Example research essay topic: Native American Tribes U S Government - 1,903 words

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CHEROKEE/CHOWTAW PEOPLE The Indian Removal Act of 1830 In 1830, the United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the main objective of which was to remove all the Native American tribes living in the southeast and force them to settle in lands west of the Mississippi River, in what is now known as the state of Oklahoma. The main sections of the Act had the following items: 1. There will be an exchange of lands with the Indians in any of the states or territories and will be provided removal to territories west of the Mississippi; 2. The area west of the Mississippi River was chosen because at that time, none of the lands therein belonged to the United States of America; 3. The United States of America guaranteed all tribes be made for the exchange. It will forever secure and guarantee the new lands for them provided that such lands shall revert to the United States if the tribes become extinct or if they abandon the said lands; 4.

If there are any improvements to the land, these shall be paid for by the U. S. government; 5. The tribes that follow the Removal Act shall have the protection of the United States from any disturbance; 6. Assistance and aid will be given to the tribes in their settlement in the new territories; and 7. The President of the United States of America may cause the removal of such aid and assistance any time he deems fit (U.

S. Government, 1830). There are many theories as to why Andrew Jackson was so intent on driving out the Native American tribes from their tribal lands which they had been occupying for as much as 2, 000 years before the white settlers came. Foremost in the theory is that the U.

S. government had to open up more lands for white settlers who wanted to plant agricultural crops. It also said that the United States government felt threatened by England and Spain, who held territories in the western parts of the mainland at that time. In Georgia, it is said that many white settlers desired the land of the Cherokee because gold had been discovered in the northern parts (Darrenkamp, 2001).

The Indian Nations Before the Removal Act In the United States Constitution of 1739, federal policy looked at tribes as a sovereign entity capable of signing treaties with the U. S. government. Many treaties with Native American tribes were signed prior to the Removal Act.

The treaties usually included the exchange of, or sale of a part of tribal land in return for food, supplies, and even an annuity. However, oftentimes, the promise of payment and aid was not fulfilled. The tribes were left destitute and often harassed by white settlers. To avoid any more conflict, most of these tribes just moved elsewhere (U.

S. Bureau of Public Affairs, 2004). In the early 19 th century, most of the lower southern part of the United States was home to Native American tribes, the more prominent of which were the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chicasaw and the Seminoles. However, between 1814 - 1824, Andrew Jackson was instrumental in negotiating nine out of eleven treaties that removed the southern tribes of their lands in exchange for lands in the west. Through these treaties, the United States government gained control over? of the state of Alabama and Florida, and parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Another most oppressive trap that the Native Americans found themselves in was in 1823. The U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the Indians could occupy lands within the U. S. but could not hold the titles to these lands as the U.

S. governments right to discovery held precedence over the tribes right to occupancy. The Creek and Seminole Indians waged war against the U. S. government from 1817 - 1818. They were aided in part by fugitive slaves who had sought refuge in their lands.

The Cherokee, on the other hand, were already experiencing problems brought about by white settlers who were beginning to squat on their land (Myers, 2000). After the passage of the Act, the Choctaws were the first tribe to sign their removal treaty in 1830. They were already weary from the harassment of the white settlers on their lands. They simply packed their bags and moved to the west (Myers, 2000).

The Seminoles, on the other hand, refused to emigrate. Again, they waged the second Seminole War from 1835 - 1842. After this, most of the tribes moved to the new territories. A few, however, remained, and waged the third Seminole War from 1855 - 1858, after which the U. S. government paid those who were left so that they could finally move to the west (Myers, 2000).

The Creek Indians refused to move, and in their removal treaty still had a piece of land intact for dwelling of their tribes. However, those who stayed in that small leftover portion were cheated out of their lands by speculators who bought their lands for a pittance. Those who stayed were ordered removed by the Secretary of War in 1836, and finally, in 1837, about 15, 000 Creeks finally migrated to the west. In 1819, the Cherokee National Council notified the federal government that it would no longer cede more lands to them, as most of them wished to stay in their tribal lands.

In counter to this, the state of Georgia passed a law in 1828 considering all laws of the Cherokee nation to be null and void. The efforts to remove the Cherokee were again intensified in 1829 as gold had been discovered in the northern portions of their land in Georgia. After the passage of the Act, the Cherokee nation resisted, challenging the Act in court. At first, in 1831, U. S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall wrote that Georgia laws had to apply on the Cherokee as their nation.

