1) Andrew Jacksons Indian Removal Policy was by no means benevolent. It is understandable that the this was a time of westward expansion, but ignoring a supreme court and taking matters into his own hands by relocation thousands of Native Americans is non-justifaible.
2) I do believe that in Andrew Jacksons mind he honestly though he was doing the right thing. It is my opinion based on his actions that he thought of Native Americans as out siders or enemies that did not belong in American Lands. Any time that you use brute force to move people out of a territory and force them to another specific area killing many in the process is inhumane.
3) Yes the government should have been forced to honor its own previous treaties with the native americans. But President Jackson being the comander and chief had complete control of the armed forces at that time to do as he pleased.
4) Did native American have rights under the constitution? Yes Native Americans had rights under the constitution but like African Americans those rights in many places were not followed or believed in.
5) In todays world no. The government can not forcefully remove all of the Indians from their territories but back then they could. In 1834 Congress created the Indian Territory ( present day Oklahoma) because of southward and westward expansion and settlers wanting the federal government to move the Native Americans from the South East to the land west of the Mississppi.
The Cherokee Nation obviously refused to give up their land, but an President Jacksons army gave them no choice but to leave causing many deaths along the way due to weather, rough conditions, and health. This journey was eventually called the trail of tears.
No comments:
Post a Comment