ipl-logo

Native American Rights In The 1800s

1119 Words5 Pages

In the 1800s, Native Americans had few rights in the United States. Even though Native Americans have lived in North America for longer than any European settler or explorer, they had always been viewed as uncivilized and inferior when compared to White settlers because of their origins. The belief of Manifest Destiny, which is the idea that God meant for the United States to own all of North America, caused Natives to be pushed out of their homes. President Andrew Jackson passed an act that forced Natives to succumb to white culture or relocate to reservations. Natives that relocated had to walk the Trail of Tears to get to the reservations. The trail was grueling and many people died. In the early 1800s, Native Americans did not have equal …show more content…

This is made clear in the “Cherokee County Map” by James Mooney, which shows the outlines of Cherokee territory throughout the years. From the start of the American Revolution to the Final Cession Cherokee Indians have lost more than half of their original land. Mooney’s map shows that Native Americans lack economic rights because they did not have the right to their land. Throughout the 1800s, Natives have had their land taken by unfair treaties and by Indian Removal acts. This document was created shortly after the U.S. government took the last of Cherokee land. Another example is in Andrew Jackson’s speech “Second Annual Address to Congress” when it says, “The United States will pay to send the natives to a land where they may live longer and possibly survive as a people.” This quote shows Native Americans lack of economic rights because the government is denying their right to own land. In the quote, the president tells the Natives that their only option is to relocate to a reservation that is far West. Their land has been taken by the government. Jackson’s speech collaborates with the “Cherokee County Map”. Both sources show that a lot of Native land has been taken because they do not have the right to own it. These show that Native Americans lacked economic rights compared to white male

Show More
Related
1057 Words | 5 Pages

For example, why would a female Native want to own a hunting knife if her job was to harvest the corn fields? The Natives also worked as a community, willingly giving away objects and tools that no longer served a purpose to them to others that needed them. The lack of desire for ownership confused the English colonists greatly, but also allowed them to easily take advantage of the Native Americans since they were not aware of the land they were sitting on. The only way that an English colonist could own land was if it was given to him by the Crown or if it was purchased from the Natives, which led to colonists making ridiculously unfair deals with Native Americans for monumental amounts of land. For example, one

Read More
1434 Words | 6 Pages

In the article by Anthony F. C. Wallace, “The Hunger for Indian Land in Andrew Jackson’s America,” the reasons for America's need for Indian land is discussed. The purpose of this article is to explain the Indian removal that occurred under Andrew Jackson’s presidency. The thesis of this essay states that Americans kicked the Natives off of their land to fulfill a selfish desire to expand the cotton industry.           The first point Wallace uses to support his thesis is how Jackson’s financial interest in the land affected the removal of Natives.

Read More
1352 Words | 6 Pages

In the late 1800s, tensions were rising between white Americans and Native Americans. The white Americans wanted the Native Americans to conform to their definition of civility. The Native Americans had clung tightly to their culture and religious practices during a time of continuous encroachment and governmental pressure by the white Americans. By this time, Native Americans had already been forced westward onto reservations through government action. Andrew Jackson had set this migration in motion earlier in the century, and the migration pattern would later be referred to as the “Trail of Tears”.

Read More
784 Words | 4 Pages

First of all, Native Americans were settled on a hotbed of natural resources which included oil and precious metals such as silver and gold. There was also much fertile land that would entice farmers and frontiersmen to move out west. On this land there was so much potential economic opportunity for farmers, cattle drivers, miners and many other occupations. The government developed the popular public misconception that the indians were misusing the land and that Americans had the right to take advantage of the opportunities that lie in the west. These ideas led to the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 which authorized encroachment of Indian lands by the US government in order to divide up reservations and control Indian activity.

