Indian+Removal


 * GOVERNMENT AND THE INDIANS**

Since the beginning of the nation, the U.S. government had promised to respect Indian rights. However, settlers were desiring more and more land and kept moving west. Years of wars brought defeat to Indians trying to stop the settlers from taking over their land. They didn't get very far when Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. It set up Indian resettlement west of the Mississippi River. The act also gave the President power to negotiate with the Indian groups.

President Andrew Jackson, being the first president born and raised on the frontier, was against the Indians and had a large part in making sure they were removed from the land they had lived in.

[|INDIAN REMOVALS]

Over the next ten years, many Indian removals were carried out. Some Indians resisted the government's policy. Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama, passed laws stating that they had authroity over the Indians and Indian lands inside their borders. Only the Cherokee and Seminole were left in the Southeast. Under several treaties with the United States, the Cherokee in Georgia had been recognized as a nation. People in Georgia kept moving into the Cherokee lands, especially after gold was discovered there. The Cherokee appealed their case to the Supreme Court. The court ruled that the state of Georgia had no authority over the Cherokee. Jackson refused to back up the decision of the Supreme Court. The Cherokees finally began thier long, hard journey left. Many people died from cold, lack of food and shelter, and disease. This journey was know as the "Trail of Tears."


 * THE INDIANS' LOSS OF LAND**

The greatest change for the Indians was their loss of land. Trappers that first went to the west did not threaten the Indians land. This was because trappers did not settle and farm. A lot of the time they worked with the Indians and married Indian women. When the settlers came conflicts grew. In the 1840's, the government became concerned with the safety of wagon trails. Because of this the government built forts along wagon trails to ensure the safety of them. The government issued treaties to protect settlers. In 1851, the Fort Laramie Treaty was signed by the...


 * [|Arapaho]
 * Arickarees
 * [|Arikara]
 * [|Assinaboines]
 * [|Cheyenne]
 * Crows
 * [|Hidatsa]
 * [|Mandan]
 * [|Shoshone]
 * [|Sioux]