Document 1 The Indian Removal Act of 1830 CHAP. CXL VIII--- An Act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That it shall and may be lawful for the President of the United States to cause so much of any territory belonging to the United States, west of the river Mississippi, not included in any state or organized territory, and to which the Indian title has been extinguished, as he may judge necessary, to be divided into a suitable number of districts, for the reception of such tribes or nations of Indians as may choose to exchange the lands where they now reside, and remove there; and to cause each of said districts to be so described by natural or artificial marks, as to be easily distinguished from every other. SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That if, upon any of the lands now occupied by the Indians, and to be exchanged for, there should be such improvements as add value to the land claimed by any individual or individuals of such tribes or nations, it shall and may be lawful for the President to cause such value to be ascertained by appraisement or otherwise, and to cause such ascertained value to be paid to the person or persons rightfully claiming such improvements. And upon the payment of such valuation, the improvements so valued and paid for, shall pass to the United States, and possession shall not afterwards be permitted to any of the same tribe. SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That upon the making of any such exchange as is contemplated by this act, it shall and may be lawful for the President to cause such aid and assistance to be furnished to the emigrants as may be necessary and proper to enable them to remove to, and settle in, the country for which they may have exchanged; and also, to give them such aid and assistance as may be necessary for their support and subsistence for the first year after their removal. Document 2 President Andrew Jackson: State of the Union It has long been the policy of government to introduce among them (the natives) the arts of civilization, in hope of gradually reclaiming from them a wandering life. This policy has, however, been coupled with another wholly incompatible with its success. Professing a desire to civilize and settle them, we have at the same time lost no opportunity to purchase their land and thrust them further into the wilderness. By this means they have not only been kept in a wandering state but been led to look upon us as unjust and indifferent to their fate The Indians [are] receding farther and farther to the west, have retained their savage habits. --President Andrew Jackson s State of Union Address, December 8, 1829
Document 3 President Andrew Jackson: Message to Congress With full understanding of the subject, the Choctaw and the Chickasaw tribes have with great unanimity determined to avail themselves of the liberal offers presented by the acts of Congress, and have agreed to remove beyond the Mississippi River. Treaties have been made with them, which in due season will be submitted for consideration. In negotiating these treaties, they were made to understand their true condition, and they have preferred maintaining their independence in the Western forests to submitting to the laws of the states in which they now reside. --Andrew Jackson; Message to Congress, December 6, 1830 Document 4 Eulogy to President Jackson When Jackson died, a eulogist, having described his Indian removal policy as most humane, said: [Jackson s] constant aim was to enlarge the area of Christianity and civilization, to diffuse the blessings of our liberty and laws throughout the western wilderness. During his time, much was accomplished nor shall we stop here. Westward we have pressed westward still our destiny. The keen and piercing eye of the sagacious patriot did not fail to discover through the dim vista of the future, that nothing short of the Pacific shore could stop our progress; and he often predicted that the influence of our institutions, in its western march, would yet agonize the eastern portions of the old world, arouse from their immemorial lethargy the worshippers of men and idols, and fire their hearts with enthusiasm of civil and religious liberty. --From John William Ward, Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age
Document 5 General Andrew Jackson: Addresses his troops after the Battle at Horseshoe Bend (Around 1813) Jackson is addressing his Tennessee troops after a victory over the Creek Indians at Horseshoe Bend. They know not what brave men could effect Barbarians they were ignorant of the influence of civilization and government over the human powers The fields of Tallapoosa will no longer murder our Women and Children They have disappeared from the face of the earth. In their place a new generation will arise who will know their duties better. --From John William Ward, Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an Age Document 6 Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen: Questioning Native Removal Policy around 1829 We have crowded the tribes upon a few miserable acres on our southern frontier; it is all that is left to them or their once boundless forest: and still, like the horse-leech, our insatiate cupidity cries, give! give!.. Sir Do the obligations of justice change with the color of the skin? Document 7 A Plea for Public Justice The Cherokee Nation addressed a memorial to the United States After the peace of 1783, the Cherokees were an independent people, absolutely so, as much as any people on earth. They had been allies to Great Britain The United States never subjugated the Cherokees; on the contrary, our fathers remained in possession of their country and with arms in their hand In 1791, the treaty of Holston was made The Cherokees acknowledged themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and of no other sovereign A cession of land was also made to the United States. On the other hand, the United States Stipulated that the white men should not hunt on these lands, no even enter the country, without a passport; and gave a solemn guarantee of all Cherokee lands not ceded
Document 8 A United States Army Officer on Native Removal They fear starvation on the route; and can it be otherwise, when many of them are nearly starving now, without the embarrassment of a long journey on their hands... You cannot have an idea of the deterioration which diese Indians have undergone during the last two or three years, from a general state of comparative plenty to that of unqualified wretchedness and want. The free egress into the nation by the whites; encroachments upon their lands, even upon their cultivated fields; abuses of their person; hosts of traders, who, like locusts, have devoured their substance and inundated their homes with whiskey, have destroyed what little disposition to cultivation the Indians may once have had.... They are brow beat, and cowed, and imposed upon, and depressed with the feeling that they have no adequate protection in the United States, and no capacity of self-protection in themselves. Document 9 Seminole leaders to U.S. Indian agents in 1834 We were all made by the same Great Father, and are all alike His Children. We all came from the same Mother, and were suckled at the same breast. Therefore, we are brothers, and as brothers, should treat together in an amicable way. Your talk is a good one, but my people cannot say they will go. We are not willing to do so. If their tongues say yes, their hearts cry no, and call them liars. If suddenly we tear our hearts from the homes around which they are twined, our heart-strings will snap. Document 10 General Scott to the Cherokee The President of the United States has sent me with a powerful army, to cause you...to join that part of your people who are already established in prosperity on the other side of the Mississippi...The full moon of May is on the wane, and before another shall have passed away, every Cherokee man, woman, and child...must be in motion to join their brethren in the far West...My troops already occupy many positions in the country that you are to abandon, and thousands and thousands are approaching from every quarter, to tender resistance and escape hopeless...chiefs, head men, and warriors - Will you then, by resistance, compel us to resort to arms? God forbid. Or will you, by flight, seeks to hide yourselves in the mountains and forests, and thus oblige us to hunt you down?
