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Created page with "__NOTOC__ Jackson strongly favored removing the 60,000 Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek and Seminole (the Civilized Tribes) from North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Flori..."
__NOTOC__
Jackson strongly favored removing the 60,000 Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek and Seminole (the Civilized Tribes) from North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi
In Jackson’s first message to Congress - he asked for funds to remove the tribes west of the Mississippi
====Opposition to Indian Removal====
Triggered the creation of a reform movement -
Catherine Beecher (later Stowe) started a the largest petition movement at the that time
“The William Penn Essays” was a anti-removal Treatise and became extremely well-known
Martin Van Buren was surprised by the level of opposition
Anti-removal reform movement led many activists to abolitionism
====Indian Removal Act of 1830====
Despite public opposition - Jackson ensured that Congress passed bills that removed Indians and gave Jackson the ability to set aside Western lands
Jackson believed that removal was “just and humane” because it would leave the Indians free from influence of the states
Jackson saw anti-removal movement as hypocritical considering the treatment of Indians in the North
Compared to Clay and others - Jackson was more humane regarding
Jackson was not a simple Indian hater, but he also did not believe that they should be assimilated like Jefferson
Jackson also believed that Indians were inferior and reinforced notions of racial supremacy
Jackson did little to compensate Indians for lost lands or homes (typically only received 10% to 20% of their value)
Jackson provided woefully insufficient funds to ensure a safe relocation - while Trail of Tears occurred after his administration he set the policies in motion
Jackson was also outraged by the claim by the Cherokees that they were a sovereign nation - unconstitutional and unrealistic
He believed that no new state could be created in the jurisdiction of a state
====Cherokee Legal Opposition====
In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, Marshall found that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the Cherokee nation was a “domestic, dependent nation.”
Cherokee Nation was not sovereign authority under Article 3 of Constitution and were wards of the federal government
In Worcester v. Georgia, Marshall somewhat challenged his own ruling from a year before and held that Georgia laws violated Cherokee treaties, commerce clause, and sovereign authority of the Cherokee nation.
Georgia had created a law that required whites on Cherokee lands to register with state authorities
Seven missionaries were arrested for being in Cherokee lands and sentenced to 4 years hard labor
Marshall created a mess with his two contradictory rulings.
Did not require the law to be enforced
Best described as an effort by Marshall to avoid staining his legacy without creating a direct conflict with the Executive Branch
Jackson refused to accept the Worcester ruling and essentially ignored it.
Became moot when Marshall died and he was replaced by Jackson ally and pro-removal Roger Taney
Missionaries were freed after a few months
====Early Removal====
[[File:Trails_of_Tears_en.png|left|thumbnail|300px|left|Map showing the trails that Indians were forced to follow during Removal]]
Most of the southern tribes gave up and moved west
Seminoles and fugitive slaves who lived with them - resisted the move
Started the Second Seminole War (1835-1842)
Approximately 3,000 people (evenly split between Seminoles and US troops were killed)
3,000 Seminoles forced to move west - a small group remained in Florida
====Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears====
Cherokees split on the issue of removal.
Some members of the tribe left early and cherry picked some of the best lands in Oklahoma
Chief John Ross supported passive resistance
Martin Van Buren forcibly imprisoned and then removed 18,000 Cherokees
In 1838-39, the 18,000 Cherokees were herded west and 4,000 died on the way
The Federal government never adequately funded removal
People starved and died of disease on the way west
====Conclusion====
In a history full of civil rights violations - Indian Removal was one of the most egregious
Indians were removed simply because states wanted to take over productive farming operations created by Indians, especially Georgia
Numbers of Indians east of the Mississippi was minimal after removal
Jackson strongly favored removing the 60,000 Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek and Seminole (the Civilized Tribes) from North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Mississippi
In Jackson’s first message to Congress - he asked for funds to remove the tribes west of the Mississippi
====Opposition to Indian Removal====
Triggered the creation of a reform movement -
Catherine Beecher (later Stowe) started a the largest petition movement at the that time
“The William Penn Essays” was a anti-removal Treatise and became extremely well-known
Martin Van Buren was surprised by the level of opposition
Anti-removal reform movement led many activists to abolitionism
====Indian Removal Act of 1830====
Despite public opposition - Jackson ensured that Congress passed bills that removed Indians and gave Jackson the ability to set aside Western lands
Jackson believed that removal was “just and humane” because it would leave the Indians free from influence of the states
Jackson saw anti-removal movement as hypocritical considering the treatment of Indians in the North
Compared to Clay and others - Jackson was more humane regarding
Jackson was not a simple Indian hater, but he also did not believe that they should be assimilated like Jefferson
Jackson also believed that Indians were inferior and reinforced notions of racial supremacy
Jackson did little to compensate Indians for lost lands or homes (typically only received 10% to 20% of their value)
Jackson provided woefully insufficient funds to ensure a safe relocation - while Trail of Tears occurred after his administration he set the policies in motion
Jackson was also outraged by the claim by the Cherokees that they were a sovereign nation - unconstitutional and unrealistic
He believed that no new state could be created in the jurisdiction of a state
====Cherokee Legal Opposition====
In Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, Marshall found that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the Cherokee nation was a “domestic, dependent nation.”
Cherokee Nation was not sovereign authority under Article 3 of Constitution and were wards of the federal government
In Worcester v. Georgia, Marshall somewhat challenged his own ruling from a year before and held that Georgia laws violated Cherokee treaties, commerce clause, and sovereign authority of the Cherokee nation.
Georgia had created a law that required whites on Cherokee lands to register with state authorities
Seven missionaries were arrested for being in Cherokee lands and sentenced to 4 years hard labor
Marshall created a mess with his two contradictory rulings.
Did not require the law to be enforced
Best described as an effort by Marshall to avoid staining his legacy without creating a direct conflict with the Executive Branch
Jackson refused to accept the Worcester ruling and essentially ignored it.
Became moot when Marshall died and he was replaced by Jackson ally and pro-removal Roger Taney
Missionaries were freed after a few months
====Early Removal====
[[File:Trails_of_Tears_en.png|left|thumbnail|300px|left|Map showing the trails that Indians were forced to follow during Removal]]
Most of the southern tribes gave up and moved west
Seminoles and fugitive slaves who lived with them - resisted the move
Started the Second Seminole War (1835-1842)
Approximately 3,000 people (evenly split between Seminoles and US troops were killed)
3,000 Seminoles forced to move west - a small group remained in Florida
====Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears====
Cherokees split on the issue of removal.
Some members of the tribe left early and cherry picked some of the best lands in Oklahoma
Chief John Ross supported passive resistance
Martin Van Buren forcibly imprisoned and then removed 18,000 Cherokees
In 1838-39, the 18,000 Cherokees were herded west and 4,000 died on the way
The Federal government never adequately funded removal
People starved and died of disease on the way west
====Conclusion====
In a history full of civil rights violations - Indian Removal was one of the most egregious
Indians were removed simply because states wanted to take over productive farming operations created by Indians, especially Georgia
Numbers of Indians east of the Mississippi was minimal after removal
