Westward Expansion Dbq

Jackson DBQ - Westward Expansion

The treatment of Indigenous peoples even before Andrew Jackson’s presidency was always terrible. Since the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, Indigenous peoples who occupied the lands were constantly being killed, forced off their land, and involuntarily assimilated into white culture. This unfair treatment of Indigenous peoples got significantly worse after Jackson became president. When Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, it allowed Jackson to relocate any “Indians” living east of the Mississippi River to other parts of America. More than 46,000 Indigenous persons were moved because of the Indian Removal Act. Throughout the 1830s more than 100,000 Indigenous persons were forcefully moved to

The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History and Documents shows a map of the middle and eastern parts of America. The map shows the location of New Echota, a large Indigenous territory in the northern part of Georgia. This territory blocked Georgia’s access to the Tennessee River (Document D). The Tennessee River was not only vital for fast transportation to other states via boat, but also very important in interstate commerce and as a source of freshwater. Removing the Cherokees from Northern Georgia would significantly help Georgian farmers and settlers expand north and grow economically. So what? Comparably, President Andrew Jackson’s message to Congress on Indian removal discusses Jackson’s plan to remove Indigenous peoples from inhabited lands. Jackson said that Indigenous peoples were just a few thousand “savages” who were the reason why America was not growing and expanding economically (Document E). By removing those few thousand Indigenous peoples, Jackson promised that the other twelve million Americans would prosper economically, as well as civilly, religiously, and flourish as a nation. So what? Outside sources and extra information. Tie up

According to “The Trail of Tears,” American History Illustrated, 97% of Georgians voted for Jackson for president because he supported their expansion into Indigenous lands to the northwest (Document A). This made westward expansion a major policy goal of the Jackson campaign, which was possible only by relocating Indigenous peoples. So what? Moreover, in President Andrew Jackson’s message to Congress on Indian removal on December 6, 1830, Jackson presented the removal of Indigenous “savages” as a positive idea for the growth of the nation (Document E). He presented the building of cities, farms, and industries as natural progress, which the Indigenous peoples were blocking. Thus, he presented their removal as a price worth paying to make the lives of millions of Americans better. So what? Outside sources and extra information. Tie up