However, in 1832, there was a measure of success for the tribe as the Supreme Court in Georgia ruled that the Cherokee were not sovereign but rather were wards of the state. This was a result of the Worcester vs. Georgia case. Samuel A. Worcester was a missionary who helped defend the rights of the Cherokee. Indian nations could make treaties, and these treaties were to be considered the ultimate law of the land.

However, the next year, the same court ruled that they were indeed sovereign. The Treaty of New Echota was then signed by Major Ridge despite opposition from the majority of the tribe. Under this treaty, a huge chunk of the tribal land was sold for five million dollars. However, the implementation of the Act had now become imminent. Under the guns of federal troops and the Georgia state military force, the Cherokee tribe traveled across the Mississippi to the arid plains of the west. Out of the 15, 000 that made the trip, around a third died of hunger and disease.

The route to the west was called Nunna Date Tony which means the trail where they cried. It is popularly known as the Trail of Tears (Myers, 2000). The Trail of Tears There are many trails of tears, but this discussion will focus mainly on the removal of the Cherokee Indians from their ancestral lands to what is now Oklahoma. In 1838, General Winfield Scott, along with 7000 men, arrived in New Echota. The U. S.

Army had begun the invasion of the Cherokee Nation. Already, many of the tribesmen were gathered into makeshift forts. These forts had minimal facilities and food. Many of the living areas were filled with excrement. Birth rates had dropped to zero. It is also said that many Cherokee women and children were raped by the American soldiers.

The Native Americans were divided into groups of 1000 heads. About 2800 traveled by water, almost boxed in boats under horrific conditions. The rest traveled more than a thousand miles by land. They were fed with rations of salt, coffee, pork, corn and sugar which were often of very poor quality.

Along the way, some of the white settlers would buy from the soldiers the rations meant for the tribesmen, leaving the latter with very low supplies of food. At times, the property of the tribesmen was even stolen from them along the way. During the harshness of winter, about 20 to 30 tribesmen would die in a night due to pneumonia alone. Cruelty was not uncommon.

For instance, an eyewitness account of the migration told that elderly Cherokee were often beaten with bullwhips for moving slowly (Sanchez, 2000). Consequences of the Indian Removal Act on the Native American Tribes After settling in the new Indian Territory, the tribes began rebuilding their lives to a certain degree of success. They once again settled into their communal lives with hunting and farming as their main activities. However, in 1887, the Dawes Act was passed in Congress. Its original objective was for the assimilation of the Native Americans into the white culture. Under this Act, each native American and his immediate family was to receive 160 acres of land which would be titled under his name.

He and each member of his family were to become a citizen of the United States of America. Eventually, more lands were lost to the white settlers especially when the state of Oklahoma was established in 1907. Even their resettlement lands were now being taken away from them (Wessel, 1976). However, what happened was that as a result of the subdivision of the tribal lands, huge portions of the original tribal lands were lost, as the sum of the individual allotted lands amounted to only a fraction of the original resettlement areas. For one tribe alone, their original tribal lands of 138 million hectares were reduced to a measly 78 million hectares as a result of this Act.

Also, the titles of the allotted lands could not be put immediately under the names of the tribesmen as these were held in trust for them by the U. S. government for the next twenty-five years (Cave, 2003). Instead of praising the tribes for having settled back to their old way of life after being evicted forcibly from their ancestral lands by the Trail of Tears, the United States government again punished the Native American people by destroying their system of land use. They tried to convert the tribesmen into piecemeal farmers, and the lands allotted to them were often dry and not for any agricultural use whatsoever (Wessel, 1976). Many of the tribesmen and their families were reduced to hunger and poverty as a result of this Act.

Another event that was to disturb the peaceful resettling of these tribes was the construction of two national railways which cut into the heart of the new territories. As a result, white businessmen were allowed to put up business concessions along the railway, opening the door for conflict again in the resettlement areas. White businessmen would often trick the tribesmen into selling their already-reduced parcels of land for very small amounts of money. The tribesmen, desperate, and finding difficulty in farming smaller plots of land, would hastily agree to these sales to raise much-needed money for their families.

It will also be noted that many of these tribesmen did not know how to handle money as their system of commerce was...

Research essay sample on Native American Tribes U S Government