Indian+Removal

Native American History and Culture =Indian Removal Act Document= Indian Removal exerts from: [|People & Events Indian removal 1814 - 1858] **Andrew Jackson**, from Tennessee, was a forceful proponent of Indian removal. In 1814 he commanded the U.S. military forces that defeated a faction of the Creek nation.....

The Cherokee used legal means in their attempt to safeguard their rights. They sought protection from land-hungry white settlers, who continually harassed them by stealing their livestock, burning their towns, and squatting on their land. In 1827 the Cherokee adopted a written constitution declaring themselves to be a sovereign nation. They based this on United States policy; in former treaties, Indian nations had been declared sovereign so they would be legally capable of ceding their lands. Now the Cherokee hoped to use this status to their advantage. The state of Georgia, however, did not recognize their sovereign status, but saw them as tenants living on state land. The Cherokee took their case to the Supreme Court, which ruled against them.

The **Cherokee went to the Supreme Court again in 1831**. This time they based their appeal on an 1830 Georgia law which prohibited whites from living on Indian territory after March 31, 1831, without a license from the state. The state legislature had written this law to justify removing white missionaries who were helping the Indians resist removal. The court this time decided in favor of the Cherokee. It stated that **the Cherokee had the right to self-government, and declared Georgia's extension of state law over them to be unconstitutional. The state of Georgia refused to abide by the Court decision,and President Jackson refused to enforce the law.....**

(John Marshall's opinion for the Court majority in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia was essentially that Georgia had no jurisdiction over the Cherokees and no claim to their lands. But Georgia officials simply ignored the decision, and President Jackson refused to enforce it. Jackson was furious and personally affronted by the Marshall ruling, stating, **"Mr. Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it!"** http://www.ushistory.org/us/24f.asp )

In 1830, just a year after taking office, **Jackson pushed** a new piece of legislation called the **"Indian Removal Act"** through both houses of Congress. It gave the president power to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi....

By 1837, the Jackson administration had **removed 46,000 Native American people from their land east of the Mississippi,** and had secured treaties which led to the removal of a slightly larger number. Most members of the five southeastern nations had been relocated west, **opening 25 million acres of land to white settlement and to slavery**.

Trail of Tears