JUSTIFICATIONS OF INDIAN REMOVAL ACT

Indian Removal Act
1830
granted Jackson funds and authority to remove the Indians by force if necessary

INDIANS

• Moved into modern Oklahoma
• Civilized tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, & Seminade
• They had a written language and could read and write
• Cherokee nation v. Georgia
• Worcester v. Georgia

JUSTIFICATIONS

• Andrew Jackson was president
• Believed indians were squatters on American land
• Indians can't live in contact with a civilized community
• The government was giving them land to occupy
• America was spending resources on them

EUROPEAN AMERICANS MADE OLD NATIVE AMERICAN LIFESTYLES DIFFICULT

• Ross, Cherokee leader, meets with Jackson
• Jackson states he was just trying to prevent their inevitable annihilation
• Ross makes large demands that Jackson declines
• Their homes and belongings were burned and livestock were stolen
• Not enough army or will to allow Indians their entire eastern lands

THE END