Native+American+Removal+Policy-MB

INTRODUCTION President Andrew Jackson, on May 26, 1830, signed the Indian Removal Act. This act forced Native Americans east of the Mississippi River to migrate west. The Cherokee tried to appeal twice, but failed, and ended up also having to travel the Trail of Tears. Soon, Martin Van Buren, Jackson's successor, sent troops to force the Indians west. Along the way, roughly 4000 Cherokee died from starvation, disease, exposure, and exhaustion.

INDIAN REMOVAL ACT Passed by the 21st Congress and signed by Andrew Jackson, the Indian Removal Act was passed into law on May 26, 1830. While Jackson wanted to ensure the survival of Native Americans, land greed and obsession with expansion forced him to sign the bill. Georgia offered to turn over it's land claims so that the Federal government would remove the Cherokee from their land. The Seminole were having land disputes with Florida officials. This act basically stated that the "Five Civilized Tribes", namely the Cherokee, Seminole, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickisaw, were to leave their lands and settle in Oklahoma, which was thought to be of little value. Andrew Jackson said that this was a way to protect them and give them time to adjust to White culture. This created the Trail of Tears and "stained the Nation's honor".

SUPREME COURT APPEALS In June 1830, a delegation of Cherokee led by Chief John Ross selected William Wirt, an attorney general, to represent them in //Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia//. The Cherokee nation asked for an injunction, claiming that Georgia's state legislation had created laws which, "go directly to annihilate the Cherokees as a political society". Wirt argued that "the Cherokee Nation is a foreign nation in the sense of our constitution and law" and was not subject to Georgia's jurisdiction. Wirt asked the Supreme Court to null and void all Georgia laws extended over Cherokee lands. The injunction was denied, on the grounds that the Cherokee people, not being a state, were a "denominated domestic dependent nation", over which the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction. The case was renewed in //Worcester vs. Georgia,// in which Chief Justice John Marshall argued that the United States, in the character of the federal government, inherited the rights of Great Britain as they were held by that nation. Those rights, he stated, are the sole right of dealing with the Indian nations to the exclusion of any other European power, and not the rights of possession to their land nor political dominion over their laws. He acknowledged that the exercise of conquest and purchase can give political dominion, but those are in the hands of the federal government and not the states. Therefore, Georgia lost it's ability to restrict Cherokee rights, and instead the power was given to the federal government.

TRAIL OF TEARS The phrase "Trail of Tears" originates from a description given from the movement of the Choctaw Nation. The Trail was the way of getting to Oklahoma, the land put away at the time for the Native Americans. Along the way, death, disease, and starvation was common, especially for the Cherokee, the last ones who were sent, who lost 4,000 people. The Trail of Tears is remembered as one of the worst points of harsh treatment towards the Native Americans. Europeans and African slaves also accompanied the Natives, and, by the time the Trail of Tears had been completed, 46,000 Natives had been removed.