Native American Polices

In the 1830’s, President Andrew Jackson instituted the Indian Removal Act. This act removed the Native Americans from their ancestral lands to make way for an increase of additional American immigrants. The Natives fought for their rights through the court system in the Worcester v. Georgia case, but in the end, they were still forced out of their homes to move west of the Mississippi River. The polices not only affected the Natives in America, but it also affects Natives all over the world as they too tired to fight for their independence against an invading group. The policies on Native Americans not only affected the regional tribes, but also the expansion of America and the nation as a whole. The Native policies took a major change from 1789 to the mid-1830’s in reference to their political, constitutional, moral, and practical views opposed to remaining the same.

The United States political views changed from being in agreement with the Native Americans to later being in total disagreement with them. In 1791, Henry Knox, the secretary of war, wrote in a letter to President George Washington that stated that due to the Natives being the “prior occupants” that they “possess the rights of the soil” and that we should continue to let them live in peace with assistance from the nation (Document B). In other words, the proposal was that the settlers let the Natives live as they wish and give them aid as the need for it. It was inevitable for this perspective to change. By 1832, Chief Justice John Marshall wanted to treat the Natives as if they were a totally separate nation “in which the laws of Georgia can have no force, and which the citizens of Georgia have no right to enter”, and more importantly no longer give them aid and support (Document P). The nation's view went from supportive to unsupportive in a matter of forty-one years, and the new perspective did not benefit the Natives.

Not only did their views change politically, the also changed when it came to the Constitution. Starting in 1791, Knox wrote the Treaty of Holston which stated, “the United States will from time to time furnish the gratuitously the said nation with useful implements of husbandry” (Document C). The settlers had the intention of still helping the Natives every now and then up until the turning point, which was the Indian Removal Act itself. President Jackson began forcing all the Natives into small reservation located west of the Mississippi River, to what is today known as Oklahoma. This led to major conflict but eventually resulted in all Natives walking to the reservations, known later as the Trail of Tears. President Jackson, in his first annual message to