Indian Removal Act: The Government
Andrew Jackson
Although the Indian Removal Act was mostly about the Native Americans, the president played an extremely important role in the long period of time. At the time, the president was Mr. Andrew Jackson. In 1818, he threatened war against the Cherokee tribe beause they refused to sign a treaty that would move them two million acres westward.
After an unsuccesful attempt to persuade the Chickasaws to move toward the west in 1818, Jackson threatened violence, held taxes, misrepresents the facts, and bribes to some of the Chickasaw leaders. However, the Chickasaws were staying strong and refused to sign the act. Then, Jackson considered that sections of the Chickasaw land legally belonged to the white American settlers though the Chickasaw land had not been ceded.
On decenber 8, 1829, Jackson recomended a speedy Indian remval in hi first innual message. As he has dine in the past, Jackson used and recomended superintendants to use threats, bribes, and fraud in treaty removal nigotiations.
After passing the House and Senate, Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act on May 28, 1830. This act agve the president the power to negotiate removal treaties. The act doesn't mandate removal but the illegal and immoral tactics.
Although it may seem that only the Chickasaws were having a tough time with the U.S. government harrassing them to move, amazingly enough, almost every indian tribe east of the mississippi river was tortured by the government and was eventually moved west of the mississippi river. one of those indian tribes was the creeks. superintendants threatened to invade the creek land and government!
Then in 1836, Jackson ordered the armed forces to forcibly remove various indian tribes. Like the Creeks, the Cherokees, and the Chickasaws. Finally, in 1838, the military forcibly removed the Cherokees (and other indian tribes). This treacherous journey became known as the "Trail of Tears".
