Summary Of The Indian Removal Act And Trail Of Tears

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President Jackson and Congress disagreed on the Indian Removal Policy, but Jackson went forward with it anyway. The Indians had fought with the people since the original colonization, and the U.S citizens were usually the aggrovators. The U.S had only had a couple of good relationship years, the rest of the time, there was a large amount of tension and small “wars” between the people and Natives. The U.S and Natives had been under tension for multiple years when Jackson declared the Indian Removal policy. The authors perspective towards the Indian Removal Act and Trail of Tears helped to shape our current understanding by showing how different people can have different views on a topic. The History Channel Video is a secondary source …show more content…

In his speech, Jackson states, ““It gives me great pleasure to announce to congress that the government's benevolent policy of Indian Removal has almost been achieved.” This shows that he was pushing for the Indian Removal Act to process. A Soilder’s Account is a primary source that helps shape the reader's understanding of the topic by showing how the U.S soilders viewed the Native Americans circumstances. One soilder in particular wrote his recollection in his journal. In it, he stated, ...waved their little hands goodbye to their mountain homes, knowing they were leaving them forever. Many of these helpless people did not have blankets and many of them had been driven from home barefooted.” Later in the entry, the soilder recorded, “...On the morning of November the 17th we encountered a terrific sleet and snowstorm with freezing temperatures and from that day until we reached the end of the fateful journey on March the 26th, 1839, the sufferings of the Cherokees were awful. The trail of the exiles was a trail of death.” From this journal entry, it is easy to see that President Jackson only cared about achieving the American Dream of westward expansion, and not about the effect it had on

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