Type of Historian: Notes:

Andrew Jackson and Indian Removal By Robert Remini

It is an awesome contradiction that at the moment the United States was entering a new age of economic and social betterment for its citizens with the industrial revolution underway, democracy expanding, social and political reforms in progress the Indians were driven from their homes and forced to seek refuge in remote areas west of the Mississippi iver! "ackson the supreme exponent of liberty in terms of preventing government intervention and intrusion took it upon himself to expel the Indians from their ancient haunts and to decree that they must reside outside the company of civilized white men! It was a depressing and terrible commentary on #merican life and institutions in the $%&'s! (he policy of white #mericans toward Indians was a shambles, right from the beginning! Sometimes the policy was benign educational advantages were offered to Indians but more often than not it was malevolent! )olonists drove the Indians from their midst, stole their lands, and murdered them when deemed necessary! (o the colonists, the Indian was inherently inferior and had a culture that was a throwback to an archaic, darker age! *hen independence was declared and a new government established committed to liberty and +ustice for all, the situation of the Indians within the continental limits of the United States contradicted the ennobling ideas of both the ,eclaration and the )onstitution! -evertheless, the .ounding .athers convinced themselves that men of reason, intelligence and good will could resolve the Indian problem! In their view, the Indians were /noble 1

savages0 who were arrested in cultural development but who would one day take their rightful place beside white society! 1nce they were /civilized0 they would be absorbed! 2resident 3eorge *ashington formulated a policy to encourage this /civilizing0 process, and "efferson continued it! (hey presumed that once the Indians adopted the practice of private property, built homes, farmed, educated their children, and embraced )hristianity these -ative #mericans would win acceptance from white #mericans! 4oth 2residents wished the Indians to become the cultural e5uivalent of white men! If they did not, said "efferson, then they must be driven to the ocky Mountains! (he policy of removal was first suggested by "efferson as the alternative to the /civilizing0 process, and as far as many #mericans were concerned, removal made more sense than any other proposal! 6enry )lay, for example, insisted that it was impossible to civilize these /savages!0 (hey were, he argued, inferior to white men and /their disappearance from the human family would be no great loss to the world!0 ,espite )lay7s racist notions shared, of course, by many #mericans the government7s efforts to convert the Indians into cultural white men made considerable progress in the $%8's! (he )herokees, in particular, showed notable technological and material advances as a result of increased contact with traders, government agents, and missionaries, and there was evidence of a considerable growth in the population of mixed9bloods! #s the Indians continued to resist the efforts to get rid of them the thought of abandoning the land on which their ancestors lived was especially painful for them the states insisted on exercising +urisdiction over Indian lands within their boundaries! It soon became apparent that unless the federal government instituted a policy of removal, it would have to do something about protecting the Indians against the incursions of the states! 4ut the federal government was feckless! It did neither! Men like 2resident "ohn :uincy #dams felt that removal was probably the only policy to follow but he could not bring himself to implement it! -or could he stare down a state like 3eorgia! So he did nothing! Many men of good will simply turned their faces away, and they, too, did nothing! 4ut not "ackson! 6e had no hesitation about taking action, for he believed that removal was indeed the only policy available if the Indians were to be protected from certain annihilation! 6is ideas about the Indians developed from his life on the frontier, his expansionist dreams, his commitment to states; rights, and his intense nationalism! 6e saw the nation as an indivisible unit whose strength and future were dependent on its ability to repel outside foes! 6e wanted all #mericans from every state and territory to participate in his dream of empire, but they must acknowledge allegiance to a permanent and indissoluble bond under a federal system! #lthough devoted to states7 rights and limited government in *ashington, "ackson re+ected any notion that +eopardized the safety of the US, including nullification, secession< and the Indian presence! "ackson;s nationalism a partial product of his expansionist ideals and his states7 rights philosophy a product of his concern for individual liberty merged to produce his Indian policy! In an initial message to )ongress, he formally proposed the process of removal! (he reaction startled him! It generated a storm of protest with such intensity and power that he was caught completely off guard! ,irected by the #merican 4oard of )ommissions for .oreign #ffairs under the prodding of "eremiah =varts, this storm descended on both the )ongress and the administration! It sent cries of outrage reverberating in the 6ouse and Senate! It gained strength by a certain moral fervor! 