the Cherokees that were growing violent. The discovery of gold within the Cherokee territory in 1828 only made the situation worse. At the urging of President Andrew Jackson, the Committee on Indian Affairs drafted a bill that would give the President the power to order the removal of all Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to designated lands west of the Mississippi.
Read each of the documents below. You may want to outline each argument as you read.
After reading the documents, you are to write a two-page essay explaining and analyzing the different perspectives on Indian removal.
A. Andrew Jackson: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/teachers/lesson5A
B. Members of Congress Opposed to Removal: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/teachers/lesson5B
C. Members of Congress Supporting Removal: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/teachers/lesson5C
D. Members of Cherokee Nation: http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/teachers/lesson5D
Write your paper using the documents above.
The Cherokee Indian Removal in Georgia Sample Answer
The Indian Removal
The removal of Indians from their lands in 1830 from Georgia and other parts where they had great ownership of the existing land became a pressing issue to the government of the United States. The whites who came to the American shores and were warmly accepted by the Indians were now considering the removal of all the 75,000 Indians from the land of their fathers and their ancestors. Even though they are offering them other lands to move in to, leaving their homes were quite a difficult approach. The issue was discussed in the Congress, and people had different views including the people of Cherokees being the major party in the agreement (Jennifer, 2016).
The president of the United States saw it as a favor for the Indians after they refused to adhere to the laws of the state and wanted to form their own independent government, so instead of using wars, it was to be a peaceful removal. The different ideas and approaches to the issue given to it by the whites are both logical and depressing. The Red Indians had the rights to their lands and based on the earlier treaties they signed with the United States, who agreed to be their protector, removing them from their lands was not an act of protection. Denying someone the right to ownership of their own lands is not a form of protection in any way. However, some communities agreed to the idea of leaving their land seeing it as an opportunity for a peaceful settlement of the ongoing issue.
Some members of the Congress, who were against the bill of removing the Indians, saw it wise to leave the decision upon the Indians themselves. Contracting the movement of people from their lands even at a cheaper cost was going to cost families as even the old and sickling who were not able to make it to the other lands were to move. They believed in the Indians also to as being capable of developing because they had children in school, their own workshops, properties, churches, and even the printing press for their ideas.
The reasoning of those in favor of the removal like the president was that it was just a favor. Some also had the perspective of the Indians fighting against the whites in the land next to them without considering that times had quite changed. The proposition was due to some reasons but based on previous treaties, the president and the Congress were making decisions to their own favor and favor of their people’s comfort. Considering the Indians as humans and as people who deserved the same rights to their lands as the whites the bill should have been reconsidered.
The response given by the Council of Cherokee Nation suggested that they wanted to remain in the lands of their fathers because no one would be interested in moving willingly. The whole idea of the government threatening that they may be finally extinct and was trying to save them seemed like a threat. This compelled them to move to the country west of the Arkansas territory, a move that would not be quite pleasing to them. The move made by Andrew Jackson, the president, who also considered them primitive is not the best way of resolving the undesired occurrences, however, the Indians would still be forced to move or remain in the lands they considered theirs but under the sovereignty and laws of the state.
The Cherokee Indian Removal in Georgia Works Cited
Jennifer Erbach. The Cherokee Removal Group A readings. Lincoln Net. Web. 6 May. 2016.
