Indian Removal

Indian Removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States that sought to relocate American Indian (or "Native American") tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river. In the decades following the American Revolution, the desire for more land by the rapidly increasing population of the United States resulted in numerous treaties in which lands were purchased from Native Americans. Eventually, the U.S. government began encouraging Indian tribes to sell their land by offering them land in the West, outside the boundaries of the then-existing U.S. states, where the tribes could resettle. This process was accelerated with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which provided funds for President Andrew Jackson to conduct land-exchange ("removal") treaties. An estimated 100,000 American Indians eventually relocated in the West as a result of this policy, most of them emigrating during the 1830s, settling in what was known as the "Indian territory."{{fn|1}}

Related Topics:
Nineteenth century - United States - American Indian - Mississippi River - American Revolution - West - Indian Removal Act - 1830 - Andrew Jackson - Indian territory

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Contrary to some modern misconceptions (and misrepresentations), the Removal Act did not order the forced removal of any Native Americans, nor did President Jackson ever publicly advocate forced removal. In theory, Indian Removal was supposed to be voluntary, and many American Indians did indeed remain in the East. In practice, however, the Jackson administration put great pressure on tribal leaders to sign removal treaties. This pressure created bitter divisions within American Indian nations, as different tribal leaders advocated different responses to the question of removal. Sometimes, U.S. government officials ignored tribal leaders who resisted signing removal treaties and dealt with those who favored removal. The Treaty of New Echota, for example, was signed by a faction of prominent Cherokees leaders, but not by the elected tribal leadership. The terms of the treaty were aggressively enforced by President Martin Van Buren, which resulted in the unintentional deaths of an estimated 4,000 Cherokees (mostly from disease) on the Trail of Tears. The Choctaw tribe also suffered greatly from disease during removal.{{fn|2}}

Related Topics:
Treaty of New Echota - Cherokee - Martin Van Buren - Trail of Tears - Choctaw

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The suffering which resulted from Indian Removal was aggravated by poor administration, inadequate measures taken to provide for the emigrants, and failure to protect Indian legal rights before and after emigration. Most American Indians reluctantly but peacefully complied with the terms of the removal treaties, often with bitter resignation. Some groups, however, went to war to resist the implementation of removal treaties. This resulted in two short wars (the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Second Creek War of 1836), as well as the long and costly Second Seminole War (1835-1842).

Related Topics:
Black Hawk War - Second Creek War - Second Seminole War

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