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The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830. The Act authorized the president to grant lands west of the Mississippi River in exchange for lands occupied by Native Americans. This led to the displacement of Native Americans, as they were forced to leave their homelands and move westward, facing significant hardships and deaths along the way. The Act was supported by President Jackson, southern and white settlers, and several state governments, but it was opposed by Indigenous tribes, the Whig Party, and some Christian missionaries and clergy. The constitutionality of the Indian Removal Act is a subject of debate, with some arguing that it violated treaties and Supreme Court rulings, while others cite legal precedents and interpretations of the United States Constitution to justify the removal. The impact of the Act was significant, resulting in the removal of nearly 50,000 to over 60,000 Native Americans from their ancestral lands and opening up millions of acres for white settlement.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date passed in the Senate | 24 April 1830 |
| Senate vote | 28-19 |
| Date passed in the House of Representatives | 26 May 1830 |
| House of Representatives vote | 101-97 or 102-97 |
| Date signed into law by President Andrew Jackson | 28 May 1830 |
| Number of eastern Indians moved to Indian Territory | Nearly 50,000 |
| Region of Indian Territory | West of the Mississippi River, excluding Missouri, Iowa and the Territory of Arkansas |
| Final destination | Eastern Oklahoma |
| Number of removal treaties signed into law by President Jackson | Almost 70 |
| Legal standpoint | The United States Constitution empowered Congress to "regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes." |
| Jackson's view on Indian jurisdictions | Violation of state sovereignty under Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution |
| Views of historian H. W. Brands | Jackson believed his population transfer was a "wise and humane policy" that would save the Native Americans from "utter annihilation" |
| Views of historian Francis Paul Prucha | Removal was the best of four options: genocide, assimilation into white culture, and protection of tribal lands against settler encroachment |
| Views of historian Richard White | "claimed parallels between ethnic cleansing and Indian removal, any examination of Indian removal will inevitably involve discussions of ethnic cleansing" |
| Views of Andrew Jackson | The removal was a paternalistic act of mercy |
| Views of Robert M. Keeton | Supporters of the bill used biblical stories to argue for the resettlement of Native Americans |
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What You'll Learn
The Indian Removal Act of 1830
From a legal standpoint, the United States Constitution empowered Congress to "regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes." Early treaties between the federal government and Native American tribes typically included a clause stating that the tribes acknowledged themselves "to be under the protection of the United States of America, and of no other sovereign whosoever." When Andrew Jackson became president in 1829, he decided to use these legal precedents to build a systematic approach to Indian removal.
In the 1823 case of Johnson v. McIntosh, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Native Americans could occupy and control lands within the United States but could not hold title to those lands. Jackson viewed the union as a federation of states and opposed the idea of establishing treaties with Native American tribes as if they were sovereign foreign nations. He believed that either Native Americans comprised sovereign states (which violated the Constitution) or were subject to the laws of existing states of the Union. Jackson urged Native Americans to assimilate and obey state laws, and he believed he could only accommodate their desire for self-rule in federal territories, which required resettlement on federal lands west of the Mississippi River.
The Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Jackson on May 28, 1830. The Act was supported by figures such as Wilson Lumpkin, Richard H. Wilde, and Andrew Jackson, who used biblical stories to justify the resettlement of Native Americans. Historian H. W. Brands argues that Jackson sincerely believed that his population transfer was a "wise and humane policy" that would save the Native Americans from "utter annihilation." Other historians, such as Richard White and Francis Paul Prucha, have argued that the Act was a form of ethnic cleansing or genocide, or that it was the best option available at the time to protect Native American lands from settler encroachment.
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US Constitution and Indian tribes
The United States Constitution empowered Congress to "regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes". In early treaties, the federal government and Indian tribes agreed that the latter would be under the protection of the United States of America and no other sovereign power.
President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) opposed Washington's policy of establishing treaties with Indian tribes as if they were sovereign foreign nations. He believed that the creation of Indian jurisdictions was a violation of state sovereignty under Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution. Jackson urged Indians to obey state laws and assimilate. He believed that he could only accommodate the desire for Native self-rule in federal territories, which required resettlement on federal lands west of the Mississippi River.
In 1830, Jackson encouraged Congress to adopt the Removal Act, which established a process whereby the President could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands. The Act also provided financial and material assistance to Indians to help them start new lives. Jackson and his followers used a variety of tactics, including persuasion, bribery, and threats, to get tribes to sign removal treaties and leave the Southeast. By the end of his presidency, Jackson had signed into law nearly seventy removal treaties, resulting in the relocation of nearly 50,000 eastern Indians to Indian Territory and the opening of millions of acres of land to white settlers.
In the 21st century, scholars have cited the act and subsequent removals as an early example of state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing, genocide, or settler colonialism. Historian Richard White wrote that the "claimed parallels between ethnic cleansing and Indian removal" meant that any examination of Indian removal would inevitably involve discussions of ethnic cleansing. Another historian, Francis Paul Prucha, argued that removal was the best of four options: the other three being genocide, assimilation into white culture, and protection of tribal lands against settler encroachment (which Prucha saw as unachievable). An alternative view holds that the Indian Removal Act, despite the deaths and forced relocation, benefited the removed peoples by saving them from a worse fate that likely awaited them if they had remained in their home territories.
