Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States, cultivated relationships with Native Americans very early on in his life. While growing up in the backyard of South Carolina, Jackson had logged extensive interactions with the neighboring Waxhaw community where he encountered both friendly and not so friendly Indians. Many historians and people who know enough about Jackson usually depicted him of being an aggressive Indian fighter, trapping them in dessert lands east of the Mississippi. Jackson in all fairness was concerned more with the stability and security of the Union and sought to protect and strengthen areas of the Union that were deemed weak. The childish view of Jackson being remembered as a National Indian killer is just unacceptable. …show more content…
His concerns of keeping the nation safe might have been his overriding attitude, because he was a military man, but what is overlooked is what some define nation to be. Jackson wanted to protect and strength of the Nation and all of its inhabitants, including Indians and whites alike. He also believed in protecting both Indians and whites from one another too, even if it meant serving out justice to the white man. Andrew Jackson at times seemed like he had it out for Native Americans, especially as a young man in the military when he gained a huge amount of national notoriety for his military leadership in wars against Indians like the War of the Creeks in 1813-1814, but Jackson should not, in any light, be remembered of ever having any anti-Indian attitudes (he hated the British). Jackson should have gone down in history as one of the great fighters and saviors for Native …show more content…
In today’s perspective we see Jackson action as inhumane and selfish for only simply satisfy his own need to manifest further into North America. Jackson on the other hand saw the removal act as preserving the culture of the Indians. The Indian problem was way more complex that just simply removing all of the Indians and shoving them westward. Jackson had a four solutions to choose from and believe it or not, the removal and relocation of the Indians was the most just. The first solution was just too simply destroy all of the Indians. Whether in war, spread of dieses, shortage of food, etc. The second option called to rapidly assimilate Indians into the white society, which sounds great, except for the fact that Indians do not want to assimilate into the white culture. The third option was a combination of the first two, calling for the destruction of all Indians who were not capable of assimilating in white society. The fourth and final selection called for the removal of Indians. Jackson saw this solution best fit because neither adequate protection nor assimilation was achievable. It seemed reasonable to him if the Indians were away from the presences of white settlers, they would be able to determine their own path to becoming more civilized or preserve their culture in the area given to them away from opposing views. To ease the removal process Jackson proposed that the government would pay the costs
The first reason that lead the United States Government to the removal of The Five Civilized Tribes was land treaties for eventual cotton farms and slave plantations. Andrew Jackson would encourage white squatters to move into the southern Indians land. Jackson then forced the Indians to cede the land to the white men or be wiped out. Jackson wanted the land for eventual slave and cotton plantations: “These treaties, these land grabs laid the basis for the cotton kingdom, the slave plantations”(129). Jackson wanted as much land for farming as possible so that he could take advantage of the booming market of cotton.
President Jackson didn’t treat the CHerokee Indians with respect at all. In the U.S. Constitution it states that the CHerokee Indians were there first and they own the land that they took their territory. President JAckson said,” The sooner you do this, the sooner you will commence your career of improvement and prosperity. ”(Doherty and Jaffe) Meaning that the sooner the Cherokee Indians moved west of the Mississippi River the sooner you will get our help moving.
Jackson’s plans of removal were favored by many Americans as he convinced them that it was practical and for the better good of Native Americans. Jackson stated that he had given them many incentives to leave. Native Americans would be provided with ample supplies and supported for a year after their move to western lands. Jackson believed that this was a practical resolution to the issues developing between the two nations. Jackson acknowledged that the intrusion of Americans onto western land was occurring, but he did not believe that it was a genuine problem.
According to Remini, Jackson sought to relocate the Indians to ensure national security from the people that betrayed the United States. For instance, the Spanish and Great Britain armies enlisted Indians living within the United States borders as part of their battle strategies (Remini, p.113). By the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, all members of the Jackson family were dead and Andrew had been tortured by the British forces (Remini, p.18). As the Indians had supported the British, it was no wonder the white population, and Jackson, was skeptical about living in harmony with the disloyal tribe. On the other hand, the United States had more interest in acquiring more land for its people and the Natives were aware of the danger in which their homes were.
