The portrait of Native Americans, their past and current social problems

Chapter 1 - 1.3

Chapter 1: Implication of historical events as source of present social problems

1.3 Indian Removal Act
To begin with, it appears essential to portray at first the concept of the Indian Removal Act. This document was signed and carried out on May 5th 1830 by the president Andrew Jackson during the 21st Congress of the United States of America. In the wake of that territories which belonged to the Native Americans for countless years were taken away from them. Furthermore, American Indians were compelled to leave areas in which they were no longer allowed to stay and to move westwards. Particularly worth stressing is the fact that on the basis of this act further conflicts between Native Americans and the newcomers has its roots ( Indian Removal Act of 1830 1996 ).

According to Tindall and Shi (2007 :396) President Andrew Jackson’s attitude toward Indians was typical for person from east between 1820s and 1830s. He alleged that Indians were chiefly barbarians and for the expanding nation they were just an obstacle in the process of development. As a result it launched Jackson’s Indian policy which assumed displacement of the Native Americans to the areas on the west of the Mississippi River to the Great Desert. At that time it was known that these areas were extremely adverse for the human being and white settlers would never inhabit such a land. Nonetheless, president Jackson asserted that it was: “just, humane, liberal policy toward Indians”. As Tindall and Shi clearly point out, thanks to the effective policy, by the end of 1835 around 46,000 people were displaced with a great speed. “(…) tribes were too weak to resist the offers of commissioners who, if necessary, used bribery and alcohol to woo the chiefs. On the whole, there was remarkably resistance.” (Tindall and Shi 2007: 397).

At this juncture, the tribes which had to desert their former lands decided to take them over due to facing many problems and in the 1832 the armed clash erupted. It is commonly known as a Black Hawk War. Some Indians under command of Chief Black Hawk the Sauk and Fox were looking for possibility to cultivate corn and other crops to be able to survive. However, they were defeated by Illinois military, many women with their children perished while they made a retreat. Unfortunately, this massacre is well-known because of the conflict between Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis rather than the cruel behavior of whites to the Indians (Tindall and Shi 2007: 397). There are numerous conflicts between Native Americans and whites at that times but a rebellion which is also worth mentioning concerns tribes which are known as Five Civilized Tribes.

The Chickisaw and Choctaw had disputes with the state of Mississippi. To ensure peace the government forced these five tribes called the Five Civilized Tribes to move out of their lands that they had lived on for generations and to move to land given to them in parts of Oklahoma. Andrew Jackson was quoted as saying that this was a way of protecting them and allowing them time to adjust to the white culture. This land in Oklahoma was thinly settled and was thought to have little value. Within 10 years of the Indian Removal Act, more than 70,000 Indians had moved across the Mississippi. Many Indians died on this journey (Indian Removal Act of 1830 1996).

As quoted above many Indians of the Chickisaw and Choctaw were compelled to abandon their lands in justification of displacing them so that they would be able to adapt to the new white culture. In the reality, white used this pretext get rid of them and to seize their lands without regards for consequences which Indians had to face.

Furthermore, it appears advisable to focus on the Trial of Tears. According to Tindall and Shi it is a term coined by Cherokees’ to define “(…) their forced march, 1838-39, from the southern Appalachians to Indian lands (later Oklahoma)”.In the 1835 Cherokees finally had signed up the treaty in which they renounced claim to their land in the Southeast in exchange for 5million dollars they were given by federal government, expenses for transportation and the Indian territory west of Arkansas, today Oklahoma. Thus, in 1838 under the command of general Winfield Scott and accompanied by army of the United States around 17,000 Cherokees and other tribes traversed the route of 800 miles through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas(Stewart 2007 : 13). A few was strong enough to endure adverse conditions of a journey. To depict the general mood during the trial it is worth to quote an utterance of one of the survivors, namely:

Long time we travel on way to new land. People feel bad when they leave old nation. Women cry and make sad wails. Children cry and many men cry, and all look sad like when friends die, but they say nothing and just put heads down and keep on go towards West. Many days pass and people die very much. We bury close by Trail (Trial of tears national historical trial 2006).

As already indicated, many Indians died on their way. According to Brown Tindall and Emory Shi the general number of casualties reached around 4000 of people. This disastrous journey is one of the darker events in history of the United States of America. In 1987 American Congress designated the journey taken by Cherokee Indians as a National Historic Trial within the National Trails System. The Trial of Tears Association was established in 1993 to promote consciousness of the Trial’s heritage and incorporate the influence on Cherokees and other tribes by the U.S Government’s Indian Removal Policy (Trial of tears national historical trial 2006 ).

To sum up, Indian Removal Act had a great impact on the history of many tribes in the United States. As a result, many Indians died due to wars and battles in which they took part or passed away during the Trial of Tears. Moreover, they were forced to leave their lands in the favor of whites. Effects of Indian Removal Policy “Not only affected the Cherokee, but have symbolized the removal of the other Southeastern and Eastern Indian tribes. The grim result of U.S. Government American Indian Removal Policy, the forced relocations devastated American Indian cultures” (Trial of tears national historical trial 2006 ).