Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act

Before the Presidency

• Jackson was a General during the War of 1812– War Hero

• Battle of Horseshoe Bend– Destruction of the Creek Tribe– “Savages” and “Fiends”

Presidency

• Leader of the new Democratic party

• Elected in 1828

• “People’s President”– From Tennessee– From poor upbringing

Settlers on the Move

• Settlers began to move into the Southeast– lands belonged to the Cherokee, Creek,

Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole tribes– “We want their land!”

• Jackson supported the Settlers. Why?– Re-election– Land would be better in hands of whites

Indian Removal Act

• Encouraged by Jackson

• Created by Congress in 1830

• Gave power to the President to move Native Americans West of the Mississippi– To “Indian Territory” (Modern Day Oklahoma

and parts of Kansas and Nebraska)

Indian Resistance

• Seminoles fought back but were defeated • Cherokees brought case to Supreme Court

– Supreme Court ruled that Georgia could not encroach on the Indian lands

– Chief Justice John Marshall: the Cherokee nation was a "distinct community" with self-government, "in which the laws of Georgia can have no force"

Jackson’s Reaction

• President Andrew Jackson chose to ignore the ruling– “Chief Justice Marshall has made his

decision... Now let him enforce it”– Supreme Court needs the Executive Branch

to enforce their decisions

Trail of Tears

• Forced removal of the Cherokee from Georgia to Indian Territory by the US Army

• Ordered by President Martin Van Buren in 1838

• 4,000 out of the 15,000 Cherokee died on the march– From starvation, exhaustion, disease,

dehydration and hypothermia

Trail of Tears

• http://www.pbs.org/kcet/andrewjackson/themes/indian_removal.html