Jackson shut out the Indians from states that what lead to the event “Trail of Tears”. The Trail of Tears would be his lowest point in the presidency. Even though the Five Civilized Tribe adopted American culture, speaking English, and try to become more “American”, but Andrew Jackson still did not want to accept them as a part of American people. He defended his policy as he proclaimed that Indians were a major problem for state sovereignty and obstacles to white
President Jackson supported the Indian removal with most of the rest of the nation, which he represented, giving him the opportunity to represent the “average” American citizen in the 1800s. Jackson called for the removal of Indians because he, along with the majority of the nation, wanted the United States population to be all white. “One more step toward making the United States a white man’s country.” He wanted more land for the population of the United States to take over, which happened to be the
Andrew Jackson was the seventeenth president of the United States. He was known as a hero because of how he fought in the War of 1812. Jackson was known for taking apart the National Bank and making pet banks. This seemed like a good idea to Jackson, however, this eventually led to the Panic of 1837. Despite that, he was known for being for the common man.
While President Jackson might’ve been remembered as a national hero, with his image being immortalized onto the $20 bill, I believe that President Jackson was simply bad at his job of managing the United States, and should be guilty all for the crimes he performed. Not only did President Jackson introduce the spoils system, a method of assigning government positions simply to any person who supported one’s campaign, whether or not they were good at the job, but Jackson also jeopardized the entirety of the US’ economy, leading up to the Panic of 1837, and finally, committed atrocious crimes against the indigenous Native Americans who lived there. While he was viewed as a champion of the people, he should be remembered as a terrible president,
One of many atrocities that Jackson committed was the forceful removal of thousands of Indians and the subsequent death of many of them. Although his reasoning, as is stated in his Message to Congress "On Indian Removal," was
The Indian Removal Act authorized Jackson to give the Indians land west of the Mississippi in exchange for their land in the states, but could not force them to leave. He violated and broke commitments that he even negotiated with them. He tried to bribe the Indians and even threatened some of them. Alfred Cave organizes his article thematically and is trying to prove
The Indian Removal Act is going to be controversial bill that is going to help President Andrew Jackson complete two things which was pay the national debt of with Indian Land Sales and most importantly move the Native American out of East, especially Georgia, to open new land for eager white settlers. In a letter from Alfred Balch to Andrew Jackson on January 8, 1830, Alfred said that about the possibility of the removal act, “The removal of the Indians would be an act of seeming violence. But it will prove in the end an act of enlarged philanthropy.” He went on to write, “…cannot exist in a state of Independence, in the vicinity of the white man.”
He believed Jackson needed a reality check. The Indians were there first, it was their land. He force the Natives to move away from their homeland, with brute force. He believes Jackson could not justify his actions just because it was for America’s benefit. He also stated Jackson refused to listen to many people, and he refused to let Indians live.
Andrew Jackson’s sentiment towards the Native Americans was certainly not a kind one. Manifest destiny was a popular belief among Americans, including Jackson, and he would go to the extent of forcing Native Americans out of their homes to reach their “ordained goal”. He believed in the expansion of southern slavery which is why he pushed for removing the Indians west of the Mississippi, which makes it the more disgraceful. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 said that it will allow American government to offer in-state territories to the Indian’s for their western land. This wasn’t the case when the U.S. went in and drove the Indians out by force.
Although Jackson was important, he was part of many terrible things. Around the 1820s there were many major indian tribes in eastern United States such as Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole. This soon came to a change. Andrew Jackson thought these Indians were in the way of eastern development, using the Indian Removal Act which the congress had approved he decided to kick them out and send them west. In 1831 the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee Indians had the right to self government and the United States could not interfere with that.
In the process of Indian Removal, Indian resources were destroyed and without those resources they were doomed. Jackson claimed if the Indians remained within the limits of the states surely they would soon be removed from the lands. There was a vast group of people who wanted to avoid a calamity so they sought to civilize the Indians and convert them to Christianity. Jackson however saw the Indians as “subjects of the United States (neither foreigners nor citizens) who needed to be relocated to assure their survival.” (pg. 287