How Did Andrew Jackson Cleanse America Of Indians

Over the course of history in America there has been a season for joy, and a season for weeping. During the mid 1800’s, The Trail of Tears was an extremely difficult time for America, especially for the Cherokee Indians. In 1829, Andrew Jackson became the President of The United States. Jackson was a general and fought against the American Indians many times, and within a year of is precedency he was already taking action to “cleanse” America of Indians. Jackson believed that this would prevent fighting and to gain more land. “. It puts an end to all possible danger of collision between the authorities of the General and State Governments on account of the Indians. It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of country

This act would give the federal government the power to relocate any Indians in the east, to territory that was west of the Mississippi River. As European settler population increased, so did there need for land. Their potential for expansion was limited by only one barrier; the land was already occupied. The Indian Removal Act allowed for that potential to be realized and the barrier of the Indigenous people removed. Jackson’s goal was to cleanse America of all Indian tribes, and he would not stop until he got there. Representatives from Georgia pushed the Indian Removal Act through congress. After about a year of pushing the Indians out, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act on May 28, 1830. The Cherokees continued to refuse to move and took up with the Supreme Court to find out how truly constitutional the Georgia laws were. They stated that these laws violated their rights as a

The Creeks were removed from their land in 1836, by the federal government for the second time and 3,500 of the 15,000 Creeks who were sent to Oklahoma did not survive the trip. Only around 2,000 Cherokees left their land in Georgia for Indian Territory in 1838. This caused President Van Buren to send 7,000 soldiers to carry on the removal process. The soldiers and General Winfield Scott held the Cherokees at bayonet point and forced them into stockades. They then began going through there things and stealing anything that could be profitable to them. Not caring about the conditions of the walk, they marched the Indians 1,200 miles to Indian Territory. “Whooping cough, typhus, dysentery, cholera and starvation were epidemic along the way, and historians estimate that more than 5,000 Cherokee died as a result of the