Indian Removal Act Flashcards
Date:
May 1830
Who was Edwin James?
Botanist
How did Edwin James describe the Great Plains?
wholly infit for cultivation
How did Jackson defend sending them to an inhospitable land?
away from liquor sellers, dishonest traders, and land dealers.
How many treaties signed with Native Americans in the Indian Removal Act?
94
When did Jackson announce that the policy has been / was being completed?
1835
Where were the 5 civilised tribes?
South
Which of the 5 civilised tribes refused to move?
Cherokee
When did the Cherokee appeal to the supreme court?
1831
What did the Cherokee’s lawyers argue?
The law did not apply to them as they were a “nation within a nation”
How did Jackson react to the supreme court’s ruling?
He ignored it.
Georgia declared that the Cherokee’s claim to the land was invalid.
- Banned from testifying against whites in court
- Banned from digging for Gold
Date: Treaty of Echota
1835
Terms of the Treaty of Echota?
Gave up 8 million acres of land for a homeland in the west and $5 million.
How many Cherokee moved after the Treaty of Echota?
2000
How many stayed in the east after the Treaty of Echota?
15,000
What happened in 1838?
Cherokee forcefully removed. 4000 died in camps or on the journey.
What did the journey become known as?
‘Trail of Tears’
Description of a soldier:
- “some women were preparing the little body for burial. All were arrested and driven out, leaving the child in the cabin. I don’t know who buried the body.”
- “But the task was to great for that frail mother. A stroke of heart failure relieved her sufferings.”
The conditions of the Indian Removal Act (1830):
- President given funds and power to move Native American tribes from their eastern lands to western lands.
- The western lands (though unsuitable for white settlement) were to be guaranteed to the tribes “forever”
- The government could provide some financial compensation and assistance in moving the Indians west
- The act declared that no existing treaties would be violated. This meant that new treaties would have to be negotiated in which the tribes agreed to removal.
Who opposed the Indian Removal?
Northerners mostly
How was the Indian Territory seen in the West?
A kind of heaven where the Native Americans could adapt and assimilate the manners of White settlers.
How many Choctaws died?
1,600 (nearly 1/10th of the tribe)
When did the Choctaws treck?
Winter of 1831-2
Who was the judge for the trial of the Cherokee?
Chief Justice John Marshall
