Indian Removal Act of 1830

It is no revelation that the aborigines of this country suffered great cruelty by many of the English colonists that came to the Americas. From the very beginning, the Indians were looked upon as nothing more then mere savages and regarded by many new settlers as a bothersome obstacle to their acquiring of land. As more and more settlers came, the Indian population slowly started to diminish. Many Indians were taken as slaves, others died from diseases brought by the settlers and countless others were killed from the numerous mascaras and wars that frequently occurred throughout the years. The remaining Indians continued to be pushed further from their tribal land as more settlers came to claim what they felt was rightfully theirs. The land. Their inability to “reform” the Indians into assimilation lead many to believe that they should just be removed completely. This would be the only way to open up much deserved land that could then be occupied by the land hungry Americans. It was viewed by most that the Indians were the only obstacle in a westward expansion, so the need to have them removed become a growing public demand. This brought on what is known as the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Author: U.S. Government
Year Published: 1830
The Indian Removal Act of 1830

CHAP. CXLVIII.--An Act to provide for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for their removal west of the river Mississippi.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That it shall and may be lawful for the President of the United States to cause so much of any territory belonging to the United States, west of the river Mississippi, not included in any state or organized territory, and to which the Indian title has been extinguished, as he may judge necessary, to be divided into a suitable number of districts, for the reception of such tribes or nations of Indians as may choose to exchange the lands where they now reside, and remove there; and to cause each of said districts to be so described by natural or artificial marks, as to be easily distinguished from every other.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the President to exchange any or all of such districts, so to be laid off and described, with any tribe or nation within the limits of any of the states or territories, and with which the United States have existing treaties, for the whole or any part or portion of the territory claimed and occupied by such tribe or nation, within the bounds of any one or more of the states or territories, where the land claimed and occupied by the Indians, is owned by the United States, or the United States are bound to the state within which it lies to extinguish the Indian claim thereto.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That in the making of any such exchange or exchanges, it shall and may be lawful for the President solemnly to assure the tribe or nation with which the exchange is made, that the United States will forever secure and guaranty to them, and their heirs or successors, the country so exchanged with them; and if they prefer it, that the United States will cause a patent or grant to be made and executed to them for the same: Provided always, That such lands shall revert to the United States, if the Indians become extinct, or abandon the same.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That if, upon any of the lands now occupied by the Indians, and to be exchanged for, there should be such improvements as add value to the land claimed by any individual or individuals of such tribes or nations, it shall and may be lawful for the President to cause such value to be ascertained by appraisement or otherwise, and to cause such ascertained value to be paid to the person or persons rightfully claiming such improvements. And upon the payment of such valuation, the improvements so valued and paid for, shall pass to the United States, and possession shall not afterwards be permitted to any of the same tribe.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That upon the making of any such exchange as is contemplated by this act, it shall and may be lawful for the President to cause such aid and assistance to be furnished to the emigrants as may be necessary and proper to enable them to remove to, and settle in, the country for which they may have exchanged; and also, to give them such aid and assistance as may be necessary for their support and subsistence for the first year after their removal.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the President to cause such tribe or nation to be protected, at their new residence, against all interruption or disturbance from any other tribe or nation of Indians, or from any other person or persons whatever.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for the President to have the same superintendence and care over any tribe or nation in the country to which they may remove, as contemplated by this act, that he is now authorized to have over them at their present places of residence.
(civics-online)


Although Indian Removal originally started during the administration of Thomas Jefferson, and continued through Presidents Madison, Monroe, and Adams, it did not accelerate until the administration of Andrew Jackson. Jefferson and Monroe believed in a system of voluntary removal and those that did not volunteer were not forced to do so. Under Andrew Jackson however; the Indian Removal Act was constructed and signed into law on May 26, 1830. This act was established to allow for treaties to be formed with the Indians for their signing over their tribal land and relocated to new lands west of the Mississippi. While this policy also called for voluntary removal of the Indians, this was not always the case. In many situations, when a voluntary arrangement could not be meet, many Indian tribes signed treaties by threat or force. Many tribes refused the removal and fought for their land. However, in the end, they could not defeat the Americans in war and eventually ended up reluctantly signing treaties for their placement on lands westward.

Jackson spoke of Indian removal in seven of his eight annual addresses to congress. Although never mentioning the Indian Removal Act directly, he speaks of Indian issues and the need (and justifications) for their removal. Something of note is the evident change in tone throughout the speeches. As they progress in time, they go from a tone of reaffirming that this “removal” is for the best benefit of the Indians; almost seeming semi-sympathetic. As time passes the tone seems to go to that of bitterness and resentment towards the Indians. In his speech dated December 6, 1830, Jackson says: "Toward the aborigines of the country no one can indulge a more friendly feeling than myself.”. In his speech dated December 3, 1833: "That those tribes can not exist surrounded by our settlements and in continual contact with our citizens is certain. They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their condition. "
(The Nomadic Spirit)

First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1829
"It will be my sincere and constant desire to observe toward the Indian tribes within our limits a just and liberal policy, and to give that humane and considerate attention to their rights and their wants which is consistent with the habits of our Government and the feelings of our people." -- Andrew Jackson

First Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1829
"Our conduct toward these people is deeply interesting to our national character. Their present condition, contrasted with what they once were, makes a most powerful appeal to our sympathies. Our ancestors found them the uncontrolled possessors of these vast regions. By persuasion and force they have been made to retire from river to river and from mountain to mountain, until some of the tribes have become extinct and others have left but remnants to preserve for awhile their once terrible names. Surrounded by the whites with their arts of civilization, which by destroying the resources of the savage doom him to weakness and decay, the fate of the Mohegan, the Narragansett, and the Delaware is fast overtaking the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. That this fate surely awaits them if they remain within the limits of the states does not admit of a doubt. Humanity and national honor demand that every effort should be made to avert so great a calamity." -- Andrew Jackson

Second Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1830
"Toward the aborigines of the country no one can indulge a more friendly feeling than myself, or would go further in attempting to reclaim them from their wandering habits and make them a happy, prosperous people." -- Andrew Jackson

Third Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 1831
"It is pleasing to reflect that results so beneficial, not only to the States immediately concerned, but to the harmony of the Union, will have been accomplished by measures equally advantageous to the Indians. What the native savages become when surrounded by a dense population and by mixing with the whites may be seen in the miserable remnants of a few Eastern tribes, deprived of political and civil rights, forbidden to make contracts, and subjected to guardians, dragging out a wretched existence, without excitement, without hope, and almost without thought." -- Andrew Jackson

Fourth Annual Message to Congress, December 4, 1832
"After a harassing warfare, prolonged by the nature of the country and by the difficulty of procuring subsistence, the Indians were entirely defeated, and the disaffected band dispersed or destroyed. The result has been creditable to the troops engaged in the service. Severe as is the lesson to the Indians, it was rendered necessary by their unprovoked aggressions, and it is to be hoped that its impression will be permanent and salutary." -- Andrew Jackson

Fifth Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1833
"My original convictions upon this subject have been confirmed by the course of events for several years, and experience is every day adding to their strength. That those tribes can not exist surrounded by our settlements and in continual contact with our citizens is certain. They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvement which are essential to any favorable change in their condition. Established in the midst of another and a superior race, and without appreciating the causes of their inferiority or seeking to control them, they must necessarily yield to the force of circumstances and ere long disappear." -- Andrew Jackson

Sixth Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1834
"I regret that the Cherokees east of the Mississippi have not yet determined as a community to remove. How long the personal causes which have heretofore retarded that ultimately inevitable measure will continue to operate I am unable to conjecture. It is certain, however, that delay will bring with it accumulated evils which will render their condition more and more unpleasant. The experience of every year adds to the conviction that emigration, and that alone, can preserve from destruction the remnant of the tribes yet living amongst us." -- Andrew Jackson

Seventh Annual Message to Congress, December 7, 1835
"The extraordinary receipts from the sales of the public lands invite you to consider what improvements the land system, and particularly the condition of the General Land Office, may require. At the time this institution was organized, near a quarter century ago, it would probably have been thought extravagant to anticipate for this period such an addition to its business as has been produced by the vast increase of those sales during the past and present years. It may also be observed that since the year 1812 the land offices and surveying districts have been greatly multiplied, and that numerous legislative enactments from year to year since that time have imposed a great amount of new and additional duties upon that office, while the want of a timely application of force commensurate with the care and labor required has caused the increasing embarrassment of accumulated arrears in the different branches of the establishment." -- Andrew Jackson

Eighth Annual Message to Congress, December 5, 1836
"The national policy, founded alike in interest and in humanity, so long and so steadily pursued by this Government for the removal of the Indian tribes originally settled on this side of the Mississippi to the West of that river, may be said to have been consummated by the conclusion of the late treaty with the Cherokees." -- Andrew Jackson


The first treaty to be signed after the Removal Act became law was that of the Choctaws on September 27, 1830. This treaty designated the ceding of Choctaws land east of the Mississippi river in exchange for land West, as well as monetary payment. This made way for Jackson to sign into law approximately seventy more treaties during his presidency. These treaties resulting in an estimated 50,000 Indians removed from the east to “unsettled” lands further West. (U.S. Department of State) As hoped, this freed up millions of acres of land east of the Mississippi for the many white settlers.

The Indian Removal Act was not supported by all, but was supported by the mass majority of settlers. The need for more access to land caused many to believe that the best and possibly only way to obtain this was to eliminate the Indian presence all together. The thoughts of most of the settlers could be best summed up by the words of President Jackson in his second Annual Message when he states: “What good man, would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more then 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessing of liberty, civilization, and religion?”. (Rawls, James 137)


Sources:

Civics-Online. 2/23/2010. http:www.civics-online.org/library/formatted/texts/indian_act.html

Rawls, James. Indians of California: The Changing Image. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 1986. Print.

The Nomadic Spirit. "Andrew Jackson speaks: Indian Removal". 2/23/2010. http:www.synaptic.bc.ca/ejournal/jackson.htm

U.S. Department of State. "Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830". 2/24/2010. http:www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/due/16338.htm