6ow could supposedly decent and civilized men send helpless Indians to certain death in the wastelands beyond the Mississippi> 6ow could they face themselves and their families knowing they had condemned innocents to torment and destruction> (he power and suddenness of this protesting storm delighted the -ational epublicans! #t last they could identify with popular feeling! (hey immediately accused the administration of betraying the Indians and the 2

many promises given them in the past! (heir accusations produced instantaneous results! 2etitions opposing removal flooded into )ongress! Under the direction of the 2resident, the ,emocratic leaders in both houses maneuvered to ram a removal bill through )ongress! (he matter was appropriately sent to the respective committees on Indian affairs in the 6ouse and Senate, both of which favored the measure! "ackson had, naturally, personally arranged the membership of the 6ouse committee! Moreover, two (ennesseans, "ohn 4ell and 6ugh ?awson *hite, headed the committees! #s added protection, the administration looked to Speaker #ndrew Stevenson to break any tie votes and, as it turned out, he was re5uired to do so on three separate occasions to save the removal bill from defeat! 1n .ebruary 88, $%&', the Senate committee reported the first bill, and two days later the 6ouse committee reported the second! .undamentally they recommended establishing an area west of the Mississippi to be divided into enough districts to accommodate as many tribes as might choose to go west, and removing them there! (he scheme also involved an exchange of land for all the tribes residing in the east! (he Indian emoval #ct of $%&' authorized "ackson to carry out the policy outlined in his first message to )ongress! 6e could exchange unorganized public land in the trans9Mississippi west for Indian land in the east! (hose Indians who moved would be given perpetual title to their new land as well as compensation for improvements on their old! (he cost of their removal would be absorbed by the federal government! (hey would also be given assistance for their /support and subsistence0 for the first year after removal! #n appropriation of @A'',''' was authorized to carry out these provisions! (his monumental piece of legislation spelled the doom of the #merican Indian! It was harsh, arrogant, racist and inevitable! It was too late to acknowledge any rights for the Indians! #s .relinghuysen remarked, all the white man had ever said to the Indian from the moment they first came into contact was /giveB0 1nce stripped of his possessions, the Indian was virtually abandoned! 1f the many significant predictions and warnings voiced during the debates in )ongress that eventually came true, two deserve particular attention! 1ne of them made a mockery of "ackson7s concern for freedom! (he 2resident insisted that the Indians would not be forced to remove! If they wished to reside within the state they might do so but only on condition that they understood they would be sub+ect to state law! 6e would never force them to remove, never compel them to surrender their lands! (hat high and noble sentiment as interpreted by land9greedy state officials meant absolutely nothing! .raud and deception also accompanied the exchange of land! "ackson himself tried desperately to discourage corruption among the government agents chosen to arrange the removal, but the events as they actually transpired ran totally opposite to what he expected and promised! (he other prediction that mocked "ackson7s commitment to economy was the cost of the operation! In the completed legislation the )ongress had appropriated @A'',''' but the actual cost of removal is incalculable! .or one thing, the process extended over many years and involved many tribes! Some Indians naturally resisted "ackson7s will and the government was re5uired to apply force! (he resulting bloodshed and killing and the cost of these Indian wars cannot be 5uantified! .or a political party that prized economy above almost everything else the policy of Indian removal was a radical departure from principle! Many ,emocrats argued, however, that the actual cost was a small price to pay for the enormous expanse of land that was added to the #merican empire! In "ackson7s eight years in office, over seventy treaties were signed and ratified that brought $'' million acres of Indian land to the public domain, though they came at the cost of @C% million mostly war expenses and the &8 million acres of land west of the Mississippi iver that was granted to the Indians! (he expense was enormous, but so was the land9grab!

