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Indian Removal Act

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Indian Removal Act
Indian Removal Act

Elizabeth Borer

AMH 1010

Presented to:
Juan Esparra

SCF
March 25, 2014

In 1791, the Cherokee Nation was allocated land in Georgia during a treaty with the U.S. In 1828, whites wanted to reclaim this land not only for settlement purposes, but because of the discovery of gold. President Jackson and the U.S Congress passed a policy of Indian removal for all lands east of the Mississippi River; this was known as The Indian Removal Act of 1830. As Georgia tried to reclaim this land, the Cherokee protested and took their case to the U.S Supreme Court, known as Worcester vs. Georgia. The act was instituted to authorize the Native Americans to move west. Native tribes included Choctaw, Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Seminole. While some tribes agreed to move west, many refused. The Native Americans resisted with great force as well as the Cherokee Indians being a significant part of the disagreement with the Supreme Court and Jackson. The Supreme Court favored the Cherokee Nations calling it “unconstitutional,” which caused controversy between Georgia officials. In turn, the Georgia officials with the support of Jackson led to a forced march in 1838 with the removal of all Cherokee Indians known as The Trail of Tears. This march is also known to the Cherokee’s as “The Trail Where They Cried,” because approximately 4,000 died. Federal troops were given orders to remove 15,000 Cherokee people to their new home in Indian Territory, today known as Oklahoma. This removal violated the Supreme Court’s Decision. The repercussions of this removal led to many deaths of Native Americans, not only from the force of removal, but from disease, starvation and the cold during their transition to their new home west of the Mississippi. Poverty of many relocated Indians lasted close to 100 years. The resources they gained while living in the land that they were stripped from, not only led to

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