Document 11 President Martin Van Buren to Congress: December 1838 It affords sincere pleasure to apprise the Congress of the entire removal of the Cherokee Nation of Indians to their new homes west of the Mississippi. The measure authorized by Congress at its last session have had the happiest effects. Document 12
Document 13 The Trail of Tears: Removal Statistics Detachment Depart Arrived Births Deaths Desertions Accessions Hair Conrad 723 654 9 57 24 14 Elijah Hicks 858 744 9 54 Jesse Bushyhead 950 898 6 38 148 171 John Benge 1200 1132 3 33 Situwakee 1250 1033 5 71 Old Field 983 921 19 57 10 6 Moses Daniel 1035 924 6 48 Choowalooka 1150 970 NA James Brown 850 717 3 34 George Hicks Richard Taylor 1118 1039 NA 1029 942 15 55 Peter Hildebrand 1766 1311 NA John Drew 231 219 NA TOTAL *13,149 11,504 71 447 182 191 *Does not include the 2800 that left in June, 1838. this would put the total displacement of Cherokee at about 15,949.
Document 14 Jackson as the Great Father to the Native Americans
Document 15 Cherokee Letter Prior to Removal Red Clay Cherokee Nation March 10, 1838 Beloved Martha, I have delayed writing to you so long I expect you have relinquished all thought of receiving anything from me. But my Dear Martha I have not forgotten my promise. I have often wishes to enjoy your company once more but it is very uncertain whether I shall ever again have that pleasure. If we Cherokees are to be driven to the west by the cruel hand of oppression to seek a new home in the west, it will be impossible. My father is now in Washington City. He was one of the delegates who went to Florida last Oct. We do not know when he will return. Not long since Mr. Stephen Forman received a letter from father. He was absent when the letter came home and before he arrived the troops had been there and taken it to the Agency, given it to General Smith and he handed it around for all to read. It is thus all our rights are invaded. About two months ago my youngest brother died. He was sick almost two months. I was not at home when he died but they sent for me to attend his funeral. He was burnt very badly last fall and it is very likely his death was occasioned by it, however we do not exactly know. It will not be long before our next (school) vacation. Then we expect to go home. Perhaps it may be the last time we shall have the privilege of attending school in this nation. But we are not certain. If we should remove to the Arkansas I should still hope to continue our correspondence. Please to present my best respects to your father & family, Miss E. Jones and Miss Betsey Tirtle. Write with me in love to you. Your Sincere friend, Jane Bushyhead
Indian Removal Policy Document Analysis Document 1 1. What does the Indian Removal Act give the President of the United States the power to do? 2. According to Section 5, what can the President provide for the Native Americans in their first year? Document 2 1. How does President Jackson view the Native Americans? 2. Why does Andrew Jackson want to settle the Native Americans? Document 3 1. According to Jackson, what have the Choctaw and the Chickasaw agreed to do? 2. According to Jackson, what benefit do both tribes gain from the relocation treaties?
Document 4 1. According to the speaker, what was President Jackson s aim for the nation in moving the Native Americans west? 2. According to the speaker, why was the West so important to President Jackson? Document 5 1. Before he became President, how did Andrew Jackson view the Native Americans? 2. What did General Jackson mean by in [the Native Americans] place a new generation will arise who will know their duties better? Document 6 1. What argument does Sen. Frelinghuysen make against removal? Document 7 1. Why do the Cherokee feel they have a right to the land from which they are being taken? 2. How do the Cherokee feel that the treaties they have made have not been honored?
Document 8 1. What change has the officer seen in the Native Americans over the course of the past few years? 2. How does the officer describe the present state of the Native Americans? Document 9 1. Why should the Native People and the Americans be treated the same according to the Seminole? 2. What evidence is given in the reading that shows the Seminole do not trust the Indian Agents? Document 10 1. As presented to the Cherokee, what are General Scott s orders from the President? 2. What will happen if the Cherokee fail to obey General Scott s orders? Document 11 1. According to the President, what has occurred by December of 1838?
Document 12 1. Looking at the wagons, the number of horses, and the amount of people they are carrying, what conclusion can you draw from this painting depicting Cherokee relocation? Document 13 1. How many Native Americans were relocated during the Trail of Tears? 2. How many Native Americans are known to have died during the forced march? Document 14 1. According to the cartoon, what is the relationship between Jackson and the Native Americans? Does the cartoon s view of the relationship between Jackson and the Native Americans agree with what you have seen? Document 15 1. What happened to the author s last letter from her father prior to her receiving it? 2. How does the author feel about moving to Arkansas?