#ndrew "ackson has been saddled with a considerable portion of the blame for this monstrous deed! 6e makes an easy mark! 4ut the criticism is unfair if it distorts the role he actually played! 6is ob+ective was not the destruction of Indian life and culture! :uite the contraryD he believed that removal was the Indian;s only salvation against certain extinction! -or did he despoil Indians! 6e struggled to prevent fraud and corruption, and he promised there would be no coercion in winning Indian approval of his plan for removal! Eet he himself practiced a subtle kind of coercion in telling the tribes he would abandon them to the mercy of the states if they did not agree to migrate west! (he Indian problem posed a terrible dilemma and "ackson had little to gain by attempting to resolve it! 6e could have imitated his predecessors and done nothing! 4ut that was not #ndrew "ackson! 6e felt he had a duty! #nd when removal was accomplished, he felt he had done the #merican people a great service! 6e felt he had followed the /dictates of humanity0 and saved the Indians from certain death! -ot that the 2resident was motivated by concern for the Indians and their language or customs, their culture, or anything else! #ndrew "ackson was motivated principally by two considerationsF first, his concern for the military safety of the US, which dictated that Indians must not occupy areas that might +eopardize the defense of this nationD and second, his commitment to the principle that all persons residing within states are sub+ect to the +urisdiction and laws of those states! Under no circumstances did Indian tribes constitute sovereign entities when they occupied territory within existing state boundaries! (he 5uickest way to undermine the security of the Union, he argued, was to +eopardize the sovereignty of the states by recognizing Indian tribes as a third sovereignty! 4ut there was a clear inconsistency if not a contradiction in this argument! If the tribes were not sovereign why bother to sign treaties which re5uired laborious Senate approval for their land> #ctually, "ackson both appreciated and was bothered by the inconsistency! 6e never really approved of bargaining or negotiating with tribes! 6e felt that )ongress should simply determine what needed to be done and then instruct the Indians to conform to it! )ongress, he once said, can /occupy and possess0 any part of Indian territory whenever /the safety, interest or defense of the country0 dictated! 4ut as 2resident, "ackson could not simply set aside the practice and tradition set by many generations because of a presumed contradiction! So he negotiated and signed treaties with dozens of tribes while simultaneously denying that they en+oyed sovereign rights! (he reaction of the #merican people after "ackson;s policy was put into effect was predictable! Some remained outraged, particularly the :uakers and other religious groups! Many seemed uncomfortable about it but began to believe that it had to be done! 2robably even a larger number of #mericans favored removal and applauded the 2resident7s action in settling the Indian problem once and for all! In short, there was no public outcry against it! It went hardly noticed! (he horror of removal with its /(rail of (ears0 would come much later and only after "ackson had left office! *hen it finally came time to talk to various Indian tribes, "ackson promised that no force would be used to compel them to consent to removal! (he decision was theirs alone! 6e said he understood fully their 5ualms about leaving the land of their birth! 6e knew how painful it would be to bid goodbye forever to the graves of their ancestors! 4ut survival necessitated this moveD annihilation was the alternative! /1ld menB0 he called, addressing the ancient chiefs! /#rouse to energy and lead your children to a land of promise and of peace before the 3reat Spirit shall call you to die!0 (hen turning to the younger warriors, the 2resident renewed his pleaF /Eoung chiefsB .orget the pre+udices you feel for the soil of your birth, and go to a land where you can preserve your people as a nation!0 It was a powerful appeal that deeply affected the Indians! (he /great father0 closed with a warning, thinly disguisedF / e+ect the opportunity which is now offered to obtain comfortable homes, and the time may soon pass away when such advantages presently within your reach 4

remain available! If you re+ect this opportunity now, call not upon your great father hereafter to relieve you of your troubles!0 "ackson told them that should they to choose to stay, they would be sub+ect to state laws and state regulations! /In a few years,0 he further warned, /by becoming amalgamated with the whites, your national character will be lost, and you will disappear and be forgotten!0 (he Indians cried out their dismay when they heard these crushing words! (he 2resident paused to let his words sink in! #fter a moment he began againF /(his calamity can be avoided,0 he concluded, /if you are willing to remove, say so, and state your terms!0 6e assured them that his friends Ma+or =aton and 3eneral )offee, who were authorized to talk to them, would act /candidly, fairly and liberally0 towards them! (hus spake the /great father!0 #fter hearing him out, the )hickasaws withdrew to council among themselves! 6is words left them shaken and morose! (hey needed time to talk out their concerns and fears! (hey needed time for reflection! .our days later they returned with an answer! (hey met the 2resident, =aton, and )offee at the Masonic 6all! (he 2resident seated himself in the center of a s5uare formed by the chiefs! 