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          ARRoGANT                CoURiERS      WiTH     ESSaYS

Grade Level:       Type of Work           Subject/Topic is on:
 [ ]6-8                 [ ]Class Notes    [Essay on Pres. Jackson. ]
 [x]9-10                [ ]Cliff Notes    [                        ]
 [x]11-12               [x]Essay/Report   [                        ]
 [ ]College             [ ]Misc           [                        ]

 Date: 06/94  # of Words:1,393 School:Public - COED   State:NY
>>>Chop Here>>>>
                         Essay on President Jackson
  
     "The decision of the Jackson administration to remove the
Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River in the
1830's was more a reformulation of the national policy that had
been in effect since the 1790's than a change in that policy."
The dictum above is firm and can be easily proved by examining
the administration of Jackson and comparison to the traditional
course which was carried out for about 40 years. After 1825 the
federal government attempted to remove all eastern Indians to the
Great Plains area of the Far West. The Cherokee Indians of
northwestern Georgia, to protect themselves from removal, made up
a constitution which said that the Cherokee Indians were
sovereign and not subject to the laws of Georgia. When the
Cherokee sought help from the Congress that body only allotted
lands in the West and urged them to move. The Supreme Court,
however, in Worcester vs. Georgia, ruled that they constituted a
"domestic dependent nation" not subject to the laws of Georgia.
Jackson, who sympathized with the frontiersman, was so outraged
that he refused to enforce the decision. Instead he persuaded the
tribe to give up it's Georgia lands for a reservation west of the
Mississippi.
     According to Document A, the map shows eloquently, the
relationship between time and policies which effected the Indians.
From the Colonial and Confederation treaties, a significant amount
of land had been acquired from the Cherokee Indians. Successively,
during Washington's, Monroe's, and Jefferson's administration, more
and more Indian land was being commandeered. The administrations
during the 1790's to the 1830's had gradually acquired more and
more land from the Cherokee Indians. Jackson followed that
precedent by the acquisition of more Cherokee lands.
     According to Document B, "the first of which is by raising an
army, and [destroying the resisting] tribes entirely or 2ndly by
forming treaties of peace with them", "under the existing
circumstances of affairs, the United States have a clear right,
consistently with the principles of justice and the laws of nature,
to proceed to the destruction or expulsion of the savages." The use
of the word savages, shows that the American had irreverence toward
other ethnic backgrounds. Henry Knox wanted to destroy the cherokee
tribes inorder to gain land for the United States, although he
questions the morality of whether to acquire the cherokee land, his
conclusion forbode's the appropriation. According to Document C,
"That the Cherokee Nation may be led to a greater degree of
civilization, and to become herdsmen and cultivators, instead of
remaining in a state of hunters, the United States will from time
to time gratuitously the said nation with useful implements of
husbandry."
The statement made by Henry Knox shows an ethnocentric view toward
the indians. Knox viewed them as savages, and said that the role of
the United States is to propagate their evolution into herdsmen and
cultivators instead of hunters. What Knox did not realize was that
he was attempting to change the culture of the Cherokee Indians,
and that would be an infringement upon their sovereignty.

     According to Document E, "[In exchange for Georgia's cession
of claims to certain western lands] . . . the United States shall,
at their own Expense, [obtain for] the Use of Georgia, as early as
the same can be peaceably obtained on reasonable terms, the indian
Title . . . to all the other Lands within the State of Georgia."
The statement above, explains how the United States is being
avaricious in expanding the State of Georgia into cherokee lands.
Manifest Destiny and irreverence toward the Cherokee Indians can be
explained by this.
     According to Document F, "The Indian tribes . . . have for a
considerable time been growing more and more uneasy at the constant
diminution of the territory they occupy, although effected by their
own voluntary sales, and the policy has long been gaining strength
with them of refusing absolutely all further sale on any conditions
. . . . In order peaceable to counteract this policy of theirs and
to provide an extension of territory which the rapid increase of
our numbers will call for [they should be led to an agricultural
way of life, thus lessening their need for land], In leading them
thus to . . . civilization . . . I trust and believe we are acting
for their greatest good." Thomas Jefferson believed that some
people were dependent(slaves, women, indians) and some people were
independent (White males), he believed that the independent of
society should help the dependents to become independent. Jefferson
was attempting to be benevolent toward the indians, but Jefferson
was only trying to acquire the land for the United States.
Precedent was reinforced in the United States not respecting rights
of sovereignty of the Cherokee Indians.
     According to Document H, "I have long viewed treaties with the
Indians an absurdity not to be reconciled to the principles of our
Government. The Indians are the subjects of the United States,
inhabiting it's territory and acknowledging it's soverignty, then
is it not absurd for the soverign to negotiate by treaty with the
subject. . . ." Andrew Jackson had made the assumption that the
Indians were subjects to the united states, which is not factual.
Jackson is explaining that subjects should not have to negotiate a
treaty, and that taking the land should be a right of the master
(U.S), upon his slave (Cherokee Indians).
     According to Document N, ".....[I am] deeply impressed with
the opinion that the removal of the Indian tribes from teh lands
which they now occupy . . . is of very high importance to our unio,
and may be accomplished on conditions and in a manner to promote
the interest and happiness of those tribes . . . For the removal of
the trives within the limits of the State of Georgia, the motive
has been peculiarly strong, arising from the compact with that
State, whereby the United States are bound to extinguish the Indian
title to the lands within it, whenever it may be done peaceably and
on reasonable conditions."  Again, the United States is expanding
upon Cherokee land, which Monroe believes that will benefit the
Indians and benefit the Americans. The statement is a contradiction
because Monroe as well as the president's before him, believe that
they are helping the Indians, but are actually oppressing the Indians
     According to Document O, "It has long been the policy of
Government to introduce among them the arts of civilization, in
hope of gradually reclaiming them from a wandering life."
Converting the Cherokee Indians from hunters into cultivators,
seems like the object of Jackson's speech, but the underlying
reason for the movement is for gold which was found in Georgia.
"Actuated by this view of the subject, I informed the Indians
inhabiting parts of Georgia and Alabama that their attempt to
establish an independent government would not be countenanced by
the Executive of the United States, and advised them to emigrate
beyond the Mississippi or submit to the laws of those States."
Jackson gives the Cherokee Indians an ultimatum, whereby either the
Cherokee Indians move west of the mississippi or they will have to
abide by the laws of Georgia and the United States. The Cherokee
Indians seeking their independent sovereignty, moved west of the
Misssissippi, while almost half of their tribe had been decimated
(The Trail of Tears). Again, The United States is violating the
soverignty of the Cherokee Indian land and is following precedent
of the past policies toward the irreverance of Indian Lands.
     According to Document P, "The Cherokee Nation, then is a
distinct community. . . in which the laws of Georgia can have no
force, and which the citizens of Georgia have no right to enter but
with the assent of the Cherokees themselves or in conformity with
treaties and with the acts of Congress . . . ."
The statement made by John Marshall is correct by saying that the
territorial boundries and land of the Cherokee Indians is soverign
to the Cherokee Indians. Marshall announced that the laws of
Georgia are not applicable within the Cherokee Lands, and the
constitution acknowleges the soverignty of it's bordering
territories. Since the Supreme Court couldn't enforce this opinion,
Jackson carried through his act of moving the Indians west of the
Mississippi.
     All in all, from the early 1790's to the late 1830's, the
policy that Jackson set forth reinforced the precedent which shaped
national Indian policy between 1789 and mid 1830's.