Read More
1064 Words | 5 Pages

The removal of the Cherokees threatened

Read More
540 Words | 3 Pages

They did not really have any other options so they ended up giving up their land and signing the Treaty of New Echota in 1838. Cherokee Chief John Ross stated that it was not fair if only a few people were signing it. In 1836 the Senate approved a treaty by a single vote. In 1838 when the treaty arrived only 2,000 Cherokee people had moved. Martin Van Buren told the army to get the rest of them out and in 1838 General Winfield got to the Cherokee nation with a lot of troops and told them to get out and it would get bad if they didn’t

Read More
720 Words | 3 Pages

This quote shows that the Indians were willing to stand up for themselves and not go down without a fight because they know they didn't do anything wrong and that they didn't deserve that type of treatment. Many Native Americans suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while in route to their destinations, and many people died, including 2,000-6,000 of the 16,542 relocated Cherokees. European Americans and African American freedmen and slaves also participated in the five civilized tribe relocations. This shows how President Andrew Jackson didn't care what happened to the Native Americans even if they died. The items listed above are examples of how poorly the Indians were treated and not respected as

Read More
578 Words | 3 Pages

“The amount of deaths along the Oregon Trail was drastic, and it is estimated that five percent of migrants died on the journey, about 15,000 deaths in total” (Alchin). Pioneers suffered from many issues while on their journey. Due to the many obstacles they would have to overcome. The pioneers traveling on the trails faced the most difficulty trying to survive and thrive in the West due to resources, weather, and disease.

Read More
113 Words | 1 Pages

The Homestead Act may have benefited the Americans it destroyed the Native Americans.

Read More
1036 Words | 5 Pages

Manifest destiny was the belief that colonist were destined to expand across North America and that it was their god given right. Although Native Americans were indigenous the the land, colonist felt that it was their destiny to redeem and colonize the rest of the land. They felt that Native Americans were not making right use of the land and letting it go to waste. In result, Native Americans were not seen as anything more as an obstacle in the pursuit of Manifest Destiny. During the Indian Removal Act of 1830, Indian groups who were still inhabiting the south east would be moved across the Mississippi to designated Indian territory, which is now known as Oklahoma.

Read More
1105 Words | 5 Pages

When the Europeans began colonizing the New World, they had a problematic relationship with the Native Americans. The Europeans sought to control a land that the Natives inhabited all their lives. They came and decided to take whatever they wanted regardless of how it affected the Native Americans. They legislated several laws, such as the Indian Removal Act, to establish their authority. The Indian Removal Act had a negative impact on the Native Americans because they were driven away from their ancestral homes, forced to adopt a different lifestyle, and their journey westwards caused the deaths of many Native Americans.

Read More
842 Words | 4 Pages

Imagine being forced to leave your home, just for the reason of white settlers needing land to plant cotton. In 1814, Andrew Jackson from Tennessee commanded, the U.S. military forces that defeated a faction of the Cherokee nation. In their defeat, they lost 22 million acres of land. The Cherokees were given two years to migrate voluntarily, at the end of the two years the Cherokees would be removed by force. In 1838 only 2,000 had migrated and 16,000 remained on the land.

Read More
1017 Words | 5 Pages

In the source Majority Opinion in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia by the supreme court, it says “the Cherokee were not a foreign nation or citizens of a state and therefore had no right to sue in court”. This quote depicts an absence of political rights. After all, they could not go to court because they were foreign. During this period, the Native Americans were also forced on the Trail of Tears which was caused by Andrew Jackson kicking them out due to the Indian removal act of 1830. However, the Trail of Tears also caused a lot of their population to rapidly decrease.

Read More
98 Words | 1 Pages

Native Americans, the original group of people who lived in America, had bullied by white people in many ways. White people took their land and treat the native Americans unfairly. Native American suffered from this kind of situation. In 1800s, the U.S. government sent word that they had interest of buying Native Americans ' land. As a great leader and speaker of native Americans, Chief Seattle spoke out to replied U.S. government and stated that White people can do nothing more to harm them.

Read More
951 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the 19th century Native Americans were treated far less than respectful by the United States’ government. This was the time when the United States wanted to expand and grow rapidly as a land, and to achieve this goal, the Native Americans were “pushed” westward. It was a memorable and tricky time in the Natives’ history, and the US government made many treatments with the Native Americans, making big changes on the Indian nation. Native Americans wanted to live peacefully with the white men, but the result of treatments and agreements was not quite peaceful. This precedent of mistreatment of minorities began with Andrew Jackson’s indian removal policies to the tribes of Oklahoma (specifically the Cherokee indians) in 1829 because of the lack of respect given to the indians during the removal laws.

Read More

More about Native American Rights In The 1800s

Related Topics

Open Document