1ne of the chiefs, the secretary of the delegation, approached =aton with a sheet of paper in his hand! (he chief extended his free, right hand which =aton took and shook! (hen the Ma+or was asked to read the paper to the 2resident! 6e took the sheet, turned to his superior and beganF Franklin, August 27, 1830 To our great father the president. Your red children, the chiefs and head men of the hickasa!s, ha"e taken under consideration the talk of our father. #n the decision that !e this da$ make and declare to $ou and to the !orld depends our fate as a nation and as a people. Father, $ou sa$ that $ou ha"e tra"eled a long !a$ to talk to $our red children. %e ha"e listened & and $our !ords ha"e sunk deep into our hearts. As $ou are a'out to set out for %ashington cit$ & 'efore !e shake our father(s hand, perhaps for the last time for man$ of us & !e ha"e re)uested this meeting to tell $ou that after sleeping upon the talk $ou sent us, and the talk deli"ered to us '$ our 'rothers, *a+or ,aton and -eneral offee, !e are no! read$ to enter into an$ treat$ 'ased upon the principles communicated to us '$ ma+or ,aton and -eneral offee. Your friends and 'rothers. (he /great father0 smiled with satisfaction! 6e told the chiefs how much they had gladdened his heart and how good it was to have this /talk0 with them! Many of the chiefs, he said, had known him a long time, a friendship that would never be interrupted! 6e would remember them always! 6e told them speaking his words in a voice choked with emotion that he hoped the /3reat Spirit above would take care of, bless, and preserve them!0 "ackson was so moved by the sight of these /gentle children0 that he rose from his chair and bade them all an affectionate farewell! (he )hickasaws were deeply touched by this unexpected and genuine show of emotion! Suddenly, one of the principal chiefs rushed forward and grasped the 2resident with both hands! /3od bless you, my great father,0 he exclaimed! (hen, overcome by the intensity of his feeling, the chief turned away! (he 2resident and all the other chiefs stood perfectly still, too affected to say or do anything! (he emotional level of the scene reached an excruciating pitch! *ith the father casting out his children, each knew his role and knew what was to happening! (he )hickasaws loved their father as dutiful children, and yet he was saying goodbye to them forever! 6e was, said one reporter, /by them so much beloved0 as the words came out of his mouth telling them to leave /the land of their youth, where the bones of their fathers reposed!0 (hey were all choked dumb by their feelings! "ackson immediately submitted the treaty to )ongress when it reconvened in ,ecember, $%&', but the actual removal of the )hoctaw -ation violated every principle for which "ackson stood! .rom start to finish the operation was a fraud! )orruption, theft, mismanagement, inefficiency these all contributed to the destruction 5

of a once9great people! (he )hoctaws asked to be guided to their new country by 3eneral 3eorge 3ibson, a man they trusted and with whom they had scouted their new home! =ven this was denied them! (he bureaucracy dictated yet another choice! So they left the /land of their fathers0 filled with fear and anxiety! (o make matters worse, the between $%&$ and $%&8 was /living hell!0 (he elements conspired to add to their misery! (he suffering was stupefying! (hose who watched the horror never forgot it! Many wept! (he Indians themselves showed not a single sign of their agony! "ackson tried to prevent this calamity but he was too far away to exercise any real control, and the temptations and opportunities for bribery, fraud, and corruption were too great for some agents to resist! *hen he learned of the )hoctaw experience and the suffering involved, "ackson was deeply offended! 6e did what he could to prevent its recurrence! 6e proposed a new set of guidelines for future removals, and hoped they could reform the system and erase both mismanagement and the possibility of deception! (he experience of removal is one of the horror stories of the modern era! 4eginning with the )hoctaws it decimated whole tribes! #n entire race of people suffered! *hat it did to their lives, their culture, their language, and their customs is a tragedy of truly staggering proportions! (he irony is that removal was purportedly intended to prevent this calamity! *ould it have been worse had the Indians remained in the =ast> "ackson thought so! 6e said they would have been forced to /disappear and be forgotten!0 1ne thing does seem certainF the Indians would have had to comply with state laws and with white society! Indian -ations would have been obliterated and so too might have Indian civilization! (he removal of the )hickasaw and the )hoctaw tribes was +ust the beginning! 1n March 8G, $%&8, the destruction of the )reek -ation was completed when the chiefs signed an agreement to remove rather than fight it out in the courts! (he Seminoles accepted a provisional treaty on May H, $%&8, pending approval of the site for relocation! 4y the close of "ackson7s first administration, the )hoctaws, )reeks, )hickasaws, and Seminoles had capitulated! 