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Jackson's views on Indian jurisdictions
Jackson's views on Indian removal were influenced by his interpretation of sovereignty and executive power. He believed that the Indian Removal Act was a manifestation of his presidential authority to demand Indian removal and restructure national Indian policy. Jackson's enforcement of Indian laws was inconsistent, which further emphasised the authority of his will. The Act also challenged the power balance between state and federal governments, as it gave the President the power to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes and grant them land west of the Mississippi River in exchange for their homelands.
Jackson's support for the Indian Removal Act was driven by his belief that it was a "wise and humane policy" that would save the Native Americans from "utter annihilation". He portrayed the removal as a paternalistic act of mercy, arguing that it would prolong their existence and make it perpetual. Jackson also saw the Act as a continuation of previous policies and a fair exchange, comparing it to how "our forefathers left all that was dear in earthly objects" and how "our children by thousands yearly leave the land of their birth to seek new homes in distant regions."
The Indian Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, especially in Georgia, which was involved in a dispute with the Cherokee Nation. Jackson hoped that the removal would resolve this crisis and open up millions of acres of land for white settlers. Despite opposition from Christian missionaries, Congress members, and the Whig Party, the Act passed after a bitter debate in Congress. Jackson's government successfully persuaded, bribed, and threatened tribes into signing removal treaties, and by the end of his presidency, he had signed nearly seventy removal treaties.
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Indian assimilation and acculturation
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was the first law that allowed for the removal and isolation of Native Americans. It led to the relocation of most Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to the west of the river, in what is now Oklahoma. The Act was passed by the Senate on April 24, 1830, and then by the House of Representatives on May 26, 830, before being signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later.
In the context of the Americanisation of Native Americans, assimilation and acculturation refer to the series of efforts made by the United States to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream European-American culture. This process began in the 1790s and lasted until the 1920s or 1960s, depending on the source. George Washington and Henry Knox were the first to propose the cultural assimilation of Native Americans, formulating a policy to encourage the so-called "civilizing process".
Education was seen as the primary method of acculturating minorities. Americanisation policies were based on the idea that when Indigenous people learned the customs and values of the United States, they would be able to merge their tribal traditions with American culture and peacefully unite with the majority of society. After the Indian Wars ended in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the federal government banned the practice of traditional religious ceremonies and established Native American boarding schools that children were required to attend.
The Quakers promoted the peace policy, expecting that applying Christian principles to Indian affairs would eliminate corruption and speed up assimilation. Most Indians joined churches, but there were unexpected problems, such as rivalry between Protestants and Catholics for control of specific reservations.
The Dawes Act of 1887, which allotted tribal lands to individuals, was seen as a way to create individual homesteads for Native Americans. Land allotments were made in exchange for Native Americans becoming US citizens and giving up some forms of tribal self-government. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 was also part of the Americanisation policy, giving full citizenship to all Indians living on reservations.
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The Indian Removal Act and ethnic cleansing
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was a law that allowed the US government to remove Native Americans from their ancestral homelands and push them west. The Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson, who saw it as a "wise and humane policy" that would save the Native Americans from "utter annihilation".
In the 19th century, as the United States expanded westward, Indian tribes living in the coastal South appeared to be the main obstacle to this expansion. White settlers petitioned the federal government to remove them. The Removal Act of 1830 established a process whereby the President could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands. This act was a continuation of a policy of Indian removal that had been pursued for nearly 30 years.
The Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress on May 28, 1830, and it led to the forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans in what became known as the Trail of Tears. The Act opened up land that Indigenous peoples had previously called home to White settlement and the expansion of slavery. It further codified injustices at the federal level that had long been underway. By the early 1800s, the US federal government and several state governments had already frequently pushed Indigenous tribes farther west. Violence, threats, deception, and legal agreements, often treaties, were tactics used to transfer Indigenous-held land to White people.
In recent years, many historians have described the Indian Removal Act as ethnic cleansing. This represents a significant indictment of the United States, since ethnic cleansing includes practices—such as the forcible displacement of civilians—that are considered crimes under international law. Historian Richard White wrote that because of "claimed parallels between ethnic cleansing and Indian removal, any examination of Indian removal will inevitably involve discussions of ethnic cleansing." The Indian Removal Act and the subsequent removals have also been described by 21st-century scholars as early examples of settler colonialism and genocide.
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Frequently asked questions
The Indian Removal Act was a bill passed by the U.S. Senate and House in April and May of 1830, which was then signed into law by President Andrew Jackson. The Act established a process whereby the President could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their homelands.
Many colonists felt their civilisation was superior to that of the Indians due to their notions of private property and Christian practices. Some also believed that the removal was a benevolent act that would save the Native Americans from "utter annihilation".
By the 1840s, no Indian tribes resided in the American South, and nearly 50,000 eastern Indians had been moved to Indian Territory. This opened up millions of acres of land to white settlers.
Yes, the Cherokee Nation challenged in court the Georgia laws that restricted their freedoms on tribal lands. There was also a small number of Seminoles who resisted removal in Florida.
Many scholars cite the act as an early example of state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing, genocide, or settler colonialism. However, some argue that the removal may have benefited the Native Americans by saving them from the mass influx of settlers that would have otherwise come to their territories.
