Cherokee Removal Act Research Paper

1186 Words5 Pages
The Cruelty of the Cherokee Removal Act During the period of 1817 to 1827, the Cherokee community, primarily based in Georgia, formed their own “tribal government as to resist ceding their full territory.” Based on the governmental structure of the United States, they composed their own constitution and developed a two-house legislature. This was all part of their attempt to assimilate themselves, as well as creating a written language, speaking primarily English, and adopting Christianity as to not provoke nor attract attention from the Georgian government. Causing this paranoia, the State of Georgia was attempting to convince the federal government to “force the Cherokee nation off its land.” The Cherokees tried desperately to exaggerate their assimilation efforts, sending delegates to the State of Washington and begging for sympathy every year. However, after writing their own constitution, the Georgian government recognized them as having declared “sovereignty as an independent nation within the state.” As a result, President Andrew Jackson, feeling antagonized, passed the Indian Removal Bill. The Cherokees took legal action to…show more content…
Whitaker, wrote an abstract explaining why and how the Cherokee Removal Act was an act of genocide. Despite the Cherokees’ efforts to assimilate, he claims that their “rapid acquisition of white culture did not protect them against the land hunger of the settlers.” Whitaker believes that the Indian Removal Act was significantly unfair and unfit, for they seemed to be treated especially harshly, even while being escorted on the Trail of Tears. He postulates that Andrew Jackson’s “Final Solution for the Cherokee Indians (The Indian Removal Act) gave him license for a military genocide, forced marches, and concentration camps,” comparing him to Adolf Hitler. Although seemingly brash, Whitaker knows that such a drastic comparison is necessary to reveal the underlying evils of former President
Show More
Related

  • Trail Of Tears Research Paper

    1491 Words  | 6 Pages

    civilized tribes such as Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, Seminole and Muscogee. After the Removal Act implementation, a large number of Natives was removed from the territory in the south east of the continent to the west of Mississippi, though most of them were reluctant to leave their land and were eventually faced with inhumane conditions of migration, diseases and death. This expansion of the U.S. territory westwards was achieved primarily

    Read More

More about Cherokee Removal Act Research Paper

Open Document