1f the so9called /.ive )ivilized (ribes,0 only the )herokees held out, though not for long! (he )herokees found small consolation from the courts! (heir lawyer, *illiam *irt, sued in the Supreme )ourt for an in+unction that would permit the Indians to remain in 3eorgia unmolested by state law! 6e argued that the )herokees had a right to self9government as a foreign nation and that this right had long been recognized by the United States in its treaties with the Indians! 6e hoped to make it appear that "ackson himself was the nullifier of federal law! In effect he challenged the entire removal policy by asking for a restraining order against 3eorgia! )hief "ustice "ohn Marshall decided in two cases of $%&$ and $%&8 herokee .ation ". -eorgia and %orcester ". -eorgia that all the laws of 3eorgia dealing with the )herokees were unconstitutional! 6e issued a formal mandate two days later ordering the 3eorgia Superior )ourt to reverse its decision! 3eorgia, of course, refused to acknowledge the court7s right to direct its actions and boycotted the +udicial proceedings! (he state had no intention of obeying the court7s order! Since the court ad+ourned almost immediately after rendering its decision, nothing further could be done! "ackson understood this! 6e knew there was nothing for him to do! /(he decision of the Supreme )ourt was dead on arrival,0 he wrote "ohn )offee, /and so we find that it cannot coerce 3eorgia to yield to its mandate!0 It was later reported by 6orace 3reeley that "ackson7s response to the Marshall decision was total defianceF /"ohn Marshall has made his decision now let him enforce itB0 3reeley cited 3eorge -! 4riggs, a epresentative from Massachusetts, as his source for the statement! (he 5uotation certainly sounds like "ackson and many historians have chosen to believe that he said it! (he fact is that "ackson did not say it because there 6

was no reason to do so! (here was nothing for him to enforce! *hy, then, would he refuse an action that no one asked him to take> #s he said, the decision was dead on arrival! (he court rendered an opinion which abandoned the Indians to their inevitable fate! /I believe,0 said "ackson, /that those who still hold out against removal have expressed their despair, and that it is in the better interest of the )herokees to make a treaty and move!0 Ultimately, the )herokees also yielded to the 2resident! 1n ,ecember 8H, $%&A, at their capital of -ew =chota, the )herokees signed a treaty that arranged for an exchange of land! # protracted legal argument had given the Indians only a little time and nothing else! emoval now applied to all eastern Indians, not simply the southern tribes! #fter the 4lack 6awk *ar of $%&8 "ackson responded to the demands of #mericans in the northwest to send all Indians beyond the Mississippi! # hungry band of Sac and .ox Indians under the leadership of 4lack 6awk had re9crossed the Mississippi in the spring of $%&8 to find food! 2eople on the frontier panicked and 3overnor "ohn eynolds of Illinois called out the militia and appealed to "ackson for assistance! .ederal troops were immediately dispatched under 3enerals *infield Scott and 6enry #tkinson! # short and bloody war resulted, largely instigated by drunken militia troops, and when it ended the northwestern tribes were so demoralized that they offered little resistance to "ackson7s steady pressure for their removal west of the Mississippi! (he result of the 4lack 6awk *ar, said the 2resident in his fourth message to )ongress, had been very /creditable to the troops0 engaged in the action! /Severe as the lesson is to the Indians,0 he lectured, /it was rendered necessary by their unprovoked aggressions, and it is to be hoped that its impression will be permanent and salutary!0 It was useless for the Indians to resist "ackson7s demands! -early GC,''' of them went west! (housands died in transit! =ven those under no treaty obligation to emigrate were eventually forced to remove! #nd the removal experiences were all for the most part similar to that of the )hoctaws all horrible, all contaminated by corruption and fraud, all disgraceful to the #merican nation! (he policy of removal formed an important part of "ackson7s overall program of limiting federal authority and supporting states; rights! ,espite the accusation of increased executive authority, "ackson successfully buttressed state sovereignty and +urisdiction over all inhabitants within state boundaries! (his is a government of the people, "ackson argued, and the 2resident is the agent of the people! (he 2resident and the )ongress exercise their +urisdiction over the people of the union! /*ho are the people of the union>0 he asked, before answering his own 5uestionF /(hey are all those who are sub+ect to the +urisdiction of the sovereign states, and none else!0 Indians were also sub+ect to the states, he went on! (hey were /sub+ect to the sovereign power of the state within whose sovereign limits they reside! #bsolute independence of the Indian tribes from state authority can never bear an intelligent investigation, and a partial independence of state authority when located within its territorial limits is likewise absurd!0 Ultimately "ackson7s policy of removal and reorganization of the Indian service won acceptance by most #mericans! (he 2resident was seen as a forceful executive who addressed one of the nation7s most bedeviling problems and solved it! =ven #mericans who fretted over the fate of the Indians eventually went along with removal! (he policy seemed enlightened and humane! It seemed rational and logical! It constituted, #mericans thought, the only possible solution to the Indian problem!