The Pros And Cons Of The Indian Removal Act

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The Indian Removal Act started in the 1830’s. The indians occupied millions of acres of land in the United States. The two opposing debates formed off of three questions: If the indians were moved, would the effort to civilize the indians be useless? Does the land occupied by the tribes belong to them, or does the land belong to white Americans? How could they prevent the extinction of Native American tribes? The first debate came from President Jackson and his followers. Jackson believed that the land rightfully belonged to the white farmers in America. He also believed that the tribes were nearing extinction and his answer to the situation was to move the indians across the Mississippi and slowly convert them